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No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II

by Doris Kearns Goodwin

4.34 · Rating Details · 16,556 Ratings · 917 Reviews

Winner of the Pulitzer for History, No Ordinary Time is a chronicle of one of the most vibrant & revolutionary periods in US history. With an extraordinary collection of details, Goodwin weaves together a number of story lines—the Roosevelt’s marriage & partnership, Eleanor’s life as First Lady, & FDR’s White House & its impact on America as well as on a wo ...more

Paperback, 759 pages

Published 1994 by Simon & Schuster (NY)

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Feb 26, 2014 Matt rated it it was amazing

Doris Kearns Goodwin’s No Ordinary Time is an unusual World War II book. There are no descriptions of clashing armies, no in-depth armchair analyses of battlefield strategies, no biographical sketches of medal-bedecked generals moving their men like so many pawns. This is World War II as viewed from the American home front, and specifically through the eyes of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.

No Ordinary Time begins in 1940, as Nazi Germany invades France, Luxembourg, and the Low Countries (endin ...more

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Nov 08, 2009 Ed rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Anyone with interest in recent American history.

Recommended to Ed by: The History Book Club

Shelves: history, reviewed, non-fiction

A truly memorable book. Doris Kearns Goodwin is a fine writer who manages to transform seemingly insignificant snippets of data into compelling reading.

This volume covers the period from May, 1939 to April, 1945 and focuses on what was going on in the U.S. through the actions and writings of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and others close to them. It truly deserves its Pulitzer Prize and the four or more other awards and accolades it garnered.

I consider myself reasonably knowledgeable about the ...more

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Jun 30, 2009 Becky rated it it was amazing

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 national origin part was added because t ...more

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Oct 09, 2014 Markus Molina rated it liked it

Remind me to never read a book this big in the middle of a busy school semester!

Throughout the book, I found myself slightly disappointed by FDR. He isn't lovable or heroic and there are times that I really question his integrity, especially in his relationships and his resistance to stepping down after his first two terms. So although the book is thorough and full of information and anecdotes, and although there are lots of things to point to that he did well, I find I cannot give it a higher r ...more

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Sep 17, 2013 Graham Shelby rated it it was amazing

I took a long time reading this book because it was like time travel, like seeing into the past. NO ORDINARY TIME is a marvelously researched and rendered account of perhaps the most important and influential marriage in American history. Franklin and Eleanor's relationship is fascinating, so complicated and extraordinary, and yet so human, and in its own way, familiar.

Eleanor, to her eternal credit and the benefit of our country, was a tireless champion for women and African-Americans and the I took a long time reading this book because it was like time travel, like seeing into the past. NO ORDINARY TIME is a marvelously researched and rendered account of perhaps the most important and influential marriage in American history. Franklin and Eleanor's relationship is fascinating, so complicated and extraordinary, and yet so human, and in its own way, familiar.

Eleanor, to her eternal credit and the benefit of our country, was a tireless champion for women and African-Americans and the poor. Franklin was as well, to a lesser degree, but his calculus was much more complicated than hers. The book features story after story of people experiencing one kind of social injustice or another and somehow getting word directly or indirectly to Eleanor, who would be outraged. And at that precise moment, Franklin is having cocktails with his friends (this was an important part of his process for managing the work stress caused by, you know, the Depression and World War II).

Then Eleanor, in high dudgeon, comes in, completely focused on some poor person's plight and totally buzzkills the party. Franklin's annoyed. They argue. Often (though not always) he agrees to take some action. Ultimately, he appreciates her awareness of what's happening in the country, and her ability to go places he couldn't really go, both because he was president and because of his polio.

Goodwin's writing isn't artful, exactly, but it doesn't need to be. It's efficient, thorough and insightful. Her eye for detail and organization is just about perfect. She admires and empathizes with Franklin, Eleanor and the people around them, but she also sees their flaws and holds them accountable for their mistakes and misjudgments, while also contextualizing them. She details, for example, Franklin's decision to listen to the voices in his cabinet and military who called for interning Japanese-Americans as perhaps the most glaring example. (That policy not only made fishwrap of the Constitution, it went against his own values.)

