FDR, into the storm, 1937-1940

As Into the Storm opens, Franklin Delano Roosevelt has just been reelected for a second term, a victory unprecedented in its magnitude. Soon after, because he felt that the Supreme Court was obstructing programs he favored, he launched a frontal assault on the Court as a "separate" but equal branch of government and proposed to "pack" it with liberal justices of his own choosing - the result of which was a split among the liberal supporters Roosevelt already had and a strengthening of his conservative opposition. In addition, he attempted to purge Democratic senators and representatives who had joined with Republicans to frustrate his New Deal agenda. FDR's political maneuverings occurred at a particularly dangerous time: The world was about to enter its most destructive war. Japan marched toward conquest in the Far East. Fascist General Franco destroyed the Spanish republic in a cruel and bloody civil war. Hitler absorbed Austria and triumphed over Chamberlain in Munich, after which he occupied Czechoslovakia and invaded Poland. Roosevelt's courage, patience, intelligence, and capacity to endure - plus his role-playing ability - were tested to the utmost as he was forced to make a highly difficult shift from New Deal nationalism toward a policy of collective security. The detailed story of this testing - his dealings with the Panay incident in China, with the grave economic recession at home, with internecine quarrels in the Tennessee Valley Authority and the War Department, with desperately needed reorganization of the executive branch, coupled with his abortive attempts to educate the American public in the realities of the world crisis - makes up the highly dramatic middle portion of this book. Ultimately, FDR: Into the Storm deals with the coming of World War II and the great debate between adherents of national defense and isolationism. Out of this we see the gradual emergence of Roosevelt as a great leader, not only of his countrymen but, indeed, of the free world. The culmination of this volume of great narrative history is the hard-fought and distorted presidential election campaign of 1940. By the time of Roosevelt's victory, the first slow steps had been taken toward preparing the United States for the great trials ahead.