FDR and Lucy: Lovers and Friends

FDR and Lucy: Lovers and Friends by Willis, Resa. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780415948043.

The last face FDR saw before he died was that of Lucy Mercer Rutherford, his mistress of thirty-one years. Although Eleanor, his children, and the press knew about Lucy, the American public would not hear of her until 1966. FDR and Lucy is the first book to delve into this hidden side of FDRs life. Drawing on documents from the Roosevelt Presidential Library as well as visits to Lucys homes, biographer Resa Willis explores how this life-long love affair changed the course of his marriage and the presidency. Roosevelt fell in love with Lucy in 1914 and for the next three decades she provided him comfort from the pressures of his job and the critical eyes of his mother and wife. Illuminating a critical era in American history, Willis explores why the press dared not report the affair. Willis also suggests that Eleanors discovery of Lucy in 1918 marked the end of the Roosevelts personal marriage and the beginning of their political marriage and Eleanors groundbreaking activism. A true love story with historical impact, FDR and Lucy paints a compelling portrait of one of the most famous other women in American history, giving us a window into FDRs impassioned life and presidency.