| In Association With... |  |
|
|
|
Franklin and Lucy: President Roosevelt, Mrs. Rutherfurd, and the Other Remarkable Women in His Life | 
 enlarge | Author: Joseph Persico
Publisher: Random House
Category: Book
List Price: $28.00
Buy New: $16.17
You Save: $11.83 (42%)
New (31) Collectible (1) from $16.17
Avg. Customer Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 15489
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 5.9 x 1.5
ISBN: 1400064422
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.917092
EAN: 9781400064427
ASIN: 1400064422
Publication Date: April 29, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Also Available In:
| • | Hardcover - Franklin and Lucy: President Roosevelt, Mrs. Rutherfurd, and the Other Remarkable Women in His Life | | • | Audio CD - Franklin and Lucy: President Roosevelt, Mrs. Rutherfurd, and the Other Remarkable Women in His Life | | • | Paperback - Franklin and Lucy: Mrs. Rutherfurd and the Other Remarkable Women in Roosevelt's Life | | • | Audio Download - Franklin and Lucy: President Roosevelt, Mrs. Rutherfurd, and Other Women in His Life | | • | Kindle Edition - Franklin and Lucy: President Roosevelt, Mrs. Rutherfurd, and the Other Remarkable Women in His Life | | • | Audio Download - Franklin and Lucy: President Roosevelt, Mrs. Rutherfurd, and Other Women in His Life (Unabridged) |
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was arguably the greatest figure of the twentieth century. While FDR’s official circle was predominantly male, it was his relationships with women–particularly with Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd–that most vividly bring to light the human being beneath this towering statesman. It is no coincidence that Rutherfurd was with Roosevelt the day he died in Warm Springs, Georgia, along with two other close women companions. In Franklin and Lucy, acclaimed author and historian Joseph E. Persico explores FDR’s romance with Lucy Rutherfurd, which was far deeper and lasted much longer than was previously acknowledged. Persico’s provocative conclusions about their relationship are informed by a revealing range of sources, including never-before-published letters and documents from Lucy Rutherfurd’s estate that attest to the intensity and scope of the affair.
FDR’s connection with Lucy also creates an opportunity for Persico to take a more penetrating look at the other women in FDR’s life. We come to see more clearly how FDR’s infidelity as a husband contributed to Eleanor’s eventual transformation from a repressed Victorian to perhaps the greatest American woman of her century; how the shaping hand of FDR’s strong-willed mother helped to imbue him with the resolve to overcome personal and public adversity throughout his life; and how other women around FDR, including his “surrogate spouse,” Missy LeHand, and his close confidante, the obscure Margaret “Daisy” Suckley, completed the world that he inhabited.
Franklin and Lucy is an extraordinary look at the private life of a leader who continues to fascinate scholars and the general public alike. In focusing on Lucy Rutherfurd and the myriad women who mattered to Roosevelt, Persico paints a more intimate portrait than we have heretofore had of this enigmatic giant of American history.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 4.5 out of 5: A sensitive and balanced portrait of a great man August 13, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
In this biography, Persico paints an intimate portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt through the lens of his relationships with various women over the course of his life, including his mother, Eleanor, Lucy Rutherfurd, and others. I came to this book without much information about the Roosevelts, and I was pleased to find an assessable and thoroughly entertaining biography. Persico approaches his subject with sensitivity and balance, as deserved by this great family, but he does not avoid the tough issues.
Persico clearly has done his research but has refrained from overburdening the book with details. Although Persico remains focused on his theme throughout the book (FDR's relationships with women), the book is not a narrow treatment of FDR's life. All of the important events are included, along with the less well-known events that give us a glimpse into FDR's true character. This book's only misstep is a strange first chapter that seems to have been plucked from the middle of the book and stuck on the front, probably as a clumsy editor's last-minute attempt to force a "catchy" beginning.
