Volume VII: Depression and Global War
The seventh volume of Presidential Chronicles tells the life stories of the following four American Presidents who dealt with unprecedented economic challenges, the most devastating war the world had ever experienced, and the emerging Cold War of the nuclear era:
Herbert Hoover
Franklin Roosevelt
Harry Truman
Dwight Eisenhower
As the “Roaring Twenties” came to an abrupt end with the onset of the Great Depression, America’s Presidents took different approaches to the role of government in providing for the safety and well-being of the American people. As FDR’s New Deal took hold, so did a new era of government activism in the lives of everyday Americans. While some of these changes brought long-term economic security, they did not end the Depression. That reprieve only materialized as the U.S. entered the fight against the Axis Powers in a global conflagration that claimed the lives of more than 50 million people. Victory was eventually sealed with the dropping of the world’s first atomic bombs, thereby launching an arms race and a Cold War that left the world constantly on edge. Throughout this era, America’s Presidents navigated through unchartered waters, seeking to provide the policies and personal leadership at home and abroad to restore peace and prosperity to a devastated world. The road was hardly smooth for any of these four men who found themselves entrusted with such monumental challenges. Yet the nation that emerged at the end of the 1950s was the unquestioned leader of the “free world” and a check on the imperialistic aspirations of totalitarian states. These four men each played a critical role in shaping this outcome. These are their stories.