Franklin and Lucy

President Roosevelt, Mrs. Rutherfurd, and the Other Remarkable Women in His Life

By: Joseph E. Persico

Narrated by: Ted Barker

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was arguably the greatest figure of the 20th century. While FDR's official circle was predominantly male, it was his relationships with women - particularly with Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd - that most vividly bring to light the human being beneath this towering statesman. It is no coincidence that Rutherfurd was with Roosevelt the day he died in Warm Springs, Georgia, along with two other close women companions.

In Franklin and Lucy, acclaimed author and historian Joseph E. Persico explores FDR's romance with Lucy Rutherfurd, which was far deeper and lasted much longer than was previously acknowledged. Persico's provocative conclusions about their relationship are informed by a revealing range of sources, including never-before-published letters and documents from Lucy Rutherfurd's estate that attest to the intensity and scope of the affair.

FDR's connection with Lucy also creates an opportunity for Persico to take a more penetrating look at the other women in FDR's life. We come to see more clearly how FDR's infidelity as a husband contributed to Eleanor's eventual transformation from a repressed Victorian to perhaps the greatest American woman of her century; how the shaping hand of FDR's strong-willed mother helped to imbue him with the resolve to overcome personal and public adversity throughout his life; and how other women around FDR, including his "surrogate spouse" Missy LeHand, and his close confidante, the obscure Margaret "Daisy" Suckley, completed the world that he inhabited.

Franklin and Lucy is an extraordinary look at the private life of a leader who continues to fascinate scholars and the general public alike. In focusing on Lucy Rutherfurd and the myriad women who mattered to Roosevelt, Persico paints a more intimate portrait than we have heretofore had of this enigmatic giant of American history.

©2008 Joseph E. Persico (P)2008 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

“Just when you thought you knew everything about Franklin D. Roosevelt, think again. Joseph E. Persico [is] one of America’s finest historians.... You can’t properly understand FDR the man without reading this landmark study.” (Douglas Brinkley, professor of history at Rice University)

“Persico’s exploration of FDR’s emotional life is fascinating.” (USA Today)

“Persico is judicious in his treatment of these sensitive matters.... He understands that Lucy Mercer helped FDR awaken his capacity for love and compassion, and thus helped him become the man to whom the nation will be eternally in debt.” (Washington Post Book World)

Excellent.

My husband and I just visited The Little White House and Pool last weekend. Listening to this made it all come to life. I want to go back again to see it.

Fantastic -

This is simply fantastic - even with a C grade performer -

Franklin and Lucy

This was a good book about FDR's private life. Very interesting and well worth listening to.

So interesting

I listened to this book which was read very well in a soft, smooth and authoritative voice by Ted Barker. I slow the reading speed by .1 when listening which helps me to hear better.
Not only was the book interesting, very well written but it was also frequently moving as it’s information often was gleaned from many diaries, extrapolating what was written into a story well told and intimate. Those of Franklin Roosevelt’s family, senior staff during his four terms, along with the maids, cooks, drivers, and others who served him were either interviewed or quoted from historical sources and this is an historical book. The ways in which the many many woman who were an integral part of the president’s life came to know the man is told and during that telling, the history of the times is reviewed so well that I could picture it all.
This man, who some have called the second best president of our country, was a complicated man. This book reveals us how a spoiled child turned mediocre student, long focused on a political life similar to that of his Uncle President Roosevelt carefully timed the path ahead. His tremendous confidence led him to the loving relationships with these women so attracted to him and also to the position to become possibly the only man who could have led this country and, indeed, the world, able to successfully end WW 2.
This is the second book about Franklin Roosevelt written by the author who knows his subject intimately and turned that knowledge into this very different and fascinating book, one very hard to put down.

COMPELLING

Goes into more detail about his polio and how it shaped him and his presidency than Becoming FDR. Especially interesting and important.