That Man; An Insider's Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Laura Goldfeld (Author photograph) Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. xxviii, [2], 290 pages. Biographical Sketches. Footnotes. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliographical Essay. Index. Foreword by William E. Leuchtenburg. Introduction by John Q. Barrett. Robert H. Jackson was one of the giants of the Roosevelt era: an Attorney General, a revered Supreme Court Justice and one of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's close friends and advisers. This memoir of FDR, written before Jackson's untimely death, remained unpublished for fifty years. Here is that memoir. Written with skill and grace, this is truly a unique account of the personality, conduct, character, and humanity of "that man in the White House," as conservatives called FDR. Jackson eloquently provides an insider's view of Roosevelt's presidency, including such crucial events as FDR's Court-packing plan, his battles with corporate America, his decision to seek a third term, and his move to aid Britain in 1940 with American destroyers. He offers a personal portrait of Roosevelt--on fishing trips, in poker games, or approving legislation while eating breakfast in bed. We meet a president who is far-sighted but nimble in attacking the problems at hand; principled but flexible; charismatic and popular but unafraid to pick fights, take stands, and when necessary, make enemies. That Man is not simply a valuable historical document, but an engaging and insightful look at one of the most remarkable men in American history. In reading this memoir, we gain not only a new appreciation for Roosevelt, but also admiration for Jackson, who emerges as both a public servant of great integrity and fair-minded observer of politics at the highest level. John Q. Barrett is St. John's University's Benjamin N. Cardozo Professor of Law. He teaches Criminal Procedure: Investigation, Constitutional Law and Legal History courses. Professor Barrett also is the Elizabeth S. Lenna Fellow at the Robert H. Jackson Center in Jamestown, New York. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and Harvard Law School, a former U.S. government lawyer and investigator, and a prominent public lecturer and regular media commentator on law, government, and history topics. Professor Barrett is writing a biography of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice and Nuremberg prosecutor Robert H, Jackson (1892-1954). It will include the first inside account of Justice Jackson's service, by appointment of President Truman, as the chief prosecutor at Nuremberg, Germany, following World War II, of principal surviving Nazi leaders. William Edward Leuchtenburg (; September 28, 1922 – January 28, 2025) was an American historian who was the William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a leading scholar of the life and career of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was a president of the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, and the Society of American Historians. Eric Foner is the only other historian to claim that distinction. Derived from a Kirkus review: Intelligent, informed thoughts on FDR’s presidency by a close associate: Solicitor General, Attorney General, and finally Supreme Court Justice Jackson (1892–1954). Written in the early 1950s but only recently discovered by editor Barrett among Jackson’s personal papers, the manuscript considers FDR in separate chapters as a politician, lawyer, commander-in-chief, administrator, economist, leader, and friend. Although the text has a finished quality, it also has the brevity of quick notes jotted down with examples of Roosevelt’s strengths and weaknesses in each department. Jackson promises readers the “testimony of an interested witness” and takes seasoned measure of a man so often “the subject of undiscriminating idolatry or of unreasoning hate.” What the author saw was a self-confident gentleman, brimming with intellectual capital, informal but dignified, capable of being mercurial and of trespassing on legislative turf, as when he tried to remove policymakers outside executive agencies. Jackson unveils episodes of step-by-step policy formation, as when the administration exchanged destroyers for naval and air stations in the Atlantic, bypassing Congressional approval. He also points out, again with examples, Roosevelt's shortcomings: FDR was “impatient of the slow and exacting judicial process”—impatient, indeed, with anything that was slow and exacting—and Jackson remarks that, for someone who effected radical changes on the economic landscape, his friend’s vision “did not impress me as being grounded in economic theory or practice.” Rather, FDR made his decisions based on political judgment and social philosophy, which he was able to communicate to the man on the street. Jackson writes smoothly and manages to compress many angles of complex material into a brief text. This is an intimate look into the way decisions were made brings Roosevelt very much into human focus. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: Franklin Roosevelt, Francis Biddle, Civil Liberties, Benjamin Cohen, Thomas Corcoran, Homer Cummings, Court-packing, Stephen Early, James Farley, Harry Hopkins, Harold Ickes, Frank Know, Herbert Lehman, Henry Morganthau, Henry Stimson, Harry Truman
ISBN: 0195168267
[Book #91866]
Price: $75.00