I savored this book, took the last pages slowly because I didn't want it to end, didn't want Franklin to die, suddenly, while visiting his mistress. But he did. And Eleanor found that out, and had to live with that as part of her memory of him.

There's a wonderful scene at the end of the book where Eleanor is taking Bess Truman on a tour of the White House. Eleanor doesn't seem to notice that the new first lady is quietly appalled that the place is in such disrepair. Keeping up the president's residence is apparently part of the first lady's traditional responsibilities, but between traveling, writing a daily newspaper column, and advocating for Americans who had no one else of her stature or influence on their side, Eleanor Roosevelt never quite found the time to keep house, even the White House. ...more

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Jun 23, 2015 Sherri rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-books

Goodwin has to be the best non-fiction writer I have ever read. This is the second book I have listened to of hers, and I am in awe of her talent for writing and telling a story. She takes subjects that have been written about thousands of times, and makes them gripping and new.

In this book, Goodwin focuses on the American home front during WWII and some of the most visible, unique personalities who shaped the times, including, of course, FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt. Through her words, the reader Goodwin has to be the best non-fiction writer I have ever read. This is the second book I have listened to of hers, and I am in awe of her talent for writing and telling a story. She takes subjects that have been written about thousands of times, and makes them gripping and new.

In this book, Goodwin focuses on the American home front during WWII and some of the most visible, unique personalities who shaped the times, including, of course, FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt. Through her words, the reader is witness to the evolution of a nation and national character, first stumbling out of the Great Depression, then confronting an unwanted world war horribly unprepared, and finally riding a war victory into the 50's and 60's with all the lurking unresolved social and political issues that would characterize those two decades. I felt like this book was a window looking in on the lives my grandparents and their parents must have led. Sometimes I think we have the feeling that the world is more terrible, uncertain and dangerous now than it has ever been. You only have to read Goodwin's book to realize how wrong that view is.

Goodwin's portrait of FDR and Eleanor and their marriage is nothing short of fascinating. It's a very full picture and doesn't shy away from the flaws and weaknesses. It tells a familiar story about how two people who love each other deeply can also hurt each other so much that they never heal from it.

I love the way Goodwin uses personal letters and diary entries to bring personalities and events to life. She is very good at it.

I was particularly taken in by Eleanor's story. As I read about her, I was continually reminded of Katharine Graham and her autobiography, Personal History. For personal and cultural reasons, both women were well through half of their lives before they really came into their own. Eleanor's struggle to come into her own, and lasting mark on the American social and political landscape is a true inspiration, and probably a type for the history of the American character as well.

...more

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Feb 18, 2009 Amy rated it really liked it

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 Europe ...more

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Dec 11, 2013 Max rated it really liked it

Shelves: american-history

No Ordinary Time provides an intimate view of Franklin and Eleanor’s unique relationship, one more of a working partnership than a traditional marriage. Written in a somewhat gossipy style, at times resembling a society page column with its homey details, Goodwin digs deep into the character of the Roosevelt’s. Focusing on the rights of minorities, women and workers, she chronicles the dramatic social changes of the period.

Goodwin presents the attitudes and situations of people in 1940, which w ...more

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Mar 17, 2013 Dan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I have never been a big history buff. Growing up I thought my lack of interest was because history is about learning dates and facts and I was more interested in understanding the relationships between things and why they are the way they are. A great professor in college showed me that history can be fascinating if approached with a view of understanding the relationships that caused events to unfold the way they did. I now enjoy history when presented in this way.

I started to read Goodwin's Te I have never been a big history buff. Growing up I thought my lack of interest was because history is about learning dates and facts and I was more interested in understanding the relationships between things and why they are the way they are. A great professor in college showed me that history can be fascinating if approached with a view of understanding the relationships that caused events to unfold the way they did. I now enjoy history when presented in this way.

