Jonathan Alter's bestselling and critically acclaimed account of how FDR lifted the country from despair and paralysis and transformed the presidency for all time.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Warts and All
Comment: The Defining Moment is extremely relevant to the current period, the transition between Presidents Bush and Obama. The parallels are impressive: pressure for the President-elect to start acting, vast economic problems, and even an international economic conference.

Alter demonstrates that FDR was not the messiah, but he does so without vilifying and blaming him for prolonging the depression. FDR got a lot right and he got a lot wrong, but the fact that he kept trying with his forceful personality really made a difference to the country.

The book is broken into four parts. It opens with substantial background on FDR, then covers his nomination and election, then proceeds to the transition period (much longer than before implementation of a constitutional amendment moving the Inauguration from March to January), and ends with the first 100 Days. A coda and epilogue discuss some of the subsequent periods.

The best section is on the transition, seeing how FDR tried to keep himself from becoming intertwined with Hoover's failing policies.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Thank You Jonathan Alter
Comment: Thank you, Jonathan Alter for writing such a compelling study of great leadership. Thank you, also for including such influential figures and accomplished women as Lorena Hickok and Frances Perkins. You are not just an historian; you are an herstorian as well.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Masterful portrait of FDR's rise to president and his first '100 Days'
Comment: Jonathan Alter, senior editor at Newsweek, and frequent contributor at MSNBC has written an excellent book about the rise and early presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt entitled 'The Defining Moment.' In concise yet articulate chapters Alter paints a compelling portrait of FDR, ther president who took the helm at what was, up until that point, the direst financial and societal crisis the nation had seen perhaps since the Civil War, and certainly in the 20th century.

Now known as 'The Great Depression,' America was plunged into crisis after the great stock crash of 1929. The downward spiral was arguably exacerbated and accelerated by the failed policies of Herbert Hoover. Enter FDR.

Roosevelt had worked his way up to serve as secretary of the Navy in the mid 1920s. At that time Al Smith was the governor of New York. Smith, in some ways, saw FDR as his heir apparent to the governorship in NY. He also felt threatened by him.

Smith had strong ties to the Tammany Hall group that had dominated NY city politics for decades but were suspect and corrupt in the eyes of many not within their circle. As the 1930s began, Alter describes how Roosevelt took on Tammany Hall and even launched an investigation against the NYC mayor, culminating in the mayor resigning under suspicion. This brazen challenging of the regional status quo helped make a name for FDR, and added momentum to his candidacy for president.

As it turned out, FDR ended up battling Smith for the Democratic nomination in 1932. This was an uphill battle, as Smith, while waning in popularity with the electorate, tightly controlled the party leadership that got out the vote and controlled the convention.

In Alter's nuanced portrait we see not only the glad-handing, smiling, congenial FDR who overcame obstacles and his disability. We also see a shrewd political maneuverer who knew how to say what needed to be said to win voter confidence, while also staying several steps ahead of his political adversaries. He showed great skill at gaining political advantage.

Roosevelt faced significant challenges along the way. One of his greatest challenges was his battle with illness. At the age of 39 he developed a mysterious fever while on vacation. He did not seek treatment right away and ended up with a crippling case of polio. As president-elect, he also was the target of a botched assassination attempt.

His handlers and assistants worked vigorously to keep FDR from being portrayed as weak. He was not allowed to be photographed either in a wheelchair or being carried. When he made his way to the rostrum at the convention, he strode up on his son's arm along with a cane.

One of the key turning points in his recuperation was his trips to Warm Springs, Georgia. He found the waters there to be therapeutic and also found renewed confidence through his time there. Alter asserts that FDR's bout with polio also sensitized him to the plight of the disabled and destitute and, in part, influenced some of the sweeping social reforms of the New Deal.

One of the greatest sources of strength for Franklin, though was his wife Eleanor. They had their share of challenges, and according to Alter were on the verge of her considering divorce due to his infidelity. She rallied behind him, though, and was an effective and persuasive campaigner. Alter mentions one story where protesters had gathered outside the White House and Eleanor went out to serve them tea, listen to their concerns and diffuse a potentially ugly situation.

Once in office, FDR initiated the New Deal- which, while unpopular with conservatives to this day, arguably helped get the U.S. economy and workforce back on its feet. It also promoted greater equity in wages and benefits for American workers through programs like the National Recovery Administration and social security.

Roosevelt also became well known for his 'fireside chats,' one of which Alter includes in the appendix. These periodic radio broadcasts were the first time a president had addressed the American people in a conversational style through mass media.

Overall, Alter's book is excellent, readable and very thoughtfully written. There are no new or earth-shattering revelations, but the book offers a thoughtful overview of Roosevelt's ascension to the presidency and the early days of his time in office. While the challenges of each era in history are unique, there are also, arguably, some parallels to the crisis our nation now faces some 75+ years later. Time will tell how well our leaders have learned from the important lessons from this era of history.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent and Very Well Written
Comment: The book is well written, well documented and very interesting. It is factual, and easy to understand. I am a Historian and have found this book well above average. I highly reccomend this for reading both alone and in classrooms.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Is this guy beig paid by the word?
Comment: Ideally, an historical "slice of life" book would tell you more about FDR than Jonathan Alter, but this is not the case with this dry account. Alter spends more time obsessing about Elanor's questionable relationship with Lorena Hickok, and characterizing FDR as an elitist snob who got lucky, than relating any new information, or describing FDR's thought processes or reasoning. Getting through it was torture.

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