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Franklin and Lucy: President Roosevelt, Mrs. Rutherfurd, and the Other Remarkable Women in His Life | 
 enlarge | Author: Joseph Persico
Publisher: Random House
Category: Book
List Price: $28.00
Buy New: $10.00
You Save: $18.00 (64%)
New (35) Used (12) Collectible (1) from $9.25
Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 14311
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 5.9 x 1.5
ISBN: 1400064422
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.917092
EAN: 9781400064427
ASIN: 1400064422
Publication Date: April 29, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: new
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| • | Audio Download - Franklin and Lucy: President Roosevelt, Mrs. Rutherfurd, and Other Women in His Life | | • | Kindle Edition - Franklin and Lucy: President Roosevelt, Mrs. Rutherfurd, and the Other Remarkable Women in His Life | | • | Audio Download - Franklin and Lucy: President Roosevelt, Mrs. Rutherfurd, and Other Women in His Life (Unabridged) | | • | Hardcover - Franklin and Lucy: President Roosevelt, Mrs. Rutherfurd, and the Other Remarkable Women in His Life | | • | Audio CD - Franklin and Lucy: President Roosevelt, Mrs. Rutherfurd, and the Other Remarkable Women in His Life | | • | Paperback - Franklin and Lucy: Mrs. Rutherfurd and the Other Remarkable Women in Roosevelt's Life |
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Product Description
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was arguably the greatest figure of the twentieth 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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
FDR: Did He or Didn't He? October 13, 2008
As an admirer of FDR I was very interested in what his relationship was with Lucy Mercer. This book answers many of the questions about FDR's affair with Lucy. Moreover it is a love story about an attraction that never died for either party. With any adultery there is the victim and the author goes to great lengths to be even-handed concerning Eleanor. Eleanor's reputation has suffered in recent histories of FDR, but here she is portrayed as a remarkable woman put in a difficult domestic relationship. The book delves into the history of the two different Roosevelt families which provides insight into the influences which affected Franklin and Eleanor. As members of the upper crust of society, we see how they lived and the prejudices which came from their class. As the title indicates the focus of the book is not limited to just FDR, Eleanor and Lucy, but describes all the women in the Roosevelt inner circle. It is a fascinating story based mostly on primary sources and only rarely comes across as gossipy. I recommend it.
 4.5 out of 5: A sensitive and balanced portrait of a great man August 13, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
In this biography, Persico paints an intimate portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt through the lens of his relationships with various women over the course of his life, including his mother, Eleanor, Lucy Rutherfurd, and others. I came to this book without much information about the Roosevelts, and I was pleased to find an assessable and thoroughly entertaining biography. Persico approaches his subject with sensitivity and balance, as deserved by this great family, but he does not avoid the tough issues.
Persico clearly has done his research but has refrained from overburdening the book with details. Although Persico remains focused on his theme throughout the book (FDR's relationships with women), the book is not a narrow treatment of FDR's life. All of the important events are included, along with the less well-known events that give us a glimpse into FDR's true character. This book's only misstep is a strange first chapter that seems to have been plucked from the middle of the book and stuck on the front, probably as a clumsy editor's last-minute attempt to force a "catchy" beginning.
 A Weak Effort By Persico August 11, 2008
2 out of 32 found this review helpful
Joseph Persico's "Franklin and Lucy" (Random House 2008) is a shallow collection of anecdotes centered around FDR's affair with, and later relationship with, Lucy Mercer. The stated theme of the book is the women in FDR's life, but Persico's theme ends up as nothing more than idle conjecture about how certain women, including his mother, Sara, his wife, Eleanor, and his faithful assistant, Missy LeHand, might have affected FDR as a person. Most of this has already been covered ad nauseam in prior books on FDR, and this effort ends up as a weak series of gossips, such as whether FDR's relationship with Missy LeHand was amorous.
In addition to its failure to bring any new information to the table, the book is filled with factual errors. For example, Persico has Theodore Roosevelt's first election to the presidency in 1902 (p. 51), FDR's second inaugural on March 4, 1937 (rather than the correct date of Jan. 20, 1937) (pp. 227, 249), and the Roosevelts' 20th wedding anniversary on March 17, 1926 (p. 164). This is very disappointing from an author who is well respected and who has authored a prior book on FDR, "Roosevelt's Secret War" (Random House 2001). Admittedly, these are minor errors, but one has to wonder whether this lack of attention to detail infects the entire book.
