The Defining Moment review

2006.06.28 — Culture | Politics | Book Reviews | by Derek Jensen

In this time of doubt and division on the national political scene, Jonathan Alter offers The Defining Moment, the story of Franklin Roosevelt's election and first hundred days in office as president and the amazing feats of political courage and conviction that his administration accomplished so quickly. Alter, a fairly liberal guy (he has his own theme song on the Al Franken radio show, sung by Linda Ronstadt), nevertheless reminds us time and again that Roosevelt was considered a lightweight, an eastern aristocrat, and—in its ugliest sense—a cripple.

Alter doesn't directly compare and contrast FDR with more recent presidents, altho it's hard not to. But he presents FDR—and Eleanor too—as full, rounded personalities with faults and strengths that are instructive where they are not admirable.

It's fascinating to hear a man generally admitted as one of our greatest leaders spoken of as a lightweight, but by all accounts he was not an intellectual and not particularly personable. His physical disability changed him in ways that gave him real advantages politically—he was forced to listen to people he would rather have walked away from, for example—but also real disadvantages. It is probably partly a credit to FDR that the disabled are valued today as equals and not considered the luckless, waning refuse of humanity that they were thought of—and spoken of—in the 1930s.

One of Roosevelt's most useful traits was his ability to change direction when something wasn't working. This trait, so derided today as "flip-flopping," was crucial to the success of his hit-or-miss New Deal programs, and he closed or merged almost as many "alphabet soup" bureaus as he opened. It is incredible to think that work programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps—responsible for building park facilities and roads and planting literally billions of trees—was a casual idea that hardly anyone other than FDR thought would work. It is equally incredible to think that even FDR didn't trust the new Keynsian economics that explained that running a budget deficit in bad economic times was a good thing, the equivalent of taking out a mortgage to build a house.

Much time is spent explaining the numerous attempts by Herbert Hoover to get president-elect Roosevelt to back his continued bad policies or his proposed good policies, particularly the idea of a bank holiday to allow time to stabilize the banking industry. More time spent explaining the painfully slow decision to create the FDIC that actually did stabilize the banking industry, or the equally painful decision to go off the gold standard, would have been time better spent.

Ultimately, history is about people and not policy, of course, and the personal drama of FDR's difficult decision to let Hoover hang himself by his own failed policies makes for a better story. But it makes the actual accomplishments of Alter's "defining moment" harder to take in.

It also makes it more difficult to assess exactly why FDR's policies didn't help the country more than they did. After all, he took office in 1933 but failed to get the country back on its feet until Americans went to work in armament factories in 1940. It's frightening to wonder what might have become of America if a World War hadn't kicked started the economy, but Alter doesn't contemplate this except to suggest that a quicker recovery might have denied FDR the rationale to create later programs like the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Phew! Dodged a bullet there! Hurray for the Great Depression!(?)

But he does address Roosevelt's crucial decision not to assume dictatorial powers at a time when dictators seemed like a great idea, and the creation of banking reform and Social Security (and rejection of communistic rival plans), the repeal of Prohibition, and his occasional, immensely reassuring fireside chats. And these are enough to convince us that FDR's defining moment was a defining moment for America too. He rejected the fascism that arose in western Europe and the communism that took over eastern Europe and elsewhere, and that determined the path America would take ever since. Roosevelt's ability to make sound, far-thinking decisions in a time of severe national crisis is remarkable, and it's what makes him one of our very greatest presidents.

I listened to the unabridged audio CD version, read by Grover Gardner, a skilled but very nasally narrator who I found annoying.

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