US GovernmentIt is disputed whether the copyright tag on this file is correct. In some cases this may be because the stated source or other information is not sufficient to prove the selected tag is correct. Please see the file's talk page or the edit summ

FDR, Charles Lindbergh and America First

Single Session Class | Registration closed 9/1/2024

9/26/2024 (one day)
1:00 PM-2:00 PM EDT on Th
Download iCalendar

To assist you in preparing for this Course, we have provided a link to the setup / test pages from the conference provider. If you have never used this conference service before please click on the link below so that your PC or device will be ready to participate in this Course.

Click here to download app

FDR, Charles Lindbergh and America First

Single Session Class | Registration closed 9/1/2024

On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, starting World War II. President Roosevelt knew Hitler’s fascist regime posed an existential threat to democracy. But Americans remained isolationist as fascist groups, egged on by antisemitic right-wing media, plotted to overthrow the president.

Roosevelt faced an unexpected adversary: Charles Lindbergh. Wildly popular, the aviator's youthful charm, media magnetism and massive following made him an effective leader to attack FDR. Powerful individuals including William Randolph Hearst, Henry Ford, and members of Congress supported Lindbergh as he led the America First Committee opposing Roosevelt efforts to help England’s survival—and of the free world’s.

The lecture will explore how FDR used words as his most effective weapon in his battle to save democracy from fascism. It will trace the president's efforts to work around the Neutrality Act and his famous Lend Lease Program which prevented Hitler from defeating England and helped win the war.

Suggested Readings: Awakening the Spirit of America: FDR's War of Words with Charles Lindbergh and the Battle to Save Democracy by Paul M. Sparrow, The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson, Those Angry Days by Lynne Olson, and Prequel by Rachel Maddow.

 

Paul Sparrow

Paul M. Sparrow is a writer, historical consultant, and the former Director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. Before moving to the FDR Library, he was the Deputy Director and Senior Vice President at the Newseum in Washington, DC. He was an Emmy Award-winning documentary and television producer for twenty years. He began his broadcasting career at KPIX, the CBS affiliate in San Francisco. A graduate of UC Santa Cruz, Sparrow also has an MFA from the Center for Contemporary Music at Mills College.