THE ROOSEVELT REVOLUTION

by Mario Einaudi ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 20, 1959

A provocative analysis of the permanent contributions made by the New Deal to the American scene, this pertinent view by a European- now professor of government at Cornell- should open not only European eyes, but American eyes, to the long range view. To many his analysis of the myth of America still characteristic of much European thinking, and the assumption that the twenty years of the Roosevelt Revolution are thrown overboard now, will come as a shock. The more radical the changes in American life, the more difficult of European acceptance. The European intellectual worries over the absence of an American Left and have never really understood the Depression crisis years, while they keep alive their concepts of the extremes economically and the sad condition of freedom. The purpose of this book is to show in what measure and how well have the policies and beliefs launched in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations been realized fully today. The Great Depression ended in the revolution of men with ideas, F.D.R. the spearhead and driving force; the test of democratic leadership is to be found in the sum total of effective achievements secured in a climate of freedom. Many of the factors he presents with new and fresh understanding:- the Supreme Court furor; the TVA; the new restrictions on Wall Street, on Holding Companies; the change in the tax picture; the issues of freedom and equality; the welfare of man; the new goals in business; the interrelation of trade unionism and the corporations; the non-political behavior of American Labor (one of the paradoxes that Europeans find difficult to compass); the vindication of American institutions; the political parties; America and Communism; and the current danger of a Nirvana state of mind in the trend to conformism. In conclusion he states: ""The Roosevelt Revolution having brought together common action and individual liberty has preserved that freedom."" And he sees the era of the New Deal as America's coming of age. In this thoughtful reassessment Mario Einaudi has challenged Americans to review their own position. A book that may well stand beside Tocqueville's Democracy in America.

Pub Date: May 20, 1959

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harcourt, Brace

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1959

Categories: NONFICTION