 A Weak Effort By Persico August 11, 2008
2 out of 30 found this review helpful
Joseph Persico's "Franklin and Lucy" (Random House 2008) is a shallow collection of anecdotes centered around FDR's affair with, and later relationship with, Lucy Mercer. The stated theme of the book is the women in FDR's life, but Persico's theme ends up as nothing more than idle conjecture about how certain women, including his mother, Sara, his wife, Eleanor, and his faithful assistant, Missy LeHand, might have affected FDR as a person. Most of this has already been covered ad nauseam in prior books on FDR, and this effort ends up as a weak series of gossips, such as whether FDR's relationship with Missy LeHand was amorous.
In addition to its failure to bring any new information to the table, the book is filled with factual errors. For example, Persico has Theodore Roosevelt's first election to the presidency in 1902 (p. 51), FDR's second inaugural on March 4, 1937 (rather than the correct date of Jan. 20, 1937) (pp. 227, 249), and the Roosevelts' 20th wedding anniversary on March 17, 1926 (p. 164). This is very disappointing from an author who is well respected and who has authored a prior book on FDR, "Roosevelt's Secret War" (Random House 2001). Admittedly, these are minor errors, but one has to wonder whether this lack of attention to detail infects the entire book.
Interesting read... August 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
With all these politicians screwing around on their wives these days, why exactly do we need to know the gritty details of one from like a century ago? I guess because he's FDR and he became a super important president, and one personal decision of his might have changed A LOT of things from a historical perspective. The bulk of what I know about the Roosevelts came from History class. My teacher mentioned once that FDR supposedly died in the arms of his mistress, which I found kind of interesting, so I decided to see what the big deal was about. At the time, I definitely felt for Eleanor being the wronged wife who did all this crap for her husband and that was how he repaid her? Of course, the story is never that simple. It's never just one person's fault.
I guess the first thing is this Roosevelt marriage that seems to puzzle a lot of people. How they got together in the first place is kind of a mystery. FDR, in his youth to middle age, is always described as kind of a McDreamy-- really handsome, rich, charming, good pedigree, etc. Eleanor, as much as I love all that she did, was never much of a looker even in her younger days. On top of that, she was passive, shy, and had serious self-esteem problems. It makes you wonder how these two ever got together and what they had in common other than a distant relation. The book mentions that FDR had quite a few love interests before Eleanor and probably could've picked any girl he wanted, yet somehow he ended up married to her. In retrospect, knowing what eventually happened to their marriage, perhaps he should've just stuck to his beauty queen debutantes. Or maybe he should've waited a few more years before getting married.
It's not until about 10 years into the Roosevelt marriage that Lucy Mercer even appears though she's billed as the female lead in this. The fact is, there just isn't enough known about her to garner her that role. If this were a movie and they were allowed to embellish/play with the facts, maybe it would work. But since they're going on hard evidence, there's not much out there. However, it's hard to deny that they had a genuine love affair. And I agree with the author that they probably had sex since they were two attractive people who were in love and alone a lot. What else would happen? Still, in the end, FDR chose to stay with his wife. If this were such an all-consuming passion, I would think he'd just go for it. And other than her physical beauty and apparent "niceness", there isn't really that much that distinguishes Lucy Mercer. What exactly made their relationship so special and long-lasting? Other than the fact that she was young, pretty, available and he wanted sex.
I can kind of see why people think stuff went on with Missy Lehand but it's all too much speculation. Who really knows what they were doing on that boat? It wasn't like the Lucy Mercer thing where the consequences were an almost divorce and eternal separation from the marriage bed.
And while I did feel for Eleanor, I can't help but give her a little blame on this too. Okay, so FDR probably didn't love her as much as she loved him to begin with.. but what did she really expect after they stopped having sex? That just "talking" would be enough to sustain a marriage? Sorry but she shouldn't have been that naive. And while it totally sucks how she found out about his death, she was the one who essentially gave up on marriage. They could've used a good marriage counselor.
A Woman's View of the Intimate Roosevelt August 6, 2008
18 out of 18 found this review helpful
Having read but a single work by author Persico prior to this (Piercing The Reich), I was unsure of what to expect in a book ostensiby about a man and his relationships with women. Having read a number of books on Roosevelt describing his disingenuous, Byzantine, unforthcoming dealings with men, I was not surprised that he ran true to form with women. However, this book broke some new ground.
