No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II (Paperback) by Doris Kearns Goodwin

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History and political intrigue	1	6	01/27/2009 04:31PM

02/23/07

Jonna rated it:

bookshelves: mostrecentreads

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in November, 2006

recommends it for: History buffs

I've often said that Eleanor Roosevelt is my favorite American President, and I have to say I'm still of that persuasion. I learned so much about both FDR and Eleanor through this book, and while it concentrated on the war and only covered The New Deal as it related to the war, the total picture of what these two achieved, despite their human shortcomings, is absolutely magnificent. Especially since I followed up this book with the biography of Truman, a good man, of course, but one whose compar...more

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01/14/09

Amy rated it:

Read in February, 2009

Through No Ordinary Time, I loved learning more about the U.S. home front during WWII and the impact FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt made on the nation as President and First Lady. WWII was such a catalytic time in our nation's history. When Hitler was invading much of Europe prior to U.S. engagement in the war, our military ranked 17th or 18th in the world as a result of an isolationist policy felt in Congress and throughout the nation. (Many Americans thought that the oceans dividing us from Euro...more

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05/16/09

Becky rated it:

Read in June, 2009

I'm reminded of the saying, "If you want to learn something, read non-fiction." I am learning the answers to questions I didn't know I had. "Exactly how did the internment of the Japanese get started? When were land mines invented? What was Eleanor Roosevelt really like?" It was around this time that Executive Order 8802 came about, with the wording we are all so used to: discrimination is banned on grounds of "race, color, creed, or national origin." The nat...more

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02/07/08

Randy Endemann rated it:

This is a marathon of a book that I found difficult to put down. Goodwin's depiction of the Roosevelt's during WWII takes on a very narrow timeline that unfolds week by week. Her knowledge of the subject becomes clear in her attention to detail. It is not nearly a chronological history, it is more of a personal portrait which explores the emotions, motivations, and fears of America's greatest president, and those around him.

History has afforded us perspective that the subjects of ...more

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03/04/08

Suzanne rated it:

(review of isbn 0671642405)

bookshelves: american-history, biography

I love Doris Kearns Goodwin. This is by far the very best book (in my opinion) on what it was like to live here in The States during the Second World War. She describes the relationship between Franklin & Eleanor in human terms; their incredible political partnership existing within the tragedy of their lonely, asexual marriage, Eleanor's female attachments and Franklin's renewed relationship with Lucy Mercer. The descriptions of Winston Churchill's visits to the White House and his wanderings...more

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05/30/09

Mark Vogt rated it:

(review of isbn 0671642405)

An easy, enjoyable read for anybody in the Post World War II Generation. In part, the book chronicles the sacrifices of our parents and grandparents on the home front , leaving you with an understanding about the debt of gratitude we owe those remarkable people (not to mention those who actually fought the war). Regardless of your political bent, one instantly recognizes and appreciates the extraordinary leadership of FDR and Churchill -- there probably has been no one like them since. You se...more

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01/21/09

Lightreads rated it:

bookshelves: disability, history, nonfiction, politics

Read in January, 2009

What it says on the tin – 800 pages on Eleanor and Franklin, personal and political, from 1940-1945. The thing that's good about it is the same thing that's frustrating: this is a book about their marriage, their friends, the war, race relations, the rise of organized labor, the new women's workforce, etc. etc. So it's wide-ranging and densely woven, but because it's so diverse, it occasionally lacks cohesion and true depth. Her Team of Rivals did better, there.

Also, I was quite pu...more

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11/22/08

Judy rated it:

I love this book. I'm fascinated by the changing social attitudes and conditions during World War II in the United States. I'm also captivated by the personalities of both Franklin Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor and so I was a happy camper while reading this book. It is a detailed examination of the marriage of Franklin and Eleanor and their ability to overcome emotional distance to create a unique partnership. Both realized that the United States could not emerge from the war if it was a uni...more

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06/03/09

John rated it:

Read in June, 2009

Great book, way more interesting than it looks. This sat on my shelf for ever, and when I finally picked it up I was really glad I did. It's easy to feel a little WWII-ed out, you know? We figure we know everything about that because of all the movies and TV, but we really don't often get a close look at what was going on at home, in the white house. This provides some great context. Particularly good were the little moments she touches on, the ebb and flow of ER and FDR's relationship, and how ...more Great book, way more interesting than it looks. This sat on my shelf for ever, and when I finally picked it up I was really glad I did. It's easy to feel a little WWII-ed out, you know? We figure we know everything about that because of all the movies and TV, but we really don't often get a close look at what was going on at home, in the white house. This provides some great context. Particularly good were the little moments she touches on, the ebb and flow of ER and FDR's relationship, and how she would pester him and pester him about something until he ordered the staff to keep her away, and then a week later he would put her plans into action. You really get the sense that he kept her around because he knew she would never shut up about the women and the blacks, and he knew that he needed someone who would never let those subjects die, even when he wanted to ignore them. I also love the moments of Churchill running around the white house in his nightgown at the height of WWII, demanding cigars and sherry and brandy and keeping FDR up until 3 in the morning drinking and smoking and planning this whole war, to the point that once he left FDR would have to go to Hyde Park and sleep for 14 hours straight to recover.
It's also interesting to note that this is really where the civil rights movement started. It's so easy for teachers in school to start with Rosa Parks and MLK in the 50s, because there's so much else to cover about the war years, but this is really where black leaders started to make demands and fight for integration, and start to make progress. It makes sense, because at the start of the war they weren't letting black soldiers fight, they were making them be custodians and ditch diggers, and they weren't letting blacks work in the factories either, even when they were qualified. Since neither of those positions makes any sense at all, especially in the midst of the biggest war in history, black leaders were able to pressure the white house to make changes, and it actually worked. By the end of the war a lot had changed. You can really see the seeds of the civil rights movement of the 50s, when the black leaders could point to the war years and say that it was actually possible to make progress and get Washington to pay attention.
It's also astounding that the president could be in a wheelchair and also be seeing lots of ladies who were not his wife, and the national press corps NEVER said even one word about any of it. The reporters sent to follow FDR around would just play poker and drink while he entertained women and they would only report on official statements. Purely out of respect. That's amazing.(less)

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10/04/08

Karen rated it:

Read in November, 2008

Wow! What can I say? No other book has touched me in a long time as this one has. I was initially interested in the book because I love to read about WWII, but this book contains so much more. Doris Goodwin eloquently puts you into the minds of both FDR and Eleanor. By the end of this long book (around 637 pg), I found myself very emotional. At no time in our history, have we seen a president deal with a depression and a world war at the same time. Through New Deal programs, mobilization ...more

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06/16/08

Manuel rated it:

I would love to have been a fly on the wall at one of FDR's cocktail parties at the White House during WWII. When most of us attend cocktail parties, its usually with the knowledge you might run into someone interesting, or with the satisfaction of knowing you will never run into them again. In FDR's case, most of his guests were staying under the same roof at the White House.
The guest list would have included his trusted long time political advisor Harry Hopkins, his secretary Missy L...more I would love to have been a fly on the wall at one of FDR's cocktail parties at the White House during WWII. When most of us attend cocktail parties, its usually with the knowledge you might run into someone interesting, or with the satisfaction of knowing you will never run into them again. In FDR's case, most of his guests were staying under the same roof at the White House.
The guest list would have included his trusted long time political advisor Harry Hopkins, his secretary Missy Lahand, his mother the formidable Sara Delano Roosevelt, various exiled European royalty, Crown Princess Martha of Norway and her family, Empress Zita of Austria/Hungary, various Hollywood actors, financiers Henry Morganthau and Bernard Baruche, FDR's sons and daugher; not to mention Eleanor Roosevelt and the ultimate house guest Winston Churchill and staff.
Eventhough FDR and Eleanor lived in the White House from 1933 until 1945, this book deals mainly with the period immediatly after the fall of Belgium and Holland May 1940, until FDR's death in April 1945.
The book's title is exact when it says it was no ordinary time. In that short time span FDR and Eleanor took an insular and isolated country with an army smaller than Finland's and transformed it into the arsenal of democracy that would defeat Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.
The book shows the unique relationship between America's premier power couple. While FDR is getting America ready to fight the facists; Eleanor has not forgotten the American laborer, still trying to recover from the depression. While Franklin's focus turns to how to run the war; Eleanor is still fighting for human dignity by remembering the dislocated American Japanese and the segregated black fighting men as well as the increased role of American working women and their children.
I cant help feeling how lucky America was to have had such a uniquely talented couple during those extraordinary times.
I was surprised at how lonely these special people were. They were like twin constelations with various satelites orbiting, making them the sun in their universe but sometimes unable to communicate with each other beyond a level of professional respect and curtesy.
It was unusual for me to cry reading any book, but I shed a few tears at Franklin's death. One can only imagine what went on in Eleanor's mind when she realized a desperately lonely Franklin had died in the company of his former lover Lucy Mercer.
An incredible book.(less)

