John Woolverton, professor of church history at Virginia Theological Seminary and the longtime editor of the journal Anglican and Episcopal History, sadly passed away in June 2014. At the time, he had been laboring since 2000 to complete a comprehensive religious biography of Franklin Roosevelt. Before his death, Woolverton's son, Arthur, promised his father he would eventually publish the Roosevelt manuscript. Five years later, with the editing assistance of James D. Bratt, emeritus history professor at Calvin College, Woolverton's ultimate scholarly contribution is finally being released.
Woolverton divided A Christian and a Democrat into three broad sections. The first part, “Formation,” attempts to untangle the role that Episcopalianism played in Roosevelt's upbringing. Much of this section concentrates on Roosevelt's time as a student at Groton and Harvard. The second part, “Faith,” examines the role that religion played in FDR's political career. Often the research in this part of the book is composed of close readings of Roosevelt's public addresses. One high point would be Woolverton's commentary on Roosevelt's speech on D-Day, where the author carefully considers the meaning of the additions and subtractions the President himself made to the text (145–148). The final part of the book, “Interpretation,” includes what might be the book's most unique contribution. Chapter 8 is an overview of a single evening, February 19, 1944, when the President hosted Howard Johnson, a young minister, for a discussion on Soren Kierkegaard and the nature of Nazi evil. The substantive importance of this dinner is debatable. The discussion occurred late in Roosevelt's life, and even Woolverton must admit that there is no concrete evidence of FDR following up on the exchange in any kind of meaningful way (199). Still, the chapter is based on a firsthand account provided to the author, and it does provide a glimpse into the kinds of moral issues that Roosevelt privately grappled with. In addition to this material, the third part of the book also includes a recounting of FDR's funeral service, as well as an abbreviated afterword comparing FDR to Presidents Lincoln and Hoover.
Unfortunately, A Christian and a Democrat shares many of the flaws that often mark posthumous manuscripts. For a book ostensibly about Roosevelt's religious life, A Christian and a Democrat frequently veers off topic. Extended sections cover tangential concerns such as Roosevelt's activities and grades in high school and college (55–65; 68–71), the major New Deal public policies like the CCC and WPA (98–105), public criticisms of Roosevelt as a potential dictator (135–142), and the intellectual debate between isolationism and interventionism prior to the United States’ entry into World War II (157–170). For readers with at least minimal familiarity with FDR, there is nothing that will surprise them in these pages, and these kinds of topics are covered in better depth in other scholarship.
Organization is also a problem. Each chapter is broken into short passages of a few pages each. However, the rationale behind some of these subsections is often unclear, and their sudden appearance can lose the reader. For example, chapter 2 focuses on Endicott Peabody, the rector of the Groton School and, in Woolverton's judgment, Roosevelt's “spiritual father.” But, in the middle of this lengthy discussion, Woolverton inserts material on the religious beliefs of Eleanor Roosevelt and Labor Secretary Frances Perkins (48–51). He then immediately shifts back to Peabody, writing: “These redoubtable women lay in Roosevelt's future. Endicott Peabody loomed now” (52). These kinds of intercessions are both frequent and jarring.
Woolverton, like his subject, was also a graduate of Groton and Harvard. His personal admiration for the thirty-second president is clear throughout. It is hard not to suspect that at the time of his passing, Woolverton was still collecting information because it interested him and that he regrettably never had the chance to really sort through whether to use all that information and, if so, where. This interpretation might also account for Woolverton's habit of posing dozens of rhetorical questions throughout the book. Not all of these questions needed to be attempted in a book on the narrow subject of FDR and religion.
Even setting the concerns about focus and organization aside, however, perhaps the biggest shortcoming of A Christian and a Democrat is that it is unpersuasive. Woolverton wants to convince the reader that religion is more important to understanding Roosevelt than most other biographers have acknowledged. But to make this argument, Woolverton has to engage in some fairly obvious speculation. Simply because Roosevelt referenced the Sermon on the Mount in a private letter to a Methodist bishop does not necessarily mean FDR “loved” it (111). Simply because Roosevelt owned some books with religious content does not mean they were important to him (97).
Rather, a fair reading of the evidence leads the reader to conclude that Roosevelt was someone who had some degree of religious upbringing, someone who had a relatively undemanding role within his parish, someone who had a rudimentary knowledge of hymns and prayers, someone who would strategically quote scripture in his speeches, and someone who thought religion was an important part of a healthy society. In many ways, FDR most resembles a president like Eisenhower, rather than presidents like Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush who made faith central to their personal and political lives. FDR was, as Frances Perkins called him, “a simple Christian” (130).
Despite its flaws, the publication of A Christian and a Democrat serves as a caring tribute to a man who left an impact on his field and community. And people with a general interