Ainsley Becnel     4-20-2012

Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Rendezvous with Destiny

In “Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Rendezvous with Destiny,” Frank Freidel chronicles the life of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd and longest serving President of the United States. It covers a great amount of detail beginning with Roosevelt’s early career, concentrating on his Presidency, and ending with his untimely death in 1945 just before his greatest accomplishment was realized. The below is a summary based off the information provided by Freidel in Roosevelt’s biography, followed by a review and critique of Freidel’s work.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was born to a prominent, aristocratic family in New York.  He attended Groton, a boarding school in Massachusetts and then went on to study at Harvard. He was not the first Roosevelt to enter the political arena. Roosevelt’s ancestor Isaac Roosevelt was one of the first New York State senators and his cousin Theodore Roosevelt was President. Franklin’s deep admiration for Theodore influenced his decision to enter public service.  He began his career as a corporate lawyer and married his fifth cousin, Eleanor, who was also a big influence in his life and can even be considered an extension of his power further down the road.

Under the guidance of Theodore, Franklin ran for a New York State Senate seat in 1910 and won. Franklin immediately went to work against the Tammany Machine that dominated the Democratic party at the time which taught him a valuable lesson in how to work and deal with political opponents. Franklin then joined the Wilson administration and became  the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for seven years. The promotion kept him in the public eye and provided him with ample experience in some presidential matters. One of the most valuable experiences gained was that of managing naval warfare during the Great War. It not only gave him an important lesson to be applied in the next war, but it also put him in the spotlight as “one of the outstanding young men among the Wilsonian progressives.” Franklin also gained political and campaigning experience while running for vice president.

In July, 1921, Roosevelt received the devastating diagnosis of poliomyelitis which nearly ended his political career. He spent the majority of the next eight years attempting to combat the illness and regaining the use of his legs. As a result of his illness, Roosevelt established the Warm Springs Foundation in 1927, a safe haven for people combating polio. He spent a great deal of time at the resort over his career and even invested two-thirds of his fortune to create it. While not completely incapacitated from politics, Roosevelt slowly began to build up his political career by preparing to attain a high political office again. Al smith presented Franklin with the opportunity when asking him to run for Governor of New York. Franklin won in a landslide victory and took office in 1929. His work as Governor raised his political power and offered him the chance to run for President. Under the slogan of his “New Deal”, Franklin beat out Herbert Hoover with an electoral vote of 472 to 59. Within the first hundred days, Roosevelt had enacted nearly the entire “New Deal” plan including reforming the banking system, removing the U.S. off the gold standard, and providing relief for farmers.

As President, Franklin attempted to secure a peaceful foreign policy, but more importantly, he put into place his New Deal policies to aid in the U.S. economic recovery. When this failed to get the U.S. out of a depression, Franklin came up with the “Second New Deal” pouring large amounts of money into public works and social security. The economy did not fully recover right away, but that did not affect President Franklin’s approval rating. He was reelected in 1936 in one of the biggest election sweeps in American history carrying the electoral college 523 to 8.

President Roosevelt began his second term promoting hemispheric defense. After encountering heavy resistance to his world security measures like that of the League of Nations, he concentrated on building up home security in preparation of a war he feared was imminent.  Roosevelt also spent a considerable amount of energy attempting to reform the Supreme Court in his favor. He hoped to stack the court by adding justices who would not stand in the way of his New Deal reforms. Roosevelt did not get his way, but with a little luck was able to appoint enough justices who were like-minded.  The economy began to recover in 1937 and Franklin’s momentum with his progressive policies began to fade. He became more concerned with balancing the budget rather than standing up for blacks and the unions. He also fell short on his foreign policies by mishandling events, using covert and threatening tactics. He had enforced quarantines on Japan and attempted appeasements in the Spanish Civil War, but neither procured a better outcome.  In 1938, Roosevelt was losing momentum with his New Deal policies. Although he was victorious in the Supreme Court scenario, he was still having trouble with the Senate. He tried to purge the conservative democratic Senators who were preventing him from implementing his policies. Although unsuccessful in revamping the Democratic Party, Roosevelt did manage to reform the the executive branch’s administration by consolidating many federal agencies into single departments. 

