Nothing to Fear: Fdr's Inner Circle and the Hundred Days That Created Modern America (Thorndike Press Large Print Nonfiction Series),   ISBN:9781410416285

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This is an excellent book about the Great Depression. It is easy to read and very informative. Definitely one of the best books in regards to that era.

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Nothing to Fear offers accounts of several of the early New Deal's key players such as Raymond Moley, Rexford Tugwell, Harry Hopkins, Francis Perkins, Henry Wallace, and Lewis Douglas. Some would fade from Roosevelt's circle quickly, while others would serve most of his presidency in some capacity or another. Each has an interesting story to tell and through their jobs and views, we see some of the back and forth tensions of the New Deal. The New Deal was not a campaign platform, but rather a campaign slogan that these individuals had to add to. Some of them saw the New Deal as a vehicle for a balanced budget, others saw the need for quick public works projects and immediate relief, and others were looking to establish lasting change with far reaching, permanent social programs.

There were two small shortcomings to Nothing to Fear. One, some of the players seemed to disappear. I didn't actually read Nothing to Fear, but listened to it on CD. So I could not flip back to see if I had missed something with ease. But Administration players like Treasury Secretary Woodin and Ag Department staffer Rexford Tugwell did not receive the same follow-up treatment many of the other players did. Two, the book has a bit of tunnel vision regarding the individuals it has chosen to follow. As a result, it can be a bit dismissive of some other Roosevelt insiders who might have swayed his thinking such as Louis Howe (whom the author seems to really dislike), James Farley, Sam Rosenman, and even Eleanor Roosevelt.

But for the individuals the book does give thorough treatment to, their stories are well told, their beliefs explored, and their goals explained. The book makes a good compliment to other 100 Days books, such as The Defining Moment.

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Even those who believe they are familiar with Roosevelt and the New Deal are likely to be surprised to learn things they did not know from this book. Adam Cohen's "Nothing to Fear" is 318 pages long and is fairly easy to read and deals almost exclusively with the first 100 days of FDR's administration. In many books that cover the 12 years of the Roosevelt's presidency some of the finer details of the beginnings of his administration become obscured, particularly in comparison to FDR's stewardship of the war effort between 1941 and his death in April 1945.

The reader should be struck by the similarities between the current economic crisis and the much more dire situation that faced Roosevelt upon taking office in March 1933. Although not novel, Cohen makes it clear that FDR had few fixed ideas about what to do about the Depression and was willing to try a variety of things to see what would work. Unlike Hoover, however, Roosevelt was not willing to simply let nature takes its course. Many of his initial programs, such as the Agricultural Adjustment Act and the National Recovery Act were aimed at ending the Depression by restricting competition.

FDR knew little about economics, had many conservative instincts and his administration included several very conservative personalities in it, most notably Lewis Douglas (also an anti-Semite), the budget director. As Cohen tells the story, there was a battle for FDR's soul won by the liberal or progressive members of the administration, notably Agriculture Secretary Henry Wallace, Labor Secretary Frances Perkins, advisors Rexford Tugwell and Harry Hopkins. Cohen includes mini biographies of many of these figures, as well as one of Raymond Moley, FDR's principal advisor, who fell out with him in the mid-1930s.

One of the most surprising things I learned from Cohen's book is that FDR was very much opposed to Federal Deposit Insurance, now one of the least controversial New Deal programs, and threatened to veto it. Politicians such as Vice President John Nance Gardner and Senator Huey Long forced the program down FDR's throat.

Cohen also highlights the role of Congressional figures such as Senator Robert LaFollette, Jr. (often confused with his more famous father who died in 1925), Robert F. Wagner and Colorado's Edward Costigan (who I'd never heard of prior to reading this book) in initiating and pushing for much of the early New Deal legislation.

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The title Nothing to Fear is based on Franklin Delano Roosevelt's famous statement about the years following the 1929 depression, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." "Nothing to fear" is not exactly what FDR said and he did not invent this most famous presidential statement; but like most else about FDR, it is attributed to him.

