
Roosevelt Sweeps Nation
FDR’s 1936 Landslide and the Triumph of the Liberal Ideal
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Narrated by:
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Jack de Golia
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By:
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David Pietrusza
About this listen
Award-winning historian David Pietrusza boldly steers clear of the past narrative regarding Franklin Roosevelt’s unprecedented 1936 re-election landslide, weaving an enormously more intricate, ever more surprising tale of a polarized nation; of America’s most complex, calculating, and politically successful president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, at the very top of his Machiavellian game; and the unlocking of the puzzle of how our society, our politics, and our parties fitfully reinvented themselves.
With in-depth examinations of rabble-rousing Democratic US Senator Huey Long and his assassination before he was able to challenge FDR; powerful, but hated newspaper baron William Randolph Hearst, who blasted FDR’s “Raw Deal”; wildly popular, radical radio host Father Coughlin; the steamrolled passage of Social Security and backlash against it; the era’s racism and anti-Semitism; American Socialism and Communism; and a Supreme Court seemingly bent on dismantling the New Deal altogether, Roosevelt Sweeps Nation is a vivid portrait of a dynamic Depression-Era America.
Crafting his account from an impressive and unprecedented collection of primary and secondary sources, Pietrusza has produced an engrossing, original, and authoritative account of an election, a president, and a nation at the crossroads. The nation’s stakes were high…and the parallels hauntingly akin to today’s dangerously strife-ridden political and culture wars.
©2022 David Pietrusza (P)2022 Blackstone PublishingListeners also enjoyed...
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What listeners say about Roosevelt Sweeps Nation
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- JohnGuy
- 12-14-22
Enlightening
I thought I knew a lot about FDR. This was most enlightening. Everyone will learn details they hadn’t heard before. Very enjoyable listening. The narrator even pronounced the names correctly (all but Gannett).
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- Keith D. Allan
- 04-03-23
Excellent read.
Another gem by David Pietruza. Really enjoyed the narration by Jack de Golia. Interesting slice of political history.
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