"Roosevelt was too big a man to be put into one book by one author," said A. Merriman Smith, the well-known White House correspondent. Miss Cavanah says, in her Author's Note, that this remark helps to explain why so much has already been written about F.D.R. and why readers throughout the world will continue to read about him for years to come. This, in spite of the fact (or perhaps because of it) that, like other great men, he inspired strong personal feelings for or against himself and his policies during his lifetime.
This full-length portrait of a man is also a portrait of an era of change in which he exercised tremendous impact, a world unfamiliar to young people of today, before such measures as Social Security—now taken for granted—had been enacted into law.
Miss Cavanah begins her story in 1892, when F.D.R. was ten, and shows the development of his character and personality through his life at school, at home, and at college. F.D.R. grew up with the feeling that his many advantages made it mandatory to give much in return. This, as well as his inborn interest in human beings, and the influence of his cousin, Theodore Roosevelt—with whom he often disagreed though they also had much in common—plus his adventurous spirit, were the factors that took him into politics.
Throughout the pages of her book, Miss Cavanah gives her readers sketches of the people around F.D.R.-his family, with particular emphasis on his wife, Eleanor; famous world figures; neigh- bors; boyhood friends; the White House staff; and the patients at Warm Springs—especially the children who called him "Uncle Rosy."
It is an inspiring story for young people, written with warmth and sympathy, and an understanding of his all-too-human faults, of a man who overcame a great misfortune and made his life a "triumphant adventure." It is also the story of a President who brought about more changes in his country and in the world than any American President in history for, to him, a national problem was simply "people somewhere needing help."
". . .a warmly affectionate, frequently moving tribute that has been written with obvious love and compassion." —Library Journal
Frances Cavanaugh has written many books for young people, among them several about occupants of the White House. Her books about two earlier Presidents, however, were for younger children and took Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt only up to the presidency, whereas in this book, much longer and more detailed, she has written a complete biography. Her interest in, and knowledge of, American history are well known, as is her ability to write for young people in a vivid, appealing way.
Did you find this review helpful?