The Politics of Upheaval: The Age of Roosevelt, 1935–1936

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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Jul 9, 2003 - History - 772 pages

In the third volume of his series on Franklin Roosevelt, the Pulitzer Prize–winning historian focuses on the turbulent final years of FDR’s first term.

A measure of economic recovery revived political conflict and emboldened Roosevelt’s critics to denounce “that man in the White house.” To his left were demagogues—Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and Dr. Townsend. To his right were the champions of the old order—ex-president Herbert Hoover, the American Liberty League, and the august Supreme Court. For a time, the New Deal seemed to lose its momentum. But in 1935 FDR rallied and produced a legislative record even more impressive than the Hundred Days of 1933—a set of statutes that transformed the social and economic landscape of American life. In 1936 FDR coasted to reelection on a landslide. Schlesinger has his usual touch with colorful personalities and draws a warmly sympathetic portrait of Alf M. Landon, the Republican candidate of 1936.

“One of the most important historical enterprises of our time.”—Saturday Review

 

“Vividly portrays…the concluding years of Roosevelt’s first term…[and] the sweep and excitement of an era more historically dramatic than most.”—Time
 

Selected pages

Contents

Foreword
1865
Prologue to Stalemate
1868
The Theology of Ferment
1881
The Rise of the Demagogues
1882
The Old Folks Crusade
1899
The Messiah of the Rednecks
1915
The Dream of Fascism
Revolt in the Old Northwest
Power for the People
The Ideology of the Second New Deal
The Politics of the Second New Deal
The Roosevelt Coalition
The Crisis of the Constitution
The Seat of Judgment
The Supreme Court Takes the Offensive
Storm over the Constitution

Utopia in the Far West
The Melting Pot Boils Over
Insurgency on Capitol Hill
American Plan
European Plan
Growth of a Conspiracy
The Coming of the Second New Deal
Ordeal by Indecision
Roosevelt in Retreat
The Death of
Breakthrough
The Utilities on the Barricades
Triumph and Tranquility
The Battle of Relief
The Campaign of 1936
Shadows Ahead
Dissidence among the Democrats
Revival among the Republicans
Mumblings in the Night
The Democrats on the Brink
The Coalition in Action
Saving the American Way of Life
The People Speak
Trustee for Those in Every Country
Notes
Index
Books by Arthur M Schlesinger Jr About the Author Footnotes
Copyright

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About the author (2003)

Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., the author of thirty books, was a renowned historian and social critic. He twice won the Pulitzer Prize, in 1946 for The Age of Jackson and in 1966 for A Thousand Days. Schlesinger was also the winner of the National Book Award for both A Thousand Days and Robert Kennedy and His Times (1979). In 1998 he was awarded the prestigious National Humanities Medal.

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