I started to read Goodwin's Team of Rivals about Lincoln after seeing the film Lincoln. I found it to be very slow moving and more about the other three candidates who were running against Lincoln than about Lincoln himself. I was missing the relationship between the other candidates and Lincoln. I cannot say that Goodwin did not get around to developing those relationships, only that she did it so slowly as to lose my interest.

I had her book about the Roosevelts on my reading list for some time. I noted that it had won a Pulitzer Prize and decided to give her another chance. I am so glad I did. This book is so different from Team of Rivals that I wonder what has changed. I found this book to move along at a good pace. It develops the relationships in Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt's lives that contributed to their views and leadership styles.

I also found the similarities between pre-WWII US and today striking. The conservatives and progressives were arguing about many of the same economic issues facing us today with little apparent room for compromise. It seems it took the attack on Pearl Harbor to unite the people of the US to work together.

Another big take-away for me was that military historians agree that the US industrial might did more to win the war than the soldiers on the battlefields. This book shows that Franklin Roosevelt was key in leading the US to produce the weapons and supplies needed at a pace that most had thought was impossible. It is also clear that Eleanor played a large role in advancing civil rights for many groups that had fewer advantages than wealthy, white males. ...more

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May 01, 2008 Randy Endemann rated it it was amazing

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 the book lacked ...more

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Nov 22, 2008 Judy rated it it was amazing

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 unifie ...more

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Jan 30, 2009 Lightreads rated it liked it

Shelves: disability, nonfiction, history, politics

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 put off by the h ...more

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Apr 25, 2009 Mary Etta rated it really liked it

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 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. ...more

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Jul 10, 2013 Clif Hostetler rated it it was amazing

Shelves: history

It doesn't see that long ago that I read this. But I haven't found a review in my Goodreads.com folder, so it must have been prior to my Goodreads.com membership era. I was reminded of the book because it is the featured review on my PageADay Book Lover's Calendar for today. Below is the review from the calendar:
____________
American heroes such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt can be so lionized that they cease to resemble living, fallible human beings. Doris Kearns Goodwin doesn’t make that mistake ...more

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Aug 17, 2011 Matthew Bartlett rated it it was amazing

In my opinion, this is one of the best books if not the best book Doris Kearns Goodwin has ever written. After reading this book, Goodwin became one of my favorite historians. When I read the opening of this book, I literally felt I was walking beside President Roosevelt and Eleanor. This is a great read, informative and engaging. You will not want to put it down. You follow FDR from the end of his second term to his controversial running for a third term to entering WWII to his death. You learn ...more

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Apr 29, 2015 Joseph rated it it was amazing

No Ordinary Time details the amazing and wonderful story of the relationship between Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt between 1940 and 1945. Despite the personal turmoil that each endured, individually and collectively, the primaries seemed to transcend those hardships for the greater good of the nation in the midst of and during WWII.

It was enlightening to see the civility and sometimes unconditional love that each had for the other despite the pain causes by one's actions or circumstances. Th ...more

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Jan 03, 2015 Linda Harkins rated it it was amazing

Excellent history and biography! No wonder this won a Pulitzer with all of the primary sources and personal interviews Goodwin used! Both FDR, a man whose strengths far outweighed his weaknesses, and Eleanor, probably the most intelligent female in FDR's company and essential to his plans, are portrayed as larger-than-life, figures who are such different personalities that it is a miracle they remained married. Of course, FDR's mother told him that he would not inherit Hyde Park if he divorced E ...more

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Aug 15, 2015 Doreen Petersen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: wwii, history

What a magificent book! Kudos to the author. Extremely well-written. Absolutely loved it and would recomend it to all.

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Jan 30, 2011 Judee rated it it was amazing

Makes you wonder at times if Eleanor Roosevelt was more important and more insightful than FDR.

