Unlikely Heroes, Derek Leebaert
Unlikely Heroes, Derek Leebaert
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Unlikely Heroes
Franklin Roosevelt, His Four Lieutenants, and the World They Made

Author: Derek Leebaert

Narrator: L.J. Ganser

Unabridged: 19 hr 9 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/28/2023

Synopsis

Drawing on new materials, Unlikely Heroes constructs an entirely fresh understanding of FDR and his presidency by spotlighting the powerful, equally wounded figures whom he raised up to confront the Depression, then to beat the Axis.Only four people served at the top echelon of President Franklin Roosevelt’s Administration from the frightening early months of spring 1933 until he died in April 1945, on the cusp of wartime victory. These lieutenants composed the tough, constrictive, long-term core of government. They built the great institutions being raised against the Depression, implemented the New Deal, and they were pivotal to winning World War II.Yet, in their different ways, each was as wounded as the polio-stricken titan. Harry Hopkins, Harold Ickes, Frances Perkins, and Henry Wallace were also strange outsiders. Up to 1933, none would ever have been considered for high office. Still, each became a world figure, and it would have been exceedingly difficult for Roosevelt to transform the nation without them.By examining the lives of these four, a very different picture emerges of how Americans saved their democracy and rescued civilization overseas. Many of the dangers that they all overcame are troublingly like those America faces today.

About Derek Leebaert

Derek Leebaert won the biennial 2020 Truman Book Award for Grand Improvisation: America Confronts the British Superpower, 1945–1957. His previous books include Magic and Mayhem: The Delusions of American Foreign Policy from Korea to Afghanistan and To Dare and to Conquer: Special Operations and the Destiny of Nations, both Washington Post Best Books of the Year. He was a founding editor of the Harvard/MIT journal International Security and is a cofounder of the National Museum of the United States Army. He holds a D.Phil from Oxford and lives in Washington, DC.

About L.J. Ganser

L. J. Ganser is a multiple Audie Award–winning narrator with over six hundred titles recorded to date. Prized for versatility, his work ranges from preschool books to crime noir thrillers, from astronomical adventures in both science and science fiction, to Arctic Circle high school basketball stories. He lives in New York City with his family and dog, Mars.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Daniel Ray on February 03, 2025

A lot of research obviously went into this 2023 book. It gives you a good sense of the inter-workings of FDR’s presidency from 1933 until his death. Harry Hopkins was Roosevelt’s #1 adviser and very helpful during the war. Frances Perkins improved the lives of the working class. And Ickles and Walla......more

Goodreads review by Randall on April 04, 2025

The New York Times didn’t capitalize “Negro” until March 1930. The New York Times called the intellect of Henry Wallace (my grandpa) “freakish”. The author adds, “surely he was the foremost agronomist in the Western Hemisphere.” FDR’s family library had 22,000 books. At the time, cotton was the prin......more

Goodreads review by Gerry on July 03, 2023

In Unlikely Heroes Derek Leebaert posits that four key New Dealers—Frances Perkins, Harry Hopkins, Harold Ickes and Henry Wallace—were the foundation of the Roosevelt era. They managed the alphabet soup of the Great Depression (156 agencies) and oversaw the enormous transformation of the US economy.......more

Goodreads review by Nicole on June 17, 2023

Title: Unlikely Heroes Author: Derek Leebaert Release Date: February 28th, 2023 Page Count: 476 Format: Netgalley/Audiobook Start Date: April 1st, 2023 Finish Date: April 2nd, 2023 Rating: 5 Stars Review: There were so many things about FDR that I just didn't know. I feel like this book humanized him. I mean......more

Goodreads review by Joseph on March 16, 2023

Historians and writers continue to surprise as unique studies of the complex, devious and heroic Franklin D. Roosevelt are published. In these pages the Depression era and World War II leader is seen in relationship with four administration figures who stayed for the whole twelve plus years of the a......more

Quotes

“Demonstrates that the cultivation of diversified and resilient talent was essential to the administration’s endurance.” Booklist

“A nuanced study of reformist government in action and its behind-the-scenes players.” Kirkus Reviews

“A fine-grained study of the ties that bound this consequential administration…An enlightening investigation into the alchemy of successful governance.” Publishers Weekly

“Readers discover the various backgrounds that contributed to this New Deal team…along with descriptions of issues such as child labor, dangerous factory conditions, widespread malnourishment, and violent raids on immigrant communities.” Library Journal

“Enables readers themselves to feel like insiders during that desperate time…Among the many books about Franklin Roosevelt, none grants us such insight and access as does Unlikely Heroes.” Major General Mari K. Eder, US Army (Ret.), former deputy chief, US Army Reserve

“The most exciting book written about FDR’s presidency in decades. Finally, we see exactly how he led the nation.” James Strock, author of Theodore Roosevelt on Leadership

“A fresh and challenging portrait of the man and his inner circle, bold and convincing enough to invite a rethink of much historical assumption.” Richard Norton Smith, author of An Uncommon Man

“A brilliantly captivating portrait of Roosevelt and his four most important associates, revealing their interwoven lives and friendships…full of illuminating insights into the upheavals of America today.”  Liaquat Ahamed, Pulitzer–winning author

“A fascinating and absorbing analysis of FDR’s brilliantly chosen team of  four courageous and creative men and women. It was collective leadership at its best.” Susan Dunn, author of 1940

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