Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America

Rightful Heritage by Douglas Brinkley is not your average autobiography of a President. Franklin D. Roosevelt is known for many things, being the only 4 term president, a Depression Busting, War Waging, Polio Battling warrior, but also a fierce conservationist. Roosevelt was the recipient of a Hudson River upbringing, where his respect of nature was instilled by his father. Roosevelt was raised to believe in conservation of Natural Resources, his cousin and President Theodore Roosevelt was also a conservationist who extolled the virtues of wildlife. Roosevelt would learn to love & respect nature in his love of birds, being an amateur Ornithologist. He further cultivated a learning of nature at Groton and Harvard University, but also as caretaker of his father’s estate after James Roosevelt’s death. Roosevelt would meet a kindred spirit in his conservationist leanings with his bride Eleanor.

Throughout his political ascent, FDR would espouse wind and hydroelectric power years before it became a trend. His empathy for the plight of the farmers and their economic well being would propel him into the Oval Office in the 1932 election. Roosevelt’s election would usher in a breath of fresh air into a dying economy and his dynamic cabinet and 100 days legislation would bring to the surface numerous ways of healing the land and unemployment. The Tennessee Valley Authority and Civilian Conservation Corps were just a couple of highlights in a storm of ideas to better the landscape of the US. Roosevelt would never stop caring about Mother Nature through his 12 years in Office.

Douglas Brinkley’s look at another side of the 33rd President combines many aspects of FDRs 63 year life with his lifelong quest to heal nature’s wounds. Wars would be fought (internally and externally) to temper his efforts. There has never been a conservationist president such as FDR and that is seen as a shame, especially since some subsequent presidents have trampled over his progress.