SuitabookFDR and the American crisis
Albert Marrin
- Reading
- Read it as a biography rather than a simple success story. Pause when privilege, disability or leadership is discussed, and consider both the opportunities Roosevelt began with and the barriers the book describes.
- Themes
- Privilege and opportunity: Roosevelt is described as being brought up in a privileged family with extensive opportunities. The book appears to place his later career in the context of advantages available from the beginning of his life.
- Disability and public life: After contracting polio, Roosevelt lost the use of his legs and faced public perceptions of his disability while pursuing politics. The biography presents disability as a significant part of his public and personal story, but does not establish whether it is framed primarily through overcoming, identity or social barriers.
- Leadership and complexity: Roosevelt entered politics, rose into public view and became the thirty-second president of the United States. The book presents a substantial political ascent and calls Roosevelt complex, but the nature of its judgement about his leadership cannot be determined here.
- Worth knowing
- Pay attention to whether Roosevelt’s disability is treated mainly as an obstacle, as part of his identity, or through both perspectives. Also notice how the book handles the advantages associated with his privileged upbringing.