Interesting read... August 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
With all these politicians screwing around on their wives these days, why exactly do we need to know the gritty details of one from like a century ago? I guess because he's FDR and he became a super important president, and one personal decision of his might have changed A LOT of things from a historical perspective. The bulk of what I know about the Roosevelts came from History class. My teacher mentioned once that FDR supposedly died in the arms of his mistress, which I found kind of interesting, so I decided to see what the big deal was about. At the time, I definitely felt for Eleanor being the wronged wife who did all this crap for her husband and that was how he repaid her? Of course, the story is never that simple. It's never just one person's fault.
I guess the first thing is this Roosevelt marriage that seems to puzzle a lot of people. How they got together in the first place is kind of a mystery. FDR, in his youth to middle age, is always described as kind of a McDreamy-- really handsome, rich, charming, good pedigree, etc. Eleanor, as much as I love all that she did, was never much of a looker even in her younger days. On top of that, she was passive, shy, and had serious self-esteem problems. It makes you wonder how these two ever got together and what they had in common other than a distant relation. The book mentions that FDR had quite a few love interests before Eleanor and probably could've picked any girl he wanted, yet somehow he ended up married to her. In retrospect, knowing what eventually happened to their marriage, perhaps he should've just stuck to his beauty queen debutantes. Or maybe he should've waited a few more years before getting married.
It's not until about 10 years into the Roosevelt marriage that Lucy Mercer even appears though she's billed as the female lead in this. The fact is, there just isn't enough known about her to garner her that role. If this were a movie and they were allowed to embellish/play with the facts, maybe it would work. But since they're going on hard evidence, there's not much out there. However, it's hard to deny that they had a genuine love affair. And I agree with the author that they probably had sex since they were two attractive people who were in love and alone a lot. What else would happen? Still, in the end, FDR chose to stay with his wife. If this were such an all-consuming passion, I would think he'd just go for it. And other than her physical beauty and apparent "niceness", there isn't really that much that distinguishes Lucy Mercer. What exactly made their relationship so special and long-lasting? Other than the fact that she was young, pretty, available and he wanted sex.
I can kind of see why people think stuff went on with Missy Lehand but it's all too much speculation. Who really knows what they were doing on that boat? It wasn't like the Lucy Mercer thing where the consequences were an almost divorce and eternal separation from the marriage bed.
And while I did feel for Eleanor, I can't help but give her a little blame on this too. Okay, so FDR probably didn't love her as much as she loved him to begin with.. but what did she really expect after they stopped having sex? That just "talking" would be enough to sustain a marriage? Sorry but she shouldn't have been that naive. And while it totally sucks how she found out about his death, she was the one who essentially gave up on marriage. They could've used a good marriage counselor.
A Woman's View of the Intimate Roosevelt August 6, 2008
21 out of 21 found this review helpful
Having read but a single work by author Persico prior to this (Piercing The Reich), I was unsure of what to expect in a book ostensiby about a man and his relationships with women. Having read a number of books on Roosevelt describing his disingenuous, Byzantine, unforthcoming dealings with men, I was not surprised that he ran true to form with women. However, this book broke some new ground.
First and foremost was the particular stress on FDR's being crippled and unable to walk and how that worked out to be both a hindrance and a blessing. Here the narrative was extremely productive.
Second, this book discusses FDR and his female entourage from the point of view of a very sympathetic woman. One wonders if this book was actually written by Persico or by his wife or daughter. For example, considered this discourse on page 246: "Schiff's fascination with FDR further displayed the superiority of women in their attitude toward men in that they consider the whole man, his intelligence, power, (wealth??) humor, and charm as producing attractiveness, not simply physical appeal, an approach that cannot always be said of male attitudes toward women." Wow! Who wrote this? Gloria Steinem?
Nonetheless, this books brings together FDR's relationships with those women close to him into fascinating focus with but a passing mention of the world around them. Persico presents the facts carefully, particularly when it comes to "Did they or didn't they?" -- very much in line with the motto of Fox News; "We report -- You decide." Sometimes he begins to moralize as "... Missy was all to ready to ....", but then draws back without passing judgment. I liked that.
There are two negatives in my opinion: a number of facts and dates are incorrect, and he fails to draw a sufficiently complete portrait of Missy LeHand, Lucy Mercer, Daisy Suckley or Dorothy Schiff for the reader to fully relate to them. These were all actresses with staring roles yet their characters remained clouded in mystery. Perhaps he ran out of time, perhaps out of sources. In these cases he needed to indicate where the reader should go to draw in the missing lines.
In this book FDR is truly as Holmes said; "A second class intellect [with] a first class temperament." Eleanor, the lady who loved the Tartars but not herself is summed up by, "...[she had] great compassion for the masses... but not much interest in the individual."
All in all, a valuable read.
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