Bidspirit auction | ”This Democratic Roosevelt: The Life

”This Democratic Roosevelt: The Life Story of F.D.: An Authentic Biography”, published shortly before his election as President. New York, 1932 – First edition - This Democratic Roosevelt: The Life Story of F.D.: An Authentic Biography, by Leland M. Ross and Allen W. Grobin. Published by E.P. Dutton & Co., New York, 1932 – First edition. Rare. An early biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States. The book was published shortly before his inauguration as President in 1933, during his term as Governor of New York. Roosevelt himself read the manuscript and provided remarks in certain sections. The biography documents his youth, his years at Groton, his role as editor of the Harvard Crimson, his tenure as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and his meteoric rise in American politics, particularly in the state of New York. The biography was published in the midst of the 1932 presidential campaign, prior to Roosevelt’s election in November of that year, and was part of an effort to shape his public image and present him as a reliable, empathetic, and progressive alternative to the Republican administration of Herbert Hoover during the Great Depression. The book aimed to bolster public confidence in his candidacy and portray him as “a man of the people” — a Democrat at heart, in contrast to the aristocratic image often associated with him due to his wealthy family background. Unlike most biographies written in retrospect, this one was composed in the present moment, as part of a real-time campaign to shape public perception of Roosevelt’s values and vision. 312 pages + [7] photo plates. Hardcover with original dust jacket, all complete. Minor tears to dust jacket. Light staining to some pages. Overall good condition.