Nothing to Fear: FDR's Inner Circle and the Hundred Days That Created Modern America
Author: Adam Cohen
From New York Times editorial board member Adam Cohen, a revelatory account of the personal dynamics that shaped FDR's inner circle and a political narrative of the hundred days that created modern America.
Publishers Weekly
New York Times editorial board member Cohen (coauthor, American Pharaoh) delivers an exemplary and remarkably timely narrative of FDR's famous first "Hundred Days" as president. Providing a new perspective on an oft-told story, Cohen zeroes in on the five Roosevelt aides-de-camp whom he rightly sees as having been the most influential in developing FDR's wave of extraordinary actions. These were agriculture secretary Henry Wallace, presidential aide Raymond Moley, budget director Lewis Douglas, labor secretary Frances Perkins and Civil Works Administration director Harry Hopkins. This group, Cohen emphasizes, did not work in concert. The liberal Perkins, Wallace and Hopkins often clashed with Douglas, one of the few free-marketers in FDR's court. Moley hovered somewhere in between the two camps. As Cohen shows, the liberals generally prevailed in debates. However, the vital foundation for FDR's New Deal was crafted through a process of rigorous argument within the president's innermost circle rather than ideological consensus. Cohen's exhaustively researched and eloquently argued book provides a vital new level of insight into Roosevelt's sweeping expansion of the federal government's role in our national life. (Jan. 12)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
William D. Pederson - Library Journal
This year marks the 75th anniversary of "The Hundred Days" in 1933 that signified the beginning of Franklin D. Roosevelt's assumption of the presidency. Cohen (assistant editorial page editor, New York Times; American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Dailey) displays his strong prose style and research skills in this story of the precedent set by FDR against which later Presidents are judged: the so-called honeymoon period after inauguration and before the media and the opposition inevitably begin to critique and attack. Cohen wisely tells the New Deal story through the biographies of five of its most important players: Raymond Moley and Lewis Douglas (director, bureau of the budget)-both of whom broke with FDR rather early on-and the more liberal Henry Wallace (secretary of agriculture), Frances Perkins (secretary of labor), and Harry Hopkins. The author presents FDR as a nonideological pragmatist who adapted to the times and the New Deal as an ad hoc program rather than a blueprint for the social welfare state. Frances Perkins, who served FDR the longest, emerges as the hero of the story. Though disliking the media and showing little interest in aiding congressional patronage, Perkins was the driving soul behind the New Deal. Cohen does not uncover new information, but he presents a crucial human story which goes beyond that found in most FDR biographies. Superbly readable and informative, this is an essential purchase for all public and academic libraries. The current financial meltdown and the eve of inaugurating a new president make it that much more timely a purchase.
Kirkus Reviews
Journalist Cohen (The Perfect Store: Inside eBay, 2002, etc.) delves into the New Deal archives to fashion an elucidating, pertinent and timely work on the makings of government. The slew of progressive legislation passed during Franklin Roosevelt's first 100 days in office in 1933 broke with the old order of laissez faire economics and redefined the nature of government's responsibilities vis-a-vis its citizens. These policies had critics, to be sure, but they worked, Cohen notes, alleviating people's misery during the Great Depression by offering relief, jobs and, most important, hope. While FDR largely garnered the credit for the country's recovery-and aroused alarm with his autocratic proclamations and tactics-his handpicked minions worked tirelessly behind the scenes to forge the New Deal's landmark programs, often by trial and error. Cohen closely examines the five members of Roosevelt's inner circle who left the most lasting mark on the legislation forged during those 100 days, looking in turn at where they came from, how they gained the president's trust and how they used their experience to make history. Since the banking crisis was FDR's first concern, he chose trusted aide and speechwriter Raymond Moley to work alongside the Treasury Department on the Emergency Banking Act, which tackled the essential tension between spending more to fight the Depression and spending less to balance the budget. Budget Director Lewis Douglas, a conservative, pushed through Congress the Economy Act, a major budget-reduction measure, but he resigned in 1934 when Roosevelt took the country off the gold standard. Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace saved the farm belt with the AgriculturalAdjustment Act; Labor Secretary Frances Perkins, the first female Cabinet member, persuaded FDR to support her ambitious progressive agenda, including workers' rights protections; Harry Hopkins became the leading public-works administrator. Ambitious yet well focused-a marvelously readable study of an epic moment in American history.