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05/05/08

Krenzel rated it:

(review of isbn 0671642405)

bookshelves: ala-notables, history, pulitzer

Read in June, 2008

Seemingly hundreds of books have been written about Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Books about Franklin, written from his point of view, can be critical of Eleanor – her tendency to nag, her seriousness, her lack of personality. Similarly, books about Eleanor, written from her point of view, can be critical of Franklin – his deceptions, arrogance, and self-centeredness. "No Ordinary Time, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II," written by historian Dor...more Seemingly hundreds of books have been written about Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Books about Franklin, written from his point of view, can be critical of Eleanor – her tendency to nag, her seriousness, her lack of personality. Similarly, books about Eleanor, written from her point of view, can be critical of Franklin – his deceptions, arrogance, and self-centeredness. "No Ordinary Time, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II," written by historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, provides a unique perspective in telling the stories of both Franklin and Eleanor, incorporating each point of view into the story, describing them both as individual people and as part of a troubled yet fascinating partnership. Written in narrative form, "No Ordinary Time" chronicles the war years on the home front, beginning in May of 1940 and ending in December of 1945, combining the story of the Roosevelts with that of regular Americans to demonstrate the unique relationship that was created between government and the people, making this truly "no ordinary time" in American history.

In "No Ordinary Time," Franklin Roosevelt is fleshed out as a charming and charismatic figure who comes to inspire the nation through his "ebullient energy" and unlimited confidence, not only in himself, but in the country. Although he came from a wealthy, aristocratic family, Roosevelt was able to empathize with the poor and underprivileged after a bout with polio left him crippled. Although he never allowed himself to be seen in his wheelchair, and most Americans did not realize the extent of his disability, Goodwin describes one poignant scene when the president went to visit troops in Oahu and specifically asked to be wheeled around the hospital ward slowly – to, in effect, put himself, his disability, and his vulnerability on full display, so that troops who had lost arms or legs could see "living proof of what the human spirit could do."

His unique ability to transmit his own perpetual cheerfulness and optimism to others was what defined his leadership. According to Goodwin, more than any previous president, Roosevelt studied public opinion (reading newspapers, analyzing polls, securing different points of view), allowing him to understand the national temperament. Even more than that, he wanted to connect to the American people. Prior to one of his fireside (radio) chats, he asked Americans to buy a map to have before them as they listened to his speech. Americans rushed to buy maps, and eighty percent of the audience was listening to the radio as Roosevelt explained to them the situation in each part of the world, bringing the war to life, so Americans could better understand the challenges they were facing and be more prepared for a new kind of war being fought on every continent. Not only did these fireside chats allow Americans to connect with their president, they allowed Americans to connect them with each other. Describing the scene on the Chicago Midway during a fireside chat, novelist Saul Bellow explained how all the taxi drivers were pulled over by the side of the road with their radios on, so that he didn’t miss a word of the speech as he walked by their cars: "You felt joined to these unknown drivers, [. . . .] not so much considering the President’s words as affirming the rightness of his tone and finding assurance from it." Through his leadership, Roosevelt inspired a country that had just been through an economic depression and that was woefully underprepared for a global war to come together and re-establish itself as the world’s preeminent superpower.

Like her husband, Eleanor Roosevelt also forged a unique relationship with the American people. Although she too had grown up in a wealthy, aristocratic family, unlike her husband she suffered through an unhappy childhood, leading to a lack of confidence and various bouts with depression. She lived a conventional subservient life as Franklin’s wife up until she discovered his affair with Lucy Mercer. At that point, she decided she would no longer depend on another person for fulfillment and happiness and embarked on her own independent life devoted to her own interests, including teaching, writing, and participating in various political causes. She was not a conventional first lady but rather "challenged the traditional sense of what was possible": she was the first wife of a president to hold a government job, testify before a congressional committee, hold press conferences, write a syndicated column, and earn money as a lecturer. She didn’t limit her role to staying at the White House and hosting social events, believing, if she did, she "would lose touch with the rest of the world." Instead, she traveled the country, observing poverty in Appalachia and sweatshops in Puerto Rico firsthand, reporting back to her husband when she found workers making less than minimum wage in one town. She witnessed the devastation of the war herself, also, as she traveled to Britain and to the Pacific. After seeing "the mangled bodies, the stomachs ripped by shells, the amputated limbs, the crushed spirits," she fell into a depression, trying to come to terms with her "emotionally disturbing" trip. Like her husband, she empathized with the American people and, even more than him, was determined to raise the consciousness of our country, fighting against Japanese internment and for women’s rights in the workplace, an increased role for African Americans in the workplace, and less restrictive rules to allow refugees into the United States.