Meanwhile, matters were growing dire in Europe due to the rising power of fascism. Roosevelt pursued peaceful actions as a deterrent from war, but none of the appeasements or quarantines quelled Hitler’s desire for power; rather, they postponed  the inevitable. When it was obvious that peaceful negotiations were not working after the Munich crisis, Roosevelt concentrated on building up the defence of the nation and aiding the democracies in Europe. He had hoped that the mass production of planes and ample aid to the democracies would intimidate Hitler from starting a war. Unfortunately it did little to discourage Hitler, and Germany invaded Poland, forcing France and Britain to declare war. Roosevelt kept the United States out of war since there was such disfavour among the population, but following the defeat of the Dutch and French armies the populace began to recognize the threat in Europe. Although Roosevelt did not formally enter the war, he continued to supply as much aid to the Allies as possible along with strengthening the U.S. military in preparation for war.

While war in Europe raged on, Roosevelt’s second term was coming to an end. He had speculated about running for a third term if Europe remained in peril, but there was a tradition against third terms that had yet to be broken. Nevertheless, Roosevelt decided to run and defeated Wendell Wilke with 449 electoral votes to 82, becoming the first and only president to serve more than two terms. Although Roosevelt maintained his favour with the public, there were still isolationists against U.S. involvement in the war making it difficult for Roosevelt to aid the Allies. Without the backing of the entire nation Roosevelt saw little hope in entering the U.S. into the war, but still vehemently pushed policies that would send armaments to the British and now the Soviet Union since Germany invaded Russia. He continued to build up the military in the face of the growing threat of the Japanese after they signed the Tripartite Pact. In an attempt to thwart Japan’s rise, Roosevelt cut off their entire supply of petroleum. As for Germany, he entered the U.S. Navy into a quasi-war with German U-boats doing everything he could, short of war. The embargo on Japan had finally made headway when they began peace talks, but it turned out to be a ruse when on December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in a surprise attack, providing a basis for a formal declaration of war.  Roosevelt had been waiting for one of the Axis powers to shoot first so that he would have a united nation standing behind him rather than a hesitant, uncertain one.

Roosevelt immediately took action mobilizing the military and organizing the government for war. After congress passed the War Powers Act, Roosevelt had more control than ever over the affairs of the U.S. He created the War Production Board in order to manage and raise productivity for wartime materials. He proposed the 1943 budget to congress amounting to an astounding 59 billion dollars. While the budget was reaching numbers higher than ever, inflation was on the rise and the public made Roosevelt aware of it. He had to deal with the problems at home as well as abroad. At one point, Roosevelt bullied congress into passing a law designed to stabilize prices of farm commodities with the threat of using his wartime powers. He fortunately did not have to follow through with his threat and attempted to stay focused on managing the war.

In the pacific campaign against Japan, Roosevelt largely left the planning and implementation to his admirals, but when it came to Germany and Italy Roosevelt was directly involved. Managing the war proved difficult for Roosevelt, especially with having to coordinate all of the United States’ military efforts with that of their Allies. When the military advisors recommended the cross-channel invasion into France, Roosevelt had to hold off because Churchill didn’t fully support the notion, rendering such an attempt futile. Lacking Britain’s full support for a cross-channel invasion, it became necessary to proceed with a campaign in North Africa. Roosevelt was determined to rebuild the French army in Africa in order to invade and push through Italy into the heart of Germany. The North African campaign was a success and gave easy access into Italy. Roosevelt and Churchill both agreed that invading Italy was a good idea based on how poorly it had fared in the war. With another win in sight, victory seemed to creep closer, paving the way for post-war talks between the Allies.

The leaders of the three great powers of the Allies , Churchill of Britain, Stalin of the Soviet Union, and Roosevelt of the United States met in Tehran to discuss the future of the weaker countries after the war. Each of the leaders had his own agenda and differing opinions on the matters that were being discussed, but they compromised with each other in order to ensure stability in the world. Roosevelt achieved his main goal of getting Stalin’s word that the Soviet Union would enter the war with Japan after Hitler was defeated, which allowed him to focus on more pressing matters at home.

Roosevelt’s third term was coming to an end and the war was not yet over. This left Roosevelt with the decision to seek a fourth term in order to insure that the war not only concluded, but that there were safety measures in place to prevent another war from breaking out. In seeking a fourth term, Roosevelt had to tread lightly on how he handled the issues on the homefront like raising taxes and a labor draft because they greatly affected the outcome of the upcoming election. He also was battling his deteriorating health with constant medical problems that were becoming more dire and frequent. With the election coming up, showing signs of deterioration would have diminished his chances of winning, which is why Eleanor and Admiral McIntire who is his? continually lied or hid the truth from the press and even Roosevelt himself. Winning the election was vital to securing a lasting peace and of such great importance that Roosevelt’s poor health was not reason enough to back down. Roosevelt was so eager to win the election that he chose his Vice Presidential candidate based solely on how many votes he would draw rather than considering who might have to lead the nation if his health continued to decline. While not his first choice, Roosevelt still used all of his weight and chicanery to make sure that Harry Truman would be nominated at the Democratic convention.