Book review: Understanding Crohn Disease and Ulcerative Colitis or Look Speak Behave for Men
Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
Author: Keith Ferrazzi
Do you want to get ahead in life?
Climb the ladder to personal success?
The secret, master networker Keith Ferrazzi claims, is in reaching out to other people. As Ferrazzi discovered early in life, what distinguishes highly successful people from everyone else is the way they use the power of relationships-so that everyone wins.
In Never Eat Alone, Ferrazzi lays out the specific steps-and inner mindset-he uses to reach out to connect with the thousands of colleagues, friends, and associates on his Rolodex, people he has helped and who have helped him.
The son of a small-town steelworker and a cleaning lady, Ferrazzi first used his remarkable ability to connect with others to pave the way to a scholarship at Yale, a Harvard MBA, and several top executive posts. Not yet out of his thirties, he developed a network of relationships that stretched from Washington's corridors of power to Hollywood's A-list, leading to him being named one of Crain's 40 Under 40 and selected as a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the Davos World Economic Forum.
Ferrazzi's form of connecting to the world around him is based on generosity, helping friends connect with other friends. Ferrazzi distinguishes genuine relationship-building from the crude, desperate glad-handling usually associated with "networking." He then distills his system of reaching out to people into practical, proven principles. Among them:
Don't keep score: It's never simply about getting what you want. It's about getting what you want and making sure that the people who are important to you get what they want, too.
"Ping" constantly: The Ins and Outs of reaching out to those in your circle of contacts all the time-not just when you need something.
Never eat alone: The dynamics of status are the same whether you're working at a corporation or attending a society event- "invisibility" is a fate worse than failure.
In the course of the book, Ferrazzi outlines the timeless strategies shared by the world's most connected individuals, from Katherine Graham to Bill Clinton, Vernon Jordan to the Dalai Lama.
Chock full of specific advice on handling rejection, getting past gatekeepers, becoming a "conference commando," and more, Never Eat Alone is destined to take its place alongside How to Win Friends and Influence People as an inspirational classic.
Publishers Weekly
The youngest partner in Deloitte Consulting's history and founder of the consulting company Ferrazzi Greenlight, the author quickly aims in this useful volume to distinguish his networking techniques from generic handshakes and business cards tossed like confetti. At conferences, Ferrazzi practices what he calls the "deep bump"-a "fast and meaningful" slice of intimacy that reveals his uniqueness to interlocutors and quickly forges the kind of emotional connection through which trust, and lots of business, can soon follow. That bump distinguishes this book from so many others that stress networking; writing with Fortune Small Business editor Raz, Ferrazzi creates a real relationship with readers. Ferrazzi may overstate his case somewhat when he says, "People who instinctively establish a strong network of relationships have always created great businesses," but his clear and well-articulated steps for getting access, getting close and staying close make for a substantial leg up. Each of 31 short chapters highlights a specific technique or concept, from "Warming the Cold Call" and "Managing the Gatekeeper" to following up, making small talk, "pinging" (or sending "quick, casual" greetings) and defining oneself to the point where one's missives become "the e-mail you always read because of who it's from." In addition to variations on the theme of hard work, Ferrazzi offers counterintuitive perspectives that ring true: "vulnerability... is one of the most underappreciated assets in business today"; "too many people confuse secrecy with importance." No one will confuse this book with its competitors. (On sale Feb. 22) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Soundview Summary - Soundview Executive Book Summaries
In Never Eat Alone, marketing and sales consultant Keith Ferrazzi lays out the specific steps, and inner mind-set, that he uses to connect with thousands of colleagues, friends and associates.
The secret to accomplishing personal career objectives, Ferrazzi tells us, can be found in reaching out to other people. What distinguishes highly successful people from everyone else is the way they use the power of relationships so that everyone wins.
