A unique and illuminating exploration of the key relationships that shaped Franklin Delano Roosevelt into one of America's most definitive leaders and impacted his influence on the world stage, from the acclaimed author of Lincoln's Mentors
Franklin Delano Roosevelt wasn't a born leader. He became one. As a boy he was in poor health, was insecure, and an average student at best. Growing into manhood, the lessons he learned came not from books but from influencers of his lifetime, beginning with Endicott Peabody, the most renowned US headmaster of the twentieth century. He instilled in Roosevelt a confidence and strength that empowered the young student and propelled him to greatness as one of the most revered presidents of the United States.
For Roosevelt, Peabody was only one of a small number of people who helped him develop the skills and temperament that enabled him to overcome the devastating effects of polio, to lead the nation through two crises, and to secure America's leadership in the world. In FDR's Mentors, Michael Gerhardt tells the extraordinary stories of the men and women who had a vital impact on Roosevelt's life, career, and pragmatic personality: his distant cousin Teddy; his wife Eleanor; President Woodrow Wilson; journalist Lewis Howe; Winston Churchill; and New York Democratic Party leader Al Smith.
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Michael J. Gerhardt is the Burton Craige Distinguished University Professor of Jurisprudence at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has degrees from Yale University, London School of Economics, and the University of Chicago. His teaching and research focuses on constitutional conflicts between presidents and Congress. In 2015, he became the first legal scholar to be asked by the Library of Congress to serve as its principal adviser in revising the official annotation of the United States Constitution. He is a regular contributor to the Washington Post and a number of other publications, and has been interviewed by every major TV network and NPR.
Danny Campbell is an Earphones Award–winning narrator and an actor who has appeared in CBS’ The Guardian, the films A Pool, a Fool, and a Duel and Greater Than Gravity, and in over twenty-five commercials. He is a company member of the Independent Shakespeare Company in Los Angeles and is an adjunct faculty member at Santa Monica College.