The Secret Diary of Harold L. Ickes: Volume I - the First Thousand Days,…

This copy has appended to book a 12 p. "Reader's Guide to People in the Secret Diary of Harold L Ickes."

Three volumes is a lot to go through, but well worth it for a great insider account of the Roosevelt administration, from inauguration through Pearl Harbor. Ickes was Secretary of the Interior, among other administrative posts, throughout FDR's presidency and into Truman's. He's a bit of a fusspot, but I'm also a John Adams admirer so that doesn't bother me. He describes vividly Roosevelt's inspiring public leadership as well as his blatant manipulation of the people who worked for him. An ongoing subplot is Ickes's attempt to have the Forest Service moved from the Agriculture Department to Interior; FDR kept promising to do it, but never did, and it's still there!