FDR and Lucy: Lovers and Friends

by Willis; Resa

• ISBN13: 9780415948043
• ISBN10: 0415948045
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-09-20
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

The last face FDR saw before he died was that of Lucy Mercer Rutherford, his mistress of thirty-one years. Although Eleanor, his children, and the press knew about Lucy, the American public would not hear of her until 1966. FDR and Lucyis the first book to delve into this hidden side of FDR's life. Drawing on documents from the Roosevelt Presidential Library as well as visits to Lucy's homes, biographer Resa Willis explores how this life-long love affair changed the course of his marriage and the presidency. Roosevelt fell in love with Lucy in 1914 and for the next three decades she provided him comfort from the pressures of his job and the critical eyes of his mother and wife. Illuminating a critical era in American history, Willis explores why the press dared not report the affair. Willis also suggests that Eleanor's discovery of Lucy in 1918 marked the end of the Roosevelt's personal marriage and the beginning of their political marriage and Eleanor's groundbreaking activism. A true lovestory with historical impact,FDR and Lucypaints a compelling portrait of one of the most famous "other women" in American history, giving us a window into FDR's impassioned life and presidency.

Author Biography

Resa Willis is Professor of English at Drury University.

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS	ix
INTRODUCTION	xiii
CHAPTER 1 "While I am alive"	1	(10)
CHAPTER 2 "Rich in heritage if not funds"	11	(7)
CHAPTER 3 "Inexorably drawn to each other"	18	(6)
CHAPTER 4 "Part of the family"	24	(8)
CHAPTER 5 "Not willing to step aside"	32	(13)
CHAPTER 6 "Like an English peer"	45	(12)
CHAPTER 7 "Please tell Franklin"	57	(12)
CHAPTER 8 "I hear that you are a grandfather"	69	(10)
CHAPTER 9 "Mr. President"	79	(12)
CHAPTER 10 "Bless you as ever. L"	91	(12)
CHAPTER 11 "Your dear blessed and capable hands"	103	(8)
CHAPTER 12 "I am alone"	111	(10)
CHAPTER 13 "His beloved presence"	121	(13)
CHAPTER 14 "He seems very anxious to have his portrait done now"	134	(10)
CHAPTER 15 "One of the greatest men that ever lived"	144	(9)
NOTES	153	(20)
BIBLIOGRAPHY	173	(4)
INDEX	177