Award-winning historian David Pietrusza boldly steers clear of the past narrative regarding Franklin Roosevelt’s unprecedented 1936 reelection landslide, weaving an enormously more intricate, ever more surprising tale of a polarized nation; of America’s most complex, calculating, and politically successful president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, at the very top of his Machiavellian game; and the unlocking of the puzzle of how our society, our politics, and our parties fitfully reinvented themselves.
With in-depth examinations of rabble-rousing Democratic US Senator Huey Long and his assassination before he was able to challenge FDR; powerful, but hated newspaper baron William Randolph Hearst, who blasted FDR’s “Raw Deal”; wildly popular, radical radio host Father Coughlin; the steamrolled passage of Social Security and backlash against it; the era’s racism and anti-Semitism; American Socialism and Communism; and a Supreme Court seemingly bent on dismantling the New Deal altogether, Roosevelt Sweeps Nation is a vivid portrait of a dynamic Depression-Era America.
Crafting his account from an impressive and unprecedented collection of primary and secondary sources, Pietrusza has produced an engrossing, original, and authoritative account of an election, a president, and a nation at the crossroads. The nation’s stakes were high … and the parallels hauntingly akin to today’s dangerously strife-ridden political and culture wars.
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“Pietrusza?at his best. Nobody can tell a better story than?Pietrusza…This is another page-turner you won’t want to put down. At a time when Americans can use a reprieve from today’s news,?Roosevelt Sweeps Nation?is just what the doctor ordered.?And David?Pietrusza?is a national treasure.”
— The Daily Beast
“David Pietrusza’s Roosevelt Sweeps Nation combines penetrating research with good illustrative anecdotes to bring the 1936 presidential election between FDR and Alf Landon into sharp focus. A marvelous and important history. Highly recommended!”
— Douglas Brinkley, New York Times bestselling author“David Pietrusza has done it again—another fascinating book on a key moment in history. Franklin Roosevelt won a massive victory in 1936, cementing his New Deal permanently. Pietrusza brings FDR’s era to life and shows us how it happened.”
— Larry J. Sabato, New York Times bestselling author“Roosevelt crafted an election strategy so strong that it has defined national campaigns of both parties ever since. Now historian David Pietrusza brings the stunning 1936 Roosevelt Sweep to life, with timely lessons for our current challenges.”
— Amity Shlaes, New York Times bestselling author“Pietrusza at his best. Nobody can tell a better story than Pietrusza…This is another page-turner you won’t want to put down. At a time when Americans can use a reprieve from today’s news, Roosevelt Sweeps Nation is just what the doctor ordered. And David Pietrusza is a national treasure.”
— The Daily BeastBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
David Pietrusza has written or edited over three dozen books. An expert on the 1920s, he works as a public information officer. He lives in upstate New York.
Jack de Golia has narrated over seventy-five audiobooks in a wide range of genres. His narrations include the Project series by Alex Lukeman and Remembering the Battle of the Crater by Kevin Levin.