FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

More substantial than it looks, this small biography nevertheless skims lightly over the substance of FDR's leadership and concentrates on personal triumphs -- victories over a cotton wool childhood and polio, and success at the polls with the help of Louis Howe. At first, one wonders how the little boy who addresses his letters to ""Mumsey and Pupsey"" can ever be made likable, but the Roosevelt style and sense of humor do come through. There are even a few unexpectedly honest comments (such as an acknowledgment that Eleanor's activities eased the pressure for FDR to move on civil fights). But because the subject is so much more complex, this can't help seeming thinner than Faber's similarly easy sketch of Harry Truman (1973)