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Sep 03, 2015 Jake Danishevsky rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-politics, own

Even though a very well written recount of historical significance and a well described detail of FDR presidency, one cannot ignore how the author, throughout the book and in her own recap, praises many policies and decisions that eventually, and not that long after they were passed, proved to be failed outcomes. Even though done with good intentions, big government, handshake that new deal created for business, expansion of unions and government to "work hand in hand" with free market via socia ...more

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Nov 30, 2014 Caroline rated it it was amazing

Shelves: american-history, world-war-2

It is easy to see why this book won the Pulitzer Prize: there can surely be no better examination of the American home-front during World War II: its slow adjustment from isolation to dedicated involvement, the adjustment of the economy and business from the Depression to a war footing, the social progress made by women and African-Americans and the disgraceful treatment of Japanese-Americans.

Goodwin demonstrates just how entwined were the endeavours of the soldiers at the battlefront and the do ...more

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Oct 19, 2014 Jean Poulos rated it it was amazing

Shelves: biography, non-fiction, history, audio-2014, world-war-ii, us-history

I have been trying to clear my wish list of some books that have been there since the beginning of the year. A number on the list including this one I have kept postponing reading because they are so long. This book is about 40 hours.

Goodwin sets out to tell the history of 1940 to 1945 through the lives of the Roosevelt’s and those who occupied the White House with them at a time when that building functioned more as a dormitory for famous personages than the President’s official residence. Gue I have been trying to clear my wish list of some books that have been there since the beginning of the year. A number on the list including this one I have kept postponing reading because they are so long. This book is about 40 hours.

Goodwin sets out to tell the history of 1940 to 1945 through the lives of the Roosevelt’s and those who occupied the White House with them at a time when that building functioned more as a dormitory for famous personages than the President’s official residence. Guest included of course the Roosevelt’s daughter Ann and 4 sons, but Winston Churchill came and stayed for months at a time. Goodwin introduces us to a guest that has had less attention paid to her by historians the exiled Princess Martha of Norway. Princess Martha was born in Stockholm the daughter of Prince Carl of Sweden and Princess Ingeborg of Denmark. She married her cousin Crown Prince Olav of Norway in Oslo Cathedral on 21 March 1929; it was the first Royal Wedding in Norway in 340 years. When the Nazi overran Norway the Royal family first fled to Sweden then to England. Princess Martha and her three children were invited to come to the United States by Franklin and Eleanor for safety for the duration of the War. The Norwegian Americans helped host her. Prince Olav stayed most often in London helping with the War effort. Prince Olav’s mother was Princess Maud of Wales and father was King Haakon VII of Norway.

The author did a prodigious amount of research to write this book and then she had the ability to convert all that abundance of information into a very readable story. No previous biography of the Roosevelt’s has given so complete a picture of how the private lives and political lives intersect uniquely for the Roosevelt’s. Goodwin portrays the history of WWII and so fully documents the domestic life of the nation during the international crisis. Narrating the events of the war from the vantage point of the White House, Goodwin makes it richly evident; Eleanor was a home front counterpart to Winston Churchill, a partner and provocateur whose relationship with FDR was rarely smooth and often frankly confrontational. Eleanor was her husband’s political and social conscience. Goodwin shows in stunning detail that Eleanor was even more; she was his astute political partner, lobbyist and goad. Goodwin depicts how a savvy, relentlessly involved First Lady incalculably enriched and shaped the political and social agenda of the Nation.

The way Goodwin has pulled her myriad facts together serves to reinforce one’s sense of a monumental Presidency. It had its flaws, among which Goodwin numbers chiefly its failure to do more for the European Jews and its inability to stem the tide of hostility toward Japanese-Americans after Pearl Harbor. This is a superb dual portrait of the 32nd President and his first lady. I read this as an audio book downloaded from Audible. Nelson Runger did a great job narrating the book.
...more

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Oct 05, 2010 Cindy rated it it was amazing

I loved this book. I purchased it after visiting the Roosevelt homes in Hyde Park, NY and had a really hard time putting it down. It's a LONG book so I read it for many weeks.