Cohen's book, as its subtitle says, focuses on "FDR's Inner Circle and the Hundred Days that created Modern America." Many people think that FDR developed the solutions to the great depression on his own. But Cohen shows that he entered office with no idea of what to do next, and it was five members of his inner circle that formulated the solutions that changed America with fifteen major laws enacted within his first hundred days as president.
Roosevelt took office as president on March 4, 1933 when thousands of banks closed, a quarter of American workers were out of work and farmers and military veterans were openly rebellious.

Herbert Hoover, a republican, was president before him. Hoover recognized the horrors of the depression, but his solution, based on long-held and highly respected American political theory, was passive and callous. His "free-market ideology taught him that private enterprise should be the source of all solutions, and his near-religious commitment to `rugged individualism' convinced him that giving aid to the Depression's victims would morally damage them."

FDR turned the country and its philosophy around. His was the third American revolution. George Washington was president during the first revolution that created the United States. Abraham Lincoln headed the government during the second revolution that determined that the states were indivisible. FDR's third revolution turned Hoover's ideology on its head and introduced a concept of governmental duty that is still accepted today.

While Hoover was convinced that the federal government should not aid people, FDR initiated the idea that government is responsible for the people, to help them when help is necessary and, as with preventive medicine, do all that is reasonable to assure that the American citizens do not reach a stage where help is necessary.

FDR did not seem to be the person who could accomplish this enormous liberal task. He could not stand unaided because of polio. He had been a grade C student in college. He looked and acted like an aristocrat. Hoover was a conservative, but FDR was not a liberal; he was a pragmatist. His cabinet was composed of people with diverse ideas. Only three of the five people who made his revolution were liberals.

Cohen describes each of these five people with interesting details. He tells about FDR's "New Deal," a term he did not invent, in which he introduced the three Rs: He gave Relief to the unemployed and badly hurt farmers, Reformed business and financial practices, and promoted the Recovery of the economy. Congress gave FDR every chance it could during the hundred days; it granted every program that FDR submitted to them.

FDR's first challenge was the country's banking system. There were runs on the bank to make withdrawals, the banks had inadequate funds to meet the demands, and they had to be closed. The Emergency Banking Act was the Roosevelt administration's first dramatic triumph, and it was accomplished in just eight days. Part of the success was due to FDR using Republications from the prior administration in developing the solution, and part was the result of his first short calm fireside chat where he assured the people and won them over to his ideas. In fact, the day the banks reopened, there were more deposits than withdrawals.

The Banking Act set the stage for Roosevelt's New deal, and the acts that followed had similar effects. Virtually all of them were first opposed by Roosevelt. For example, one of the most important innovations of the hundred days was federal deposit insurance. Roosevelt was adamantly opposed to it and warned that he would veto any bill that included it. However, Congress saw matters differently and FDR accepted their view.

The most radical change that FDR presented to America was the abandonment of the ancient notion that people are poor because of their own character faults, their laziness and refusal to work. Remarkably, Roosevelt agreed with these notions when he became president. Adam Cohen shows how and why he changed his mind.

The work of the hundred days helped alleviate the depression. The country's economy improved each year. FDR's administration saved many people, but the depression did not end entirely until the Second World War.
Today, close to eight decades after the hundred days, Franklin Delano Roosevelt is considered by many to be the third greatest president, after Washington and Lincoln, because of his innovations and achievements, his third revolution, but few people know the names of the five who invented and advanced the ideas and who implemented them.

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Adam Cohen's "Nothing to Fear" is a great read on the the New Deal. When I picked up this book, I expected to read a lot about Roosevelt himself.

What makes this book great is its focus on the characters that really deserve the credit (or blame, in the eyes of conservatives). He brings about the fascinating stories of Francis Perkins, Henry A Wallace, Harry Hopkins, and the lone conservative, Lewis Douglas. Cohen especially focuses on Perkins' role, as the woman whose policies and goals were also seen through during the New Deal. These people were the ones devising policy, as Roosevelt himself was against massive public works projects originally.

A great read, and a clear outline of the New Deal. It also makes the argument that although shifting away from Douglas/Hoover conservatism, it was not the socialism it could have been.