Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal

"William Leuchtenburg is the preeminent historian of the New Deal. He first published this book in 1963 and it remains the standard treatment. It’s the wellspring for almost everything we understand about the New Deal. It lays out, in a concise volume, the story of the New Deal. Leuchtenberg brings to life the suffering of the people in the early years of the Great Depression. There are stories of the people living along railroad tracks and families going through the garbage to find food. The picture he’s able to draw gives a sense of why Roosevelt’s promise of change catapulted him to the presidency. Things were so dire that the electorate was desperate for change. They weren’t quite sure what the New Deal was. Roosevelt made statements about fundamental reforms of the system that were put together by his advisory group, which the press called the Brain Trust. The public found the difference between the misery of the early Great Depression and the energy of Roosevelt and the New Dealers refreshing. Then the book goes on to describe the unfolding of the emergency measures of the First Hundred Days and of the Second New Deal, which brought us Social Security and many other important reforms."