5432. Happy Days Are Here Again The 1932 Democratic Convention, the Emergence of FDR--And How America Was Changed Forever, by Steve Neal (read 16 Dec 2016) (Book of the Year) This book, published in 2004, tells the story of the events leading up to the 1932 Democratic Convention and of the tremendous drama which gripped the Convention as FDR had a majority of the vote but needed 2/3rds. In 1912 and in 1924 the candidate who had a majority of the votes but did not reach 2/3rds failed to be nominated and the persons working for FDR, led by Jim Farley and Louie Howe, after the third ballot were fearful that FDR would fail. Fortunately, they were able to convince the Garner people and William Randolph Hearst that they should back FDR. The book is extremely dramatic and super-exciting. There is a bibliography of 15 pages (and a check tells me I have read 61 of the books listed in the bibliography). A plus for the book is that it tells in detail of the rather scary flight in bad weather of FDR to Chicago to accept the nomination--the first time FDR had flown since his time as an Assistant Secretary of the Navy--he did not fly again till World War II. I admit I had to tell myself as I read of the flight that he would arrive safely in Chicago. This is a tremendously interesting account which no politically interested person should fail to read. ( )

This was a great book that focused on the 1932 Democratic National Convention where FDR won the nomination for president. The book focuses not only on FDR but all the other contenders that have long been lost in history which is one of the reasons why I liked this book. In addition to all the interesting facts and research, there were a great deal of pictures to bring the convention and the people involved to life.

I definitely recommend this to anyone who is interested in American politics and FDR. ( )