 The Three RooseveltsPatrician Leaders who Transformed AmericaJames MacGregor Burns and Susan Dunn |
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| Excellent…Burns and Dunn…succeed in approaching their subjects with grace, respect, and insight. In the end, they do great justice to three remarkable lives superbly lived.
PUBLISHER WEEKLY (STARRED REVIEW) In war and in peace, the twentieth century was the Roosevelt century. From Theodore Roosevelt’s Square Deal and battles with the plutocrats of the Gilded Age, to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and wartime leadership, to Eleanor Roosevelt’s pivotal work on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and vital role in the Civil Rights movement, their crusades dramatically reshaped the political and moral landscape of our nation. InThe Three Roosevelts, Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning author James MacGregor Burns and acclaimed historian Susan Dunn brilliantly illuminate the intertwining lives of these leaders, who emerged from the closed society of New York’s wealthy Knickerbocker elite to become America’s most powerful advocates for social and economic justice. As Burns and Dunn follow the evolution of the Roosevelt political philosophy, they explore how Theodore’s example of dynamic leadership would inspire the careers of his distant cousin Franklin and his niece Eleanor. Full of probing insight and compelling drama, The Three Roosevelts is a gripping narrative of three of America’s greatest leaders, who together forged a progressive political legacy that reverberated throughout the world. |
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| Boston Globe A Triumvirate for Change, David M. Shribman May 6, 2001They were bred to entertain society, not to lead it, surely not to change it. They were reared as aristocrats, and yet they had an ear for the yearning of the merest inhabitant of remote farms and teeming urban centers. They were patricians, trained to be cultured, not to change the culture. They were expected to have servants, not to serve others. They were known in their time, as in ours, by their first names or initials… The Atlanta Journal-Constitution The verdict: Biographical history at its best… Houston Chronicle When the 20th century began in America, women could not vote, labor had low visibility, and poor people did without adequate food and medicine. The need for reform set the tone for the first half of the century… Publishers Weekly As president, Theodore Roosevelt modeled himself after the man he admired the most – his father, who believed in moral justice – and after the man his father admired the most – President Lincoln, for his ability to be both a radical reformer and a shrewdly conservative politician… America On Jan. 2, 1882, Teddy Roosevelt burst into the Republican caucus room in Albany wearing a cutaway coat and carrying his silk hat and gold-headed cane. His single eyeglass with gold chain over his ear and center-parted hair marked him as every bit the “dude”, a rich playboy. But he was no dude; he became an “instant, impulsive, and bumptious reformer.” Thus began the “Roosevelt Century” – a century marked by the leadership of Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Eleanor Roosevelt… The State Columbia, SC Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt, three unlikely revolutionaries who emerged from America’s monied leisure class. That’s the theme of this absorbing, insightful look at this trio of amazing and still-controversial leaders whose impact, as the authors write, was felt in almost every corner of America throughout the 20th century… Orlando Sentinel The three Roosevelts – Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor – were patricians with the common touch who left their mark on the 20th century like no other American political family… CNN.com (CNN) — As the year 2000 approached, there were innumerable lists of most influential people on the 20th century. One name appeared on virtually all of them: Roosevelt. Historians James MacGregor Burns and Susan Dunn would agree that the name belongs on all those lists. They further make a case that it should appear not once, but three times… |