Franklin D. Roosevelt: Thirty-Second President of the United States

by Alice Osinski

Book Overview

Follows the life and career of America's thirty-second president, who led the country through the Depression and was elected to four terms in the White House. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0516013955
• ISBN13: 9780516013954
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: Children's Press(CT)
• Length: 100 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.3" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 10 to 13 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 8

Customer Reviews

A solid juvenile biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt

I was struck by the fact that even though with the story of Franklin D. Roosevelt we are talking about a man elected to the Presidency for four terms that author Alice Osinski only devotes half of the ten chapters in this volume of the Encyclopedia of Presidents to his time in the White House. The opening chapter, following the format of this series, focuses on a pivotal moment in the life of its subject. In FDR's case it would be the day he took the oath of office on March 4, 1933, when the nation was hoping that a man who had fought against the crippling effects of a disease and learned to walk ago could help bring the country to its feet as well. Roosevelt's life and political career makes for a solid organizational structure for this volume. Early chapters cover his privileged life as the scion of a wealthy family, his education, and his marriage to his (fifth) cousin Eleanor. Roosevelt's early political career is seen as "Following in the Footsteps of Cousin Teddy" and young readers will probably be surprised to learn that FDR was on the Democratic ticket in 1920 as the running mate of James M. Cox. Osinski makes an interesting strategic choice by labelling FDR's attack of polio as "A Minor Setback"; certainly, in retrospective it constiuted such, but clearly at the time it had to look like the end of any and all political ambitions for Roosevelt (Note: The chapter is only 3 pages long, which explains why there are only a "few" chapter on the Presidency--they are longer chapters).After a chapter looking at Roosevelt's political comeback, being elected governor of New York in 1928, and then President four years later. The chapters devoted to FDR's presidency are not defined by his terms, but rather by the issues with which he dealt: the New Deal as a response to the Great Depression, establishing the Arsenal of Democracy as preparation for World War II, American involvement in World II (going past FDR's death in 1945), and a final chapter looking at Roosevelt's political legacy. The strength of this volume is that it provides not only the biographical details of FDR's life, but tries to give young readers a good sense of his important accomplishments in transforming the role of government in the United States. In the end Osinksi claims that for better or worse, no other president has had a deeper or more lasting impact on life in the United States. Abraham Lincoln saved the union, but Franklin D. Roosevelt changed the relationship between the people and their government. The institutions created by FDR to prevent another Great Depression exist today, as do other social programs. The book is illustrated with black & white photographs from FDR's personal and political life, including a couple of nice political cartoons by Berryman (you can never have too many of those). Granted, these books do not look modern (you would swear they were printed in the 1950s), but they are quite informative, which is the desired goal.