First and foremost was the particular stress on FDR's being crippled and unable to walk and how that worked out to be both a hindrance and a blessing. Here the narrative was extremely productive.
Second, this book discusses FDR and his female entourage from the point of view of a very sympathetic woman. One wonders if this book was actually written by Persico or by his wife or daughter. For example, considered this discourse on page 246: "Schiff's fascination with FDR further displayed the superiority of women in their attitude toward men in that they consider the whole man, his intelligence, power, (wealth??) humor, and charm as producing attractiveness, not simply physical appeal, an approach that cannot always be said of male attitudes toward women." Wow! Who wrote this? Gloria Steinem?
Nonetheless, this books brings together FDR's relationships with those women close to him into fascinating focus with but a passing mention of the world around them. Persico presents the facts carefully, particularly when it comes to "Did they or didn't they?" -- very much in line with the motto of Fox News; "We report -- You decide." Sometimes he begins to moralize as "... Missy was all to ready to ....", but then draws back without passing judgment. I liked that.
There are two negatives in my opinion: a number of facts and dates are incorrect, and he fails to draw a sufficiently complete portrait of Missy LeHand, Lucy Mercer, Daisy Suckley or Dorothy Schiff for the reader to fully relate to them. These were all actresses with staring roles yet their characters remained clouded in mystery. Perhaps he ran out of time, perhaps out of sources. In these cases he needed to indicate where the reader should go to draw in the missing lines.
In this book FDR is truly as Holmes said; "A second class intellect [with] a first class temperament." Eleanor, the lady who loved the Tartars but not herself is summed up by, "...[she had] great compassion for the masses... but not much interest in the individual."
All in all, a valuable read.
 Excellent Insights Marred by Shoddy Fact Checking July 22, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Biography is a form of archeology. Over 60 years after Franklin Roosevelt's death, new information is still coming to light, including recently discovered correspondence with Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd. Persico, who authored the superb "Roosevelt's Secret War", uses this and previously discovered documents (including the diary of Margaret "Daisy" Suckley, FDR's cousin) to draw a portrait of a man whose Byzantine personality has baffled researchers and biographers for decades. FDR preferred the presence of women over men, not only romantically but for ordinary company. Perhaps because with women, he did not feel the need to prove anything, perhaps because he loved gossip, FDR revealed himself and the workings of his mind more to women than to men. Previous biographers have referred to the sinuosity of FDR's thought process and his "feminine" mind (this is not meant as an aspersion against his essential masculinity, but reflects a flexibility of which many men are not capable). Persico reveals much of that by detailing his relationships with several women, including his mother Sara, Eleanor, Lucy (truly the love of his life), Missy LeHand, Daisy Suckley, Dorothy Schiff, and his daughter Anna. He also details Eleanor's relationships with Earl Miller, Lorena Hickok, and David Gurewitsch (the latter a younger doctor on whom Eleanor had something of a schoolgirl crush on during her later life.) Persico is impartial, and neither tries to obfuscate nor sensationalize the nature of these relationships. He presents the facts as they are and lets the reader draw the conclusions.
Now the bad news...
There are so many factual errors in this book it's hard to keep track of them, errors which could have been easily avoided with some quick fact checking. Persico refers to FDR's half-nephew, James "Taddy" Roosevelt, as Sara Roosevelt's stepson - - he was her step-grandson while Taddy's father, James "Rosy" Roosevelt was her stepson. He states that Eleanor suffered a case of hives during her honeymoon - - it was FDR who came down with hives. FDR's second inauguration is stated as having occurred on March 4, 1937, it took place on January 20 of that year - - the first January inauguration to happen after passage of the 21st Amendment. (Persico repeats the error with the 1941 inauguration, claiming that as the first January inauguration). Persico also misstates the circumstances under which Harry Truman learned that FDR was dead and Truman was President. Most of the above are so well documented it's hard to fathom how these mistakes were missed. Well, perhaps not: In the acknowledgements, Persico credits his wife and daughter as research assistants. But an impartial, unrelated editor, might have caught these errors.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
