Book Review: A shadow over the world

I just finished reading “A shadow over the world” by William I. Hitchcock. It is essentially an account of how FDR navigated the growth of fascism after WWI, beginning with Mussolini’s Italy in the ‘20s, followed by Franco’s overthrow of the Spanish Republic in the ‘30s and the rise to power of the German Nazi Party under Hitler.

WWI left a sour and distinctly isolationist taste in the mouths of Americans. Many of them saw it not as a “Great War,” but as the sort of foreign entanglement that George Washington warned against. Set against this domestic aversion was the sense that fascism in Italy was working to discipline that nation’s fractious politics and make the country productive. 

A major influence on FDR was the Great Depression. He was swept to office at a time of massive unemployment and economic dislocation. His top priority was his New Deal and getting the various programs set up that would put Americans to work and getting Congress to approve and fund them. But as the world was confronted with the early fascist atrocities by Franco in Spain, Mussolini in Ethiopia and Japan in China, the ugly price of fascist dictatorship started to tarnish fascism’s appeal. 

Roosevelt foresaw that America would eventually be embroiled in another costly war in Europe, and much of the book concerns his reluctant pivot from domestic crises to global crises. The mood of America at the outset of WWII was isolationist, with neutralist legislation forbidding aid to any combatant, ally or enemy. It was the genius of FDR to thread this needle while winning unprecedented third and fourth terms that drives the narrative of this book.

An important political challenge was the USSR. The United States was overwhelmingly anti-communist and anti-socialist during all this time. All the fascist dictatorships used anti-communism to camouflage their violence and cruelty, and civic leaders like Charles Lindbergh and Fr. Coughlin defended fascist governments on that basis. FDR’s challenge, then, was to deal with demagogues in America as well as abroad.

While I was mostly familiar with the events and issues, I learned a great deal about the politics and political players. We all know how the story ends. It’s frustrating to see how slowly America awakened to the threat of fascism. My appreciation of FDR was deepened by reading how resourceful he was in navigating political roadblocks to get Americans belatedly to do the right thing.

I found the writing in this book to be compelling and informative. It was pitched at my level without getting bogged down in detailed scholarship and sidebars. America has had periods of challenge in its 250 year history and has been fortunate be led by presidents who rose to those occasions. This book is a gripping account of one such president.