Characterizing Eleanor as the agitator and Franklin as the politician, Eleanor as the one who thought about what should be done while Franklin thought only of what could be done, and contrasting Eleanor’s shyness and insecurity with Franklin’s confidence and sociability, Goodwin makes it clear just how different Eleanor and Franklin were. Realizing their inability to fulfill each other’s needs, they established largely independent lives where they turned to others for comfort – Franklin to his "real wife" Missy LeHand, his gossipy cousins, and his aide Harry Hopkins, and Eleanor to her young political activist friend Joseph Lash and a circle of feminist friends, including newspaper reporter Lorena Hickok. Even after Franklin grew lonely as Missy and Hopkins drifted away and turned to Eleanor in the hopes they could re-establish a more traditional marriage, she refused, later writing to Lash that she felt there was "no fundamental love to draw on, just respect and affection." Yet, Goodwin makes it clear that there was a bond between them that could not be broken. In one particularly affecting passage, Goodwin quotes from Eleanor’s son, who describes the aftermath of his uncle Hall’s death: "'Hall has died,' Eleanor told Franklin simply. Father struggled to her side and put his arms around her. 'Sit down,' he said, so tenderly I can still hear it. And he sank down beside her and hugged her and kissed her and held her head on his chest. . . . . For all they were apart both physically and spiritually much of their married life, there remained between them a bond that others could not break." This bond was not just from nearly forty years of marriage, but from the common cause they were joined in – to better the lives of Americans. In order to advance this cause, they drew strength from each other, together creating a far different America than the one that existed when Franklin Roosevelt first took office.

While it is clear that Goodwin has deep admiration for Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, she also establishes them as fully-fleshed characters – visionary, courageous, and brave, but also deeply flawed. In fleshing out their characters, she also succeeds in creating a third character, that of the American people. When Franklin Roosevelt began his second term, one-third of Americans had no running water or indoor plumbing, more than half had no central heating, and only one-fourth had even graduated from high school. America was a "pyramidal society," with a few fortunate on the top and a great mass of people at the bottom. During the war, though, Americans moved from the farm to the factory, from the south to the north, from the east to the west, as war production led to the emergence of the middle class and created the "most profound transition in American history." Most importantly, through innovations like the minimum wage, labor protection, social security, and market regulation, a new relationship between the American people and their government was formed. Franklin Roosevelt’s importance is felt most at the end of the book, as Goodwin poignantly describes the public’s reaction to his death – "everybody is crying" – and the long railroad trip as his body is carried from Georgia to Washington, with Eleanor looking out the window of the train and seeing hundreds of thousands of people whose lives he had touched gathered along the way to pay their tribute. In recounting the lives of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, and their impact on America, Goodwin shows readers why this was "no ordinary time," creating a vivid portrait of what American life on the home front was like during the second world war and bringing this incredible time in American history alive.
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04/05/08

Mary Etta rated it:

Read in April, 2009

By "Team of Rivals" author, Doris Kearns Goodwin. This was a book-on-tape read begun when driving south to St. George before Easter.

Set in a time of my childhood it enhanced memories of ration books, victory gardens, fighter planes overhead, blackouts, my mother knitting socks for soldiers, FDR and Eleanor. While listening to the last chapter I decided to go online and pull up photos of Eleanor whose image in my mind had been one of a tall, rather unattractive woman. S...more By "Team of Rivals" author, Doris Kearns Goodwin. This was a book-on-tape read begun when driving south to St. George before Easter.

Set in a time of my childhood it enhanced memories of ration books, victory gardens, fighter planes overhead, blackouts, my mother knitting socks for soldiers, FDR and Eleanor. While listening to the last chapter I decided to go online and pull up photos of Eleanor whose image in my mind had been one of a tall, rather unattractive woman. Seeing the beautiful photos/portraits of her youth surprised me that I hadn't seen them before. FDR and Eleanor were remarkable people and critical for their time, no matter what a reader's politics are. There are many great insights of Winston Churchill and a few of Stalin.

Aside from history and politics the book is very interesting in human relations, husband-wife relations, community involvement and caring about others. It was all very interesting. I'm glad, however, that it was an audio book, otherwise it would have been a long, long read for me as was "Team of Rivals" but well worth it. Once again, Goodwin's writing uncovered for me much of politics that I needed to realize and appreciate.

