FDR and Lucy: Lovers and Friends - Paperback

by Resa Willis (Author)

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 FDR's life. Drawing on documents from the Roosevelt Presidential Library as well as visits to Lucy's 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 Eleanor's discovery of Lucy in 1918 marked the end of the Roosevelt's personal marriage and the beginning of their political marriage and Eleanor's 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 FDR's impassioned life and presidency.

Author Biography

Resa Willis is the author of the PEN-nominated Mark andLivy: The Love Story of Mark Twain and the Woman WhoAlmost Tamed Him. She is a professor of English and writing at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri and author of many works of poetry, fiction and nonfiction.