The New Dealers' war : Franklin D. Roosevelt and the war within World War II

""A gripping, controversial, informative and at times infuriating look at FDR's leadership as the nation entered and fought World War II ... Both revisionist and controversial."" Washington Post. Acclaimed historian Thomas Fleming brings to life the flawed and troubled FDR who struggled to manage WWII. Starting with the leak to the press of Roosevelt's famous Rainbow Plan, then spiraling back to FDR's inept prewar diplomacy with Japan, and his various attempts to lure Japan into an attack on the U.S. Fleet in the Pacific, Fleming takes the reader inside the incredibly fractious struggles and debates that went on in Washington, the nation, and the world as the New Dealers, led by FDR, strove to impose their will on the conduct of the War. Unlike the familiar yet idealized FDR of Doris Kearns Goodwin's No Ordinary Time , the reader encounters a Roosevelt in remorseless decline, battered by ideological forces and primitive hatreds which he could not handle-and frequently failed to understand-some of them leading to unimaginable catastrophe. Among FDR's most dismaying policies, Fleming argues, were an insistence on "unconditional surrender" for Germany (a policy that perhaps prolonged the war by as many as two years, leaving millions more dead) and his often uncritical embrace of and acquiescence to Stalin and the Soviets as an ally. For many Americans, Franklin Delano Roosevelt is a beloved, heroic, almost mythic figure, if not for the "big government" that was spawned under his New Deal, then certainly for his leadership through the War. The New Dealers' War paints a very different portrait of this leadership. It is sure to spark debate. "Solidly challenging the idea that World War II was a "good war," The New Dealers' War offers a drastically new look at the conflict that has dominated the history of the twentieth century. For many Americans, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's role in leading the United States throughout most of World War II has made him one of America's most venerated presidents. Biographers have all but lionized FDR for his war leadership, a tendency that has been reinforced lately as Americans celebrate the riches of memory by saluting the generation that won that titanic global conflict with blockbuster movies and best-selling books. But, as Thomas Fleming reminds us, memory is not history, and in The New Dealers' War, he reveals an entirely different Roosevelt from the one that most people like to remember." "Unquestionably, The New Dealers' War is one of those rare books that will force readers to rethink what they think they know about one of the most pivotal events in the American past. It will surely spark debate about FDR's role in shaping the course of history in the twentieth century."--Jacket Acclaimed historian Thomas Fleming brings to life a flawed and troubled FDR struggling to manage World War II. Starting with the leak to the press of Roosevelt's famous Rainbow Plan, then spiraling back to FDR's inept prewar diplomacy with Japan and his various attempts to lure Japan into an attack on the U.S. Fleet in the Pacific, Fleming takes the reader on a journey through the incredibly fractious struggles and debates that went on in Washington, the nation, and the world as the New Dealers strove to impose their will on the conduct of the War. In bold contrast to the familiar, idealized FDR of other biographies, Fleming's Roosevelt is a man in remorseless decline, battered by ideological forces and primitive hatreds that he could not handle and frequently failed to understand, some of them leading to unimaginable catastrophe. Among FDR's most dismaying policies, Fleming argues, is his insistence on "unconditional surrender" for Germany (a policy that perhaps prolonged the war by... Chapter 14: goddamning roosevelt and other pastimeschapter 15: democracy's total war chapter 16: operation stop henry chapter 17: death and transfiguration in berlin chapter 18: the dying champion chapter 19: lost last stands chapter 20: a new president and an old policy chapter 21: ashes of victory index. Tom Fleming takes the reader on a journey through the fractious struggles and debates that went on in Washington and the world as the New Dealers, led by F.D. Roosevelt, strove to impose their will on the conduct of the War. He paints a controversial and very different portrait of FDR's leadership Blazoned in huge black letters across the front page of the December 4, 1941, issue of the Chicago Tribune was the headline: F.D.R.'S WAR PLANS!