Closest Companion
The Unknown Story of the Intimate Friendship Between Franklin Roosevelt and Margaret Suckley
-
- $16.99
-
- $16.99
Publisher Description
For the first time in paperback, the highly acclaimed, remarkably intimate, and surprisingly revealing secret diary of the woman who spent more private time with FDR than any other person during his years in the White house. At once a love story and a major contribution to history, it offers dramatic new insights into FDR—both the man and the president.
• Bestselling author: Geoffrey C. Ward is an award-winning biographer of FDR and the bestselling coauthor of many books with Ken Burns, including The Civil War and Baseball.
• Widely acclaimed: “A fascinating, very personal view of the man and his life” (USA TODAY). “A remarkable portrait” (The Washington Post). “A new mirror on Roosevelt” (The New York Times). “engrossing” (The New York Review of Books).
• Intimate portrait of a president: FDR trusted Margaret “Daisy” Suckley completely—she was allowed to photograph him in his wheelchair, was privy to wartime secrets, and documented his failing health in great detail.
• Major contribution to history: Daisy’s diary offers unique insights into FDR’s relationship with Winston Churchill and other wartime leaders, his decision to run for an unprecedented fourth term, and his hopes for the postwar world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Margaret (``Daisy'') Suckley, Franklin D. Roosevelt's distant cousin and the archivist at his Hyde Park, N.Y., library, was a frequent companion of the president at the White House, yet until now the depth of their warm friendship was not realized. When she died at 99 in 1991, friends found under her bed a suitcase stuffed with thousands of pages of her diaries, and letters to and from FDR, dating from 1933 until his death in 1945. Skillfully distilled and woven together by acclaimed Roosevelt biographer Ward, these writings detail her adoration and love of FDR and his great affection toward her in the course of a relationship that for a time spilled over into giddy flirtation. Included are 38 never-before-seen letters from Roosevelt to Suckley that provide an invaluable portait of FDR in his off-hours. A measure of the extraordinary trust he placed in Suckley is that he confided to her details of his secret meeting with Churchill off Canada's coast in August 1941 and of the impending D-Day invasion, as well as his frustrations with his job and his plans for the postwar world. Photos.