Ferrazzi's advice is based on generosity and helping friends connect to other friends and he offers specific tips on handling rejection, getting past the gatekeepers, becoming a "conference commando," and building and broadcasting your personal brand.
Reaching out to people is a way to make a difference in their lives as well as a way to explore, learn and enrich your own, Ferrazzi explains. Building a web of relationships isn't the only thing you need to be successful. But building a career, and a life, with the help and support of friends, family and associates has many virtues.
The Mind-Set
Knowing what you want will inform you how to build relationships to achieve your goals. The author makes two recommendations:
- Put your goals on paper. Write down what you want to achieve in 10 years, three years, one year, and 60 days to work backward from great visions to the specific steps you must start taking immediately to get there.
- Think about who can help you achieve those goals. Write both the names of people and types of people you need to know for your success. Now, there are two questions you ask and answer for each of your target contacts: How can you reach them? And what can you offer them, or how can you contribute to their success, too?
The Skill Set
Ferrazzi outlines the skill set that is needed to build relationships:
- Do your homework. Before you meet someone new, get information about that person. The more knowledge you have, the easier it will be to connect, bond and impress.
- Take names. Maintain an electronic record of all the people you know and add to it whenever you meet new people or whenever you learn about people you want to meet.
- Warm up the cold call. Think of meeting new people as a challenge and an opportunity. Find a mutual friend to introduce you. Show you know their problems and that you have solutions. Talk a little and say a lot. Offer a compromise. Ask for more than you want at first, so you can later settle for something that's still desirable.
- Manage the gatekeeper artfully. Make the gatekeepers your allies.
- Never eat alone. Invisibility is far worse than failure.
- Share your passions. Get involved in activities you enjoy and causes you believe in, and invite others to join you.
- Follow up or fail. Give yourself 12-24 hours to follow up. Focus on what you might be able to do for them.
- Be a Conference Commando. Know your targets ahead of time, strike early, work the breaks, skip the small talk as quickly as possible, and remember that you're there to meet the attendees, not the speakers.
- Connect with connectors. Super-connectors such as restaurateurs, headhunters, politicians and journalists should be the cornerstones of any flourishing network.
- Expand your circle. A great method for expanding your circle is sharing networks with a friend.
- The Art of Small Talk. We all have what it takes to charm everyone around us. But having it and knowing how to work it- that's the difference between going though life in the shadows and commanding center stage. Charm is simply a matter of being yourself. Your uniqueness is your power.
Ferrazzi tells us there's never been a better time to reach out and connect than right now. The more everyone becomes connected to everyone else, the quicker and smoother our ascent toward our goals will be. Creativity begets more creativity, money begets more money, knowledge begets more knowledge, and success begets even more success.
Ferrazzi concludes, "Just remember: You can't get there alone. We're all in this together." Copyright © 2006 Soundview Executive Book Summaries
What People Are Saying
"Your network is your net worth. This book shows you how to add to your personal bottom line with better networking and bigger relationships. What a solid but easy read! Keith's personality shines through like the great (and hip) teacher you never got in college or business school. Buy this book for yourself, and tomorrow go out and buy one for your kid brother!"
—author of Love Is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends and leadership coach at Yahoo!
Jon Miller
"Everyone in business knows relationships and having a network of contacts is important. Finally we have a real-world guide to how to create your own high-powered network tailored to your career goals and personal style."
—CEO, AOL
Tim Sanders
"Your network is your net worth. This book shows you how to add to your personal bottom line with better networking and bigger relationships. What a solid but easy read! Keith's personality shines through like the great (and hip) teacher you never got in college or business school. Buy this book for yourself, and tomorrow go out and buy one for your kid brother!"
—author of Love Is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends and leadership coach at Yahoo!
Klaus Kleinfeld
"I've seen Keith Ferrazzi in action and he is a master at building relationships and networking to further the interests of an enterprise. He's sharing his playbook for those who want learn the secrets of this important executive art."
—CEO-designate, Siemens AG
