Book Review: FDR in American Memory: Roosevelt and the Making of an Icon by Sara Polak
Sara Polak. FDR in American Memory: Roosevelt and the Making of an Icon (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 2021), £54. In FDR In American Memory: Roosevelt and the Making of an Icon, Sara Polak evaluates how President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s image was constructed to resemble that of an American icon. In thematic chapters, Polak examines the changes and key points of Roosevelt’s public image, and also the individuals that created it. She persuasively shows how Roosevelt’s public image, and its shaping, still allows for him to be considered as one of America’s most popular presidents, over 75 years after his death. Polak’s work remains key in discussing the scholarship of America’s memory of the New Deal, but also sheds further light on the tools that were, and continue to be, used by American presidents to ensure that their legacy would remain for several decades. Building on FDR’s World: War, Peace, […]