![[Abridged] Presidential Histories - 32.C.) FDR, Traitor to his Class, an interview with H.W. Brands](https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/episode_images/6525cc0e1e417ed39f762f8124d08715bf80d60045828e7dbdde538ee5b7f9b9.avif)
32.C.) FDR, Traitor to his Class, an interview with H.W. Brands
[Abridged] Presidential Histories
04/17/23
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"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little," - Franklin Roosevelt, Jan. 20, 1937.
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FDR had one of the most privileged upbringings of any U.S. President. Why was he the one to enact the most radical social and economic reforms in U.S. history? Historian H.W. Brands discusses his Pulitzer Prize-finalist book, Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the roles uncle Teddy, Polio, and the Great Depression played in making FDR a champion of the downtrodden.
Previous Episode
"Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them," - FDR on Bill of Rights Day, 1941.
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Every president's death is mourned differently. What do those differences tell us about the evolving culture of our nation? Historians Lindsay Chervinsky and Matthew Costello join me to discuss their new book Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture, with a deeper dive on the death of FDR 82 days into the start of his fourth term. Did anyone know how sick he was? Did his health impact the change at VP? And how did his death impact the nation?
Next Episode
"The president wants to come into your home and sit at your fireside for a little fireside chat," - Robert Trout of CBS News, introducing one of FDR's radio speeches.
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FDR is the longest-serving president in U.S. history, winning four consecutive terms. That doesn't happen without darn good PR. Historian Howard Holzer, director of the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College in New York City, Chairman of the Lincoln Forum, and author of The presidents vs. the Press: The endless battle between the white house and the media, from the founding fathers to Fake News , joins me to discuss how FDR mastered the media of his day to become the most persuasive president in U.S. history.
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