Having heard Ms. Goodwin speak at a Davis County event, I'd like to read her personal biography,"Wait Till Next Year" and "Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream." Perhaps I'll come to think better of him. In this case, Ms. Goodwin had the unique experience of living at the Johnson ranch to gather research for the book. Previously she had been a White House Fellow during his administration. Johnson offered her a job as his assistant, an offer which was not withdrawn even after her article appeared in "The New Republic" which described a scenario for Johnson's removal from office over his conduct of the war in Vietnam. At her Davis Reads talk she recounted the experience similarly to her Dartmouth 1998 commencement address, "...the president discovered that I had been actively involved in the anti-Vietnam War movement and had written an article entitled, 'How to Dump Lyndon Johnson'. I thought for sure he would kick me out of the program, but instead he said, 'Oh, bring her down here for a year and if I can't win her over, no one can'." With that kind of background, I'm looking forward to a future read of the Johnson book. In the Q/A afterward Goodwin credited her play-by-play accounts of Brooklyn Dodger games to her father, for her ability to tell a story. She was delightful speaker.(less)

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03/10/08

Dottie rated it:

(review of isbn 0671642405)

bookshelves: hisotrical-biography

Eleanor Roosevelt has always been one of my heroines. The fact that she was so intimidated by people and so shy when she was young and rose to this influential woman who really began the Human Rights fight makes her great in my eyes.

Doris Kearns Goodwin is my favorite author of history. She tells the biography of these two people by setting them right into the entire history of their time. She brings in details of events that were happening around them and effecting their lives and d...more

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04/07/09

David Wrubel rated it:

bookshelves: non-fiction

Read in January, 1997

Outstanding. Meticulous examination of the Franklin - Eleanor relationship, the FDR-Churchill dynamics, life in DC and in the White House, and a thread that highlights changes in US attitudes and social mores during (and because of) the war.

I have yet to find a book that does a good job of depicting the Home Front as it was for 'normal' people in the US...like my mother and her sisters...while so many of the boys were off to war. That is the book I'd love to read.

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02/10/09

Gaile Wakeman rated it:

Read in February, 2009

This was/is a marvelous book which focuses on FDR and Eleanor. The war history review is important and the core of our civil rights movement is seen as well. The incipient development of the women's rights'movement is covered. These 2 people together were a formidable team who led the nation into awareness of social issues and prosperity as well. DKG has reveals some bias but on the whole this is a very readable and well written book

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02/09/09

Nklein98 rated it:

Read in February, 2009

The way that Goodwin tells the story of this powerful couple makes this book so readable and fascinating. They definitely effected changes in the presidency, social and labor reforms and brought the international community closer together. However Goodwin doesn't hesitate to show their personal and public failings. Those who find history boring may be put off by the "numbers" she uses to illustrate a point but, for me, they are included in such fine story telling style that they only s...more

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07/02/08

Lesley rated it:

Read in April, 2009

This book. I loved this book. Maybe its because I love Doris Kearns Goodwin (and even saw her out at a bar in MA once! Yes! True!) maybe its because I love Eleanor Roosevelt or maybe its because I love Franklin Roosevelt... or maybe its all three.

It is a time of war and turmoil, but its the age of innovation, the days the policies were created and great people were made great.

You can drink this book like water, it goes down so easy and thankfully its endless. More...more

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03/24/08

Ellis rated it:

bookshelves: biography, history, nonfiction, politics, pulitzer, war

Read in March, 2009

Before reading:
I LOVED Goodwin's book on Lincoln, Team of Rivals, so I'm really excited to dig into this one. Here goes...

After reading:
This book was really good. I was hoping to read an FDR book that focused on his economic and social policies, but when you don't read a book's complete title.......my carelessness is my bane. This book was very good, however, and I'm glad that I read it. FDR really cared about people and worked, often with much pressure from Eleanor, ...more

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06/08/09

Lynne rated it:

(review of isbn 0743539656)

bookshelves: 2009-2010, audio-book, non-fiction

Read in June, 2009

Doris Kearns Goodwin is a story teller, finding the details that make people and the history that surrounds them come to life. This audio CD is especially good, because the reader is the actor Edward Herrman, who won an Emmy for his portrayal of FDR in Eleanor and Franklin. When he reads words by FDR, he uses that unforgettable accent. I'll look for more Goodwin histories.

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