The Washington War

April 1, 2019
A new history of the Franklin Roosevelt/World War II era and the many significant characters who inhabited it. Beating Germany or Japan was not a given in the bitter early stretches of the war, and it could not have happened unless the United States effectively harnessed its resources quickly. Military historian Lacey (War, Policy, and Strategy/Marine Corps War Coll.; Great Strategic Rivalries: From the Classical World to the Cold War, 2016, etc.) shows how the U.S.--which, in 1940, had a military the size of Bulgaria's--would, within 30 months, turn the tide to victory. Much of the success owes to the leadership and strategy of Roosevelt and Gen. George Marshall, yet the momentum toward victory was years in the making. Roosevelt played his advisers against each other--e.g., Henry Hopkins, secretary of commerce, and Harold Ickes, secretary of interior, who were both tasked with ending the Depression--and he often worked in secret, as when he jump-started the military procurement in 1938 before the public knew of his motivation to aid England. As the European conflict intensified, Roosevelt stood firmly by the people he trusted. Ever politically astute, he appointed two Republicans to key war-building positions just on the eve of his own dicey decision to run for a third term: Henry Stimson at the war department and Frank Knox to run the Navy. With the Cabinet stocked with men in a driving hurry, Roosevelt tapped the brilliant Ernest King as chief of naval operations. Lacey manages to gather together the many strands of this remarkable story of how the U.S. government harnessed the disparate talents of business leaders, congressmen, volatile generals, and prickly heads of state such as Churchill. As the author notes, these "titanic rows almost always led to better outcomes than would have prevailed had there been a single man or apparatus directing events." A densely researched, thorough history for students of Roosevelt and World War II.

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April 22, 2019
Historian Lacey (The First Clash) delves deeply into the bureaucracy of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration, examining in minute detail the accomplishments of the U.S. military and the successes and limits of American diplomacy before and during WWII. Drawing plentiful information from archival sources and biographies, Lacey goes into exhaustive and sometimes extraneous detail to demonstrate how the numerous conflicts within the administration led to “grudging compromises” that resulted in better outcomes than one person working alone would have. But mostly “the petty took precedence over the crucial” as statesmen argued, backstabbed, cried, lied, leaked unflattering stories to the press, and threw temper tantrums to get their preferred plans across. FDR emerges as “the most Machiavellian of U.S. presidents,” a charmer who rarely meant a word of what he said and could ignore any trait in his underlings—ineptitude, anti-Semitism, sycophancy—as long as he had their loyalty. Moments of humanity or levity are few—Gen. George Marshall diverting Prime Minister Winston Churchill by asking him to speak extemporaneously on British history being a welcome exception—and Lacey’s repetitive prose more often telegraphs than evokes. This volume will likely appeal less to readers of military history than to those who relish tales of Beltway squabbles and bureaucracy gone awry.

June 1, 2019

Lacey (military history, Marine Corps War Coll.; The First Clash) provides a comprehensive portrait of the intricacies of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's political system leading up to and during America's involvement in World War II. Showcasing a cast of little-known and behind-the-scenes politicians, and the inevitable ineptitude of officials and organizations to navigate government bureaucracy and political showdowns, Lacey shows how Roosevelt's whim impacted almost every decision regarding foreign policy. This period saw the rise and fall of numerous government agencies along with the realignment of the American government, including the legal system and the Supreme Court. Lacey's work is one to pair with a social history such as William K. Klingaman's The Darkest Year in order to better understand the depth of World War II pandemonium on the home front. Includes several underutilized and primary sources now being revisited in the run up to the 75th anniversary of D-Day. VERDICT A fantastic account for political scientists, 20th- century World War II and policy historians, and history aficionados. Lacey's flow of language and wit make this an accessible and compelling read.--Elan Ward, Arizona Western Coll., Yuma

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2019
From Lacey's first sentence, Battles are won on the fighting fronts, but wars are won in conference rooms, we recognize that this is military history without soldiers or sailors. Lacey deals with issues and strategies, including complex economic considerations, that many others have largely bypassed. The cast of characters who occupied chairs in Washington's conference rooms during WWII constituted a formidable group of strong individuals?Harry Hopkins, Henry Wallace, James Byrnes, Cordell Hull, Henry Stimson, and George C. Marshall, among others?and they were often in conflict. Yet, as Lacey shows, FDR molded the disparate personalities into a winning team, using his characteristic style of developing camaraderie and fostering deliberate internecine squabbles. Roosevelt's own relationships with Churchill and Stalin added another dimension, as the president and his team maneuvered their way carefully from neutrality to war, treading softly around the isolationists. Pearl Harbor, of course, changed everything, making how to win the war the chief topic for debate. Comparisons to Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals (2005), about Lincoln's cabinet, are inevitable, and, in fact, the two books make an excellent pairing. A convincing addition to the literature of WWII.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)