by Joseph Persico
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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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Average Customer Review:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 Enjoyable, Insightful Exploration, 2008-11-04
I am no FDR expert, so I have no critique to offer aside from saying that I enjoyed this book very much. The author presented a very engaging historical narrative with a perceptive exploration of a complex marriage. One of the most enjoyable books I read in 2008. Highly recommended.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 Not as good as expected, 2008-10-17
I heard Mr Persico answer questions about his book on CSpan book reviews. His book sounded much better than it was. I felt that the book was an expensive issue of National Enquirer. I knew something about President and Mrs Roosevelt, and have traveled to Hyde Parktwice. This book just goes over stories we have heard for years.I didn't learn anything new, and I again felt terribly sorry for Eleanor Roosevelt.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
FDR: Did He or Didn't He?, 2008-10-13
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.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.5 out of 5: A sensitive and balanced portrait of a great man, 2008-08-13
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.
2 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
 A Weak Effort By Persico, 2008-08-11
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.
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