num_pages: 464
description: Franklin Delano Roosevelt was arguably the greatest figure of the twentieth century. While FDRs official circle was predominantly male it was his relationships with womenparticularly with Lucy Mercer Rutherfurdthat 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 FDRs romance with Lucy Rutherfurd which was far deeper and lasted much longer than was previously acknowledged. Persicos provocative conclusions about their relationship are informed by a revealing range of sources including never-before-published letters and documents from Lucy Rutherfurds estate that attest to the intensity and scope of the affair.FDRs connection with Lucy also creates an opportunity for Persico to take a more penetrating look at the other women in FDRs life. We come to see more clearly how FDRs infidelity as a husband contributed to Eleanors eventual transformation from a repressed Victorian to perhaps the greatest American woman of her century; how the shaping hand of FDRs 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.
language: English
title: Franklin and Lucy
publisher: Random House