Overview

Drawing on new materials, Unlikely Heroes constructs an entirely fresh understanding of FDR and his presidency by spotlighting the powerful, equally wounded figures whom he raised up to confront the Depression, then to beat the Axis. Only four people served at the top echelon of President Franklin Roosevelt's Administration from the frightening early months of spring 1933 until he died in April 1945, on the cusp of wartime victory. These lieutenants composed the tough, constrictive, long-term core of government. They built the great institutions being raised against the Depression, implemented the New Deal, and they were pivotal to winning World War II. Yet, in their different ways, each was as wounded as the polio-stricken titan. Harry Hopkins, Harold Ickes, Frances Perkins, and Henry Wallace were also strange outsiders. Up to 1933, none would ever have been considered for high office. Still, each became a world figure, and it would have been exceedingly difficult for Roosevelt to transform the nation without them. By examining the lives of these four, a very different picture emerges of how Americans saved their democracy and rescued civilization overseas. Many of the dangers that they all overcame are troublingly like those America faces today.

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Reviews

Unlikely Heroes is the most exciting book written about FDR's presidency in decades. Finally, we see exactly how he led the nation. -- James Strock, author of Theodore Roosevelt on Leadership A brilliantly captivating portrait of Roosevelt and his four most important associates...A unique perspective on the twelve tumultuous years of FDR's presidency, it is full of illuminating insights into the upheavals of America today. -- Liaquat Ahamed, Pulitzer-winning author A fascinating and absorbing analysis of FDR's brilliantly chosen team of four courageous and creative men and women. -- Susan Dunn, author of 1940 Leebaert has done the near impossible crafted a fresh and challenging portrait of the man and his inner circle. -- Richard Norton Smith, author of An Uncommon Man

A brilliantly captivating portrait of Roosevelt and his four most important associates, revealing their interwoven lives and friendships. Not only does it provide a unique perspective on the twelve tumultuous years of FDR's presidency, it is full of illuminating insights into the upheavals of America today. -- Liaquat Ahamed, Pulitzer-winning author A fascinating and absorbing analysis of FDR's brilliantly chosen team of four courageous and creative men and women. -- Susan Dunn, author of 1940 Leebaert has done the near impossible crafted a fresh and challenging portrait of the man and his inner circle. -- Richard Norton Smith, author of An Uncommon Man

Author Information

Derek Leebaert won the biennial 2020 Truman Book Award for Grand Improvisation: America Confronts the British Superpower, 1945-1957. His previous books include Magic and Mayhem: The Delusions of American Foreign Policy from Korea to Afghanistan and To Dare and to Conquer: Special Operations and the Destiny of Nations, both Washington Post Best Books of the Year. He was a founding editor of the Harvard/MIT journal International Security and is a cofounder of the National Museum of the United States Army. He holds a D.Phil from Oxford and lives in Washington, DC. L. J. Ganser is a multiple Audie Award-winning narrator with over six hundred titles recorded to date. Prized for versatility, his work ranges from preschool books to crime noir thrillers, from astronomical adventures in both science and science fiction, to Arctic Circle high school basketball stories. He lives in New York City with his family and dog, Mars.

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