Franklin and Lucy : President Roosevelt, Mrs. Rutherfurd, and the other remarkable women in his life

Joe Persico deftly takes on a delicate subject -- the status of Franklin Roosevelt's marriage to Eleanor. Relations between these two well-loved figures were notoriously strained, though this was not common knowledge during their lifetimes. Following an affair between FDR and Lucy Mercer in the 1910s, the marriage became more of a platonic partnership. After that, Franklin surrounded himself with the companionship of several significant women. Whether these relationships were sexual is unknown, but the relationships were certainly a major part of his life. Persico does an excellent job of explaining how these close friendships both shaped and revealed his character. This book provides a great look at Roosevelt, the man, beyond Roosevelt show more the President. show less

It has been many years since I last indulged my fascination with Franklin Roosevelt’s life and Presidency by reading a new biography. As its subtitle implies, this one concentrates on his relationships with women, their influences on him and his considerable impact on their lives. Although much of the information in Franklin and Lucy had a comfortably familiar feel to it, Persico’s style is very reader-friendly, and I found myself thoroughly engrossed.

The title of this book, Franklin and Lucy, is a bit misleading. Although it was prompted by the recent discovery of letters establishing that Roosevelt and his lady-love, Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd, were in communication during a long period of time when it had previously been thought show more that their relationship had ended, it is not primarily about their connection. I believe I Iearned more of interest about FDR’s dependence on his mother, Eleanor’s coping mechanisms, and the Eleanor/FDR marriage, than I did about the love affair with Lucy. I found myself disliking the man, pitying his wife, and wondering about the magnetism that bound so many women to him.

It is no secret by now that throughout his presidency, Franklin Roosevelt was “involved” with women other than his wife. He was a strikingly handsome young man, and before being stricken with polio in 1921, a very athletic one as well. He was always attractive to -- and attracted by-- women, and that did not stop when he became confined to a wheelchair. He clearly had a dynamic personality that made him irresistible to certain women, even when he treated them in a cavalier manner, as he often seemed to do. It is no surprise, either, that his mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt, was a dominant influence in most all aspects of his life, with the singular exception of his decision to marry distant cousin Eleanor. Nevertheless, Persico’s treatment of these and other relationships in FDR’s life is insightful, and takes the reader a bit deeper into the territory than anyone I have read before. It also treats extensively of Eleanor's own emotional attachments to various men and women who came in and out of her life over the years.

Persico makes much of Eleanor Roosevelt’s shock and disappointment upon finding letters to her husband which eliminated any doubt about his extra-marital liaison with her former social secretary. (Earlier, suspecting too much chemistry between FDR and Lucy Mercer, Eleanor had fired Lucy under pretense of economizing, only to find her employed in Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Roosevelt’s office in the blink of an eye.) Although Eleanor offered Franklin a divorce at that point, and he was quite inclined to accept, his mother emphatically refused to allow it. Roosevelts did not get divorced, in any case, and it would be tantamount to political suicide for Franklin at the time. Sara controlled the bank accounts; Franklin and Eleanor saw reason. It is sobering to contemplate what the second half of the 20th century might have been like if FDR had put his personal happiness ahead of his ambition in 1918 by divorcing his wife and marrying Lucy Mercer.

If you’re looking for an analysis of Roosevelt as a politician, a world leader, or a President, this book won’t give it to you. If you’d like a more personal perspective, it’s rich with material and well worth reading. show less

Persico, Joseph E. Franklin and Lucy: President Roosevelt, Mrs. Rutherfurd, and the Other Remarkable Women in His Life. New York: Random House, 2008.

When I finally finished the last page of Franklin and Lucy I had two very different thoughts. The first was this was a well written, very thorough biography of the social side of the Roosevelts. It was written in an easy, conversational style that, at times, was hard to put down. The detail given to who, what, where, when, and why made you feel as though you were experiencing every aspect of the era. My second thought was it was an unfortunate title for a work comprised of so much more than just the relationships of Franklin D. Roosevelt. A more accurate title would have included Eleanor. A show more possible option could have been Franklin and Eleanor: Mrs Rutherfurd, and the Other Remarkable Women in their lives. Another option would be to remove any section dealing with Eleanor that didn't include her husband's involvement and focus solely on Franklin.

The other detraction from the book was Perisco's almost obsessive need to repeatedly include Lucy Rutherfurd's physical description in such flowery detail. While Franklin's oft repeated "barrel chested" description was needed to stress his need to hide his disability (and to emphasize his physical decline before his death), and Eleanor's lack of beauty was important in context to her character as being tragic and unlovable, they were not mentioned nearly as often as Lucy's exquisiteness. show less

Franklin & Lucy is one of the more interesting biographies of FDR. Rather than focusing on his policies and the wars, Persico approaches Franklin Roosevelt's life through his relationships with women. The resulting portrait is not particularly endearing, but it's substantially more human than the standard, greatest-president-ever fare. In these days of 24-hour media saturation, it's hard to imagine how so much secrecy was maintained, even within the White House.