Roosevelt spent little time campaigning in 1944 compared to his three previous elections due to his poor health.  Instead, as Commander in Chief he concentrated on the war effort, planning the strategy and tactics to use in the Pacific and coordinating with the Allies. In doing so, he was still indirectly promoting himself for the election by making the public aware of his primary concern which was to win the war and maintain peace. The little campaigning that Roosevelt actually did consisted of defending himself against Republican attacks and answering difficult questions on sensitive issues. The opposition’s candidate, Senator Dewey, along with other Republicans, made multiple attempts to tarnish Roosevelt’s image by attacking his poor health and perpetuating rumors about his dog. Dewey could have used the fact that Roosevelt possessed knowledge of Japanese fleet movements before the bombing at Pearl Harbor to his advantage in the election but was persuaded against doing so by General Marshall. Dewey lost the election by a small margin in the popular vote, blaming it on Roosevelt’s dirty politics:  talking about an issue that the candidates had agreed not to mention. Regardless of how he won, Roosevelt was still President, and now that the election was over with, he was able to proceed with his plans to end the war and all future wars for that matter.

Roosevelt knew that in order for there to be lasting peace there had to be an entity that could prevent future wars.  The participation of Stalin and Churchill was necessary to create such an entity. The United Nations, as he called it, would bring together all nations into a unity that would guarantee peace based on mutual respect and cooperation. Roosevelt cemented this proposal at the Yalta conference while discussing and deciding on post-war issues such as the division of Germany, the independence of Poland, and the Soviets’ role in the war on Japan. It was the one thing that Roosevelt wanted to make sure came out of the Yalta conference, and he even conceded on certain issues with Stalin in order to achieve it.

Victory was in Roosevelt’s grasp. Not only was the war in Europe almost over, but the foundations had been established for the creation of a United Nations.  Japan was alone, with no allies left, making it easier to defeat. Everything Roosevelt hoped to accomplish in his final term seemed to be coming true. Unfortunately, he did not live long enough to witness the end of the war and the fulfillment of his plans.  Franklin D. Roosevelt died on April 12th of a brain embolism, shocking not only the entire nation but the entire world as well.

Frank Freidel used a plethora of sources to compose his biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Not only did he use Roosevelt’s memoirs, but he went so far as to include notes taken by the Chinese and even the recorded impressions of Roosevelt by an ordinary sailor. Freidel constructed the biography in a generally chronological manner by reviewing Roosevelt’s life in segments which are sometimes even divided between groupings on subject matters since there were so many significant events that occurred during his lifetime. It appears that he believed that the vast amount of information on Roosevelt was too much to ingest without organization and compartmentalization for the reader’s benefit, and perhaps for his also.  While Friedel's layout solved the problem of too much information, it also caused a great deal of confusion on how Roosevelt actually lived through his Presidency by jumping back and forth through certain periods of time again and again.

Although the overall structure lacked in delivery, the individual chapters were quite successful in conveying their subject matter. Freidel carefully organized a vast amount of detail which manages to keep the reader interested and on point even through the tedious portions of Roosevelt’s life. The story that Freidel creates through each chapter is entertaining and intriguing enough to want to read on and on, with the only link between the chapters being Roosevelt himself.  This causes frustration for the reader as the biography repeatedly jumps in and out of subject matters like that of the War, the New Deal, and the elections. The reader is required to pay great attention to the few dates that are given in order to determine how each of the chapters relates to Roosevelt chronologically. In fact, there are times when, after reading multiple chapters, there is realization that the story is not progressing onward, but rather plodding through Roosevelt’s accomplishments and failures without interrelating them, causing the reader to question the significance or purpose of including them at all.  Although Friedel refrains from providing opinions or comments throughout the biography it is obvious to the reader that Freidel is enamored of Roosevelt and is glorifying and perpetuating his legacy.

“A Rendezvous with Destiny” is an excellent biography for anyone wanting to know more about Franklin D. Roosevelt or for someone just beginning research into his history. It offers a lot of information on the events surrounding his life and the world during his lifetime but little to none on the subject himself. It is impossible to know, without actually reading the memoirs of Roosevelt, what was left out about the inner workings of his mind.  Consequently, one feels unsatisfied in trying to understand Roosevelt as a person and the true reasoning for his actions. For learning about historical facts that comprised Roosevelt’s life, this biography is more than enough, but to truly understand the significance of the events covered, the real Roosevelt, and what affect his actions had on the world beyond his lifetime, a secondary book or further study would be necessary or recommended.