I thought I knew the history of the US pretty well but a lot of what I read startled me. I had no idea that racism was so pervasive in our culture then. I was struck by how the arguments that were used THEN to keep society segregated by race are so similar to the ones used today to discriminate against gays. Before the end ...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Mark Vogt rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This was actually my second reading of this book, having read it originally circa 2000. No Ordinary Time is 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 during the Second World War , 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 r ...more

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Jul 25, 2008 Krenzel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: ala-notables, history, pulitzer

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, 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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Nov 07, 2012 Marigold rated it really liked it

Shelves: world-war-ii, non-fiction, history, award-winners, presidents-and-politics-us

This is one of the best American history books I've ever read. Doris Kearns Goodwin skillfully weaves together the personal and the political to bring light to the unique partnership of FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt. Though it appears they may have driven each other a little crazy, there was also a lot of love there - and sometimes people are brought together because they can use one another's skills to accomplish things important to both of them - and in this case, important to our country. The boo This is one of the best American history books I've ever read. Doris Kearns Goodwin skillfully weaves together the personal and the political to bring light to the unique partnership of FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt. Though it appears they may have driven each other a little crazy, there was also a lot of love there - and sometimes people are brought together because they can use one another's skills to accomplish things important to both of them - and in this case, important to our country. The book brought me into the world of the New Deal and World War II - which gave me some great historical perspective on our recent election process (just ended as I write this)! While others were (dare I say) whining about the discourse & ads & the fact that they have to be confronted with opinions they don't agree with, I just felt appreciative of the fact that we have the freedom to have the discourse at all! I also came to realize that some of the political debate has been the same for years - what is the role of government, etc. From reading this book, though, it sounds like there used to be a greater sense of shared destiny & responsibility; a realization that whatever is happening, the President's job is to lead the country & that alone deserves some respect. I learned more about the press & the agreement they had with FDR to shield his disability from the world. DKG also writes about the relationships FDR and Eleanor had with other men & women - some of which may or may not have been physical affairs - & I was fascinated by the idea that these were not considered fodder for attacks - these relationships happened, & the political life of the country went on, & the world did not come to an end!

I learned a tremendous amount about the role of the US in the early days of World War II - a lot that I didn't know previously - & about the internment of Japanese people in the US - and so much more. I learned more about how and why FDR and Churchill were such great leaders - and Eleanor was as well, bringing the stories of real people to her husband through her endless travel schedule, & acting, it seems, as a sort of conscience for him. I learned a lot about the people who surrounded FDR and Eleanor, their friends & fellow legislators, & their family. DKG drew me into the world of the 1940s & I was sorry to leave it when it ended. Yes, I actually got tears in my eyes when FDR died! (So glad Eleanor got the dog!) This is better than any novel, if you are interested in reading about this period in our history. Don't miss it. ...more

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Jun 24, 2009 John rated it it was amazing

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 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. ...more

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Aug 28, 2015 Melissa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

No Ordinary Time is so deserving of all the praise it's received, including the Pulitzer Prize. It's truly an enthralling read, bringing the Roosevelts and those surrounding them to life and painting an incredibly vivid portrait of the WWII years in the White House and in the country as a whole. The great, sweeping saga of that time in history is there, but so are myriad small, well-chosen details that make FDR and Eleanor real living, breathing human beings.

Doris Kearns Goodwin is a fabulous wr ...more

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Sep 08, 2011 Jess rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Megan, Nathan

4.5 stars. This is a magnificent book. Kearns Goodwin uses FDR and Eleanor as conduits to tell the story of World War II's double fronts (from the American perspective): home and abroad. The quotes she seamlessly interweaves from letters and transcripts make the story read like a novel. The book gave me a much deeper appreciation of the upheaval the war took on the nation in more ways than I feel I learned in traditional history classes. I also gained an appreciation for learning about (yet agai ...more

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Jun 12, 2009 Lesley rated it it was amazing

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 than it being a long book, it ...more

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About Doris Kearns Goodwin

Also credited as "Doris Kearns" on the first editions of Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream.

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