Franklin and Lucy is an intimate look into the personal life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the women close to him. Joseph Persico examines the roles played by Roosevelt’s mother, wife, dearest lover, closest companion, daughter, and a cadre of others. While Persico occasionally makes assumptions based on no more than reasonable speculation, most of his conclusions are well-supported and persuasive.

The title is somewhat misleading in suggesting that the book focuses primarily on Lucy Mercer Rutherford, who became Franklin’s lover while working as Eleanor’s personal secretary during World War I, but then played only a peripheral role in his life until late in his third term as President. Persico’s point seems to be that Lucy show more was Franklin’s true love. However, the same point could have been made about Missy LeHand, Franklin’s long-time secretary and best friend, who lived with him for decades. Although the timing is fuzzy, a case could be made that, had Franklin not discarded Missy when she suffered a series of mental and physical breakdowns, she, not Lucy, would have deserved top billing in the book’s title.

Just to describe this minor flaw in the book is to demonstrate its absorbing appeal. Persico keeps the tone personal rather than prurient, but the intimate details are thoroughly discussed. He shows Franklin’s domineering mother Sara using the family purse strings to direct Franklin’s life. He explores Eleanor’s complex relationship as simultaneous inspiration and aggravation, as well as describing her own personal intrigues as she led her parallel life as an international do-gooder. He considers Franklin’s lifelong appeal to women and his delight in their company, despite being crippled by polio.

Although designed to fit a niche in collection of FDR biographies, Franklin and Lucy provides enough context to provide a good introduction to the man’s life. The book is entertaining, thorough, and readable. show less

I feel guilty reading books like this. I firmly believe that we've gone overboard scruitinizing the personal lives of politicians - there have been adulterers for as long as there has been a republic but SUDDENLY we think it affects matters of state? Our politicians are getting meaner and duller with every passing election now that we've made probity a prerequisite for office. And that's why I held my nose when I opened this book. I just don't think FDR's monkey business is any of my business.

That being said, it is a fun book to read. It's great as a social history of an era, an amazing study of character and personal choices, particularly the depth of detail the author goes into with FDR's paralysis after his polio attack. The book show more chronicles many affairs he allegedly had over the decades, and the damage they did to Eleanor's psyche. Lucy always remains a bit of a mystery, especially because none of her letters survived so her voice can't be heard, and the author uses her elusiveness to stand in for her allure.

The author probably never intended anyone to say this about his book, and wouldn't even know what I was talking about anyway, but this book is a lot like the HBO series Entourage. Both, in addition to being titillating, are really good instructions for women on how to behave around powerful men. Both teach women to never be demanding, except by asking their big strong lovers for help in ego-boosting ways, and to always listen, to always greet their men like gods, to never bore their men or wear them down with stories about themselves, to find their men handsome and charming, hilarious and intimidating, and to service their every need and vanity. And most importantly - to go away when they are not convenient and pick up exactly where they left off when men want to reach back in time and embrace the lovers of their youth to feel young again themselves, like Lucy did for Franklin. Ick!

According to the author, Eleanor always wanted Franklin to show some interest in her pet causes, always disturbed him with talk of work at breakfast and cocktail hour, and often browbeat him into working on something the moment she mentioned it instead of later. He casts her as a villain for putting the country's affairs before her husband's and trying to get him to do things instead of just serving him. It's pretty disgusting to read, actually, so I clearly don't have what it takes to be a presidential mistress myself, but it's fascinating to know what Not To Do in a marriage to a self-important man. show less

Sure Jean Edward Smith's FDR is a more serious political biography, but this is a lot more interesting. It would be too dismissive to call this the National Enquirer version of Roosevelt, as if it merely addressed our curiosity about who really had sex with whom, when and why. While Persico's telling reveals FDR as a shallow cad, it also shows him grow and change and reveals and explores his famed exuberant resilience. Then, also, FDR did have a unique position - do ordinary human expectations apply? Does self-absorbtion and a desire to be adored and served by many women while maintaining his emotional distance constitute a character defect for one in his position or is that kind of polygamy merely an inevitable component of the show more personality and desire of any emperor? I would modestly suggest that if the names Missy LeHand and Lucy Rutherford don't immediately spring to mind when you think of FDR, then, like me, you may have until now missed certain deep truths about the 1920s to 1940s in FDR's America. This is a book that can and should shape one's understanding of the play of power, sex and personality. It is revealing. Through it all, there is Eleanor, always the odd woman out, working through her own place and agenda in the prison that was the Roosevelt marriage and White House, and ultimately finding her own freedom. Watching the cavortings and machinations of powerful upper class families in the early 20th century, tracing the interplay of sex, money and power in their lives, is like watching a train wreck - interesting, horrifying, painful, and entertaining. In the end, the humanity of the Roosevelts and their friends and allies shines through in Persico's narrative. I found myself unable to dislike these self-important people to nearly the extent that my class biases predispose me. Of the two recent studies of Roosevelt that I've read, this one certainly seems to get closer to the heart of the man, situating him at the center of his own gravitational force field, a Sun King, around whom men, women and an entire era ultimately revolved.
October 5 2009 show less