Nothing to Fear: FDR's Inner Circle and the Hundred Days That Created Modern America by Adam Cohen

From the Publisher

"A fascinating account of an extraordinary moment in the life of the United States." —The New York Times

With the world currently in the grips of a financial crisis unlike anything since the Great Depression, Nothing to Fear could not be timelier. This acclaimed work of history brings to life Franklin Roosevelt's first hundred days in office, when he and his inner circle launched the New Deal, forever reinventing the role of the federal government. As Cohen reveals, five fiercely intelligent, often clashing personalities presided over this transformation and pushed the president to embrace a bold solution. Nothing to Fear is the definitive portrait of the men and women who engineered the nation's recovery from the worst economic crisis in American history.

The New York Times Book Review - David Greenberg

Cohen's well-told story belies the cliche about legislation and sausage-making: his narrative is absorbing and enjoyable to read. Admirably game to tackle the heavy-going details of policy making, Nothing to Fear is nonetheless decidedly nonacademic…One might say it's the kind of history you would expect from a newspaper editorialist.

The New York Times - John Steele Gordon

Mr. Cohen…brings this brief but extraordinary period in American history to vivid life. An excellent writer and storyteller, he does so by concentrating not on its central figure, Roosevelt, but on a handful of his aides …Nothing to Fear is a fascinating account of an extraordinary moment in the life of the United States, indeed a page-turner.

The Washington Post - Matthew Dallek

…a valuable addition, a deeply sympathetic and thoroughly convincing portrait of FDR and five of his senior advisers that unearths how the aides' interactions with Roosevelt helped to spawn the New Deal.

Publishers Weekly

New York Times editorial board member Cohen (coauthor, American Pharaoh) delivers an exemplary and remarkably timely narrative of FDR's famous first "Hundred Days" as president. Providing a new perspective on an oft-told story, Cohen zeroes in on the five Roosevelt aides-de-camp whom he rightly sees as having been the most influential in developing FDR's wave of extraordinary actions. These were agriculture secretary Henry Wallace, presidential aide Raymond Moley, budget director Lewis Douglas, labor secretary Frances Perkins and Civil Works Administration director Harry Hopkins. This group, Cohen emphasizes, did not work in concert. The liberal Perkins, Wallace and Hopkins often clashed with Douglas, one of the few free-marketers in FDR's court. Moley hovered somewhere in between the two camps. As Cohen shows, the liberals generally prevailed in debates. However, the vital foundation for FDR's New Deal was crafted through a process of rigorous argument within the president's innermost circle rather than ideological consensus. Cohen's exhaustively researched and eloquently argued book provides a vital new level of insight into Roosevelt's sweeping expansion of the federal government's role in our national life. (Jan. 12)

William D. Pederson - Library Journal

This year marks the 75th anniversary of "The Hundred Days" in 1933 that signified the beginning of Franklin D. Roosevelt's assumption of the presidency. Cohen (assistant editorial page editor, New York Times; American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Dailey) displays his strong prose style and research skills in this story of the precedent set by FDR against which later Presidents are judged: the so-called honeymoon period after inauguration and before the media and the opposition inevitably begin to critique and attack. Cohen wisely tells the New Deal story through the biographies of five of its most important players: Raymond Moley and Lewis Douglas (director, bureau of the budget)-both of whom broke with FDR rather early on-and the more liberal Henry Wallace (secretary of agriculture), Frances Perkins (secretary of labor), and Harry Hopkins. The author presents FDR as a nonideological pragmatist who adapted to the times and the New Deal as an ad hoc program rather than a blueprint for the social welfare state. Frances Perkins, who served FDR the longest, emerges as the hero of the story. Though disliking the media and showing little interest in aiding congressional patronage, Perkins was the driving soul behind the New Deal. Cohen does not uncover new information, but he presents a crucial human story which goes beyond that found in most FDR biographies. Superbly readable and informative, this is an essential purchase for all public and academic libraries. The current financial meltdown and the eve of inaugurating a new president make it that much more timely a purchase.

Kirkus Reviews

Journalist Cohen (The Perfect Store: Inside eBay, 2002, etc.) delves into the New Deal archives to fashion an elucidating, pertinent and timely work on the makings of government. The slew of progressive legislation passed during Franklin Roosevelt's first 100 days in office in 1933 broke with the old order of laissez faire economics and redefined the nature of government's responsibilities vis-a-vis its citizens. These policies had critics, to be sure, but they worked, Cohen notes, alleviating people's misery during the Great Depression by offering relief, jobs and, most important, hope. While FDR largely garnered the credit for the country's recovery-and aroused alarm with his autocratic proclamations and tactics-his handpicked minions worked tirelessly behind the scenes to forge the New Deal's landmark programs, often by trial and error. Cohen closely examines the five members of Roosevelt's inner circle who left the most lasting mark on the legislation forged during those 100 days, looking in turn at where they came from, how they gained the president's trust and how they used their experience to make history. Since the banking crisis was FDR's first concern, he chose trusted aide and speechwriter Raymond Moley to work alongside the Treasury Department on the Emergency Banking Act, which tackled the essential tension between spending more to fight the Depression and spending less to balance the budget. Budget Director Lewis Douglas, a conservative, pushed through Congress the Economy Act, a major budget-reduction measure, but he resigned in 1934 when Roosevelt took the country off the gold standard. Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace saved the farm belt with the AgriculturalAdjustment Act; Labor Secretary Frances Perkins, the first female Cabinet member, persuaded FDR to support her ambitious progressive agenda, including workers' rights protections; Harry Hopkins became the leading public-works administrator. Ambitious yet well focused-a marvelously readable study of an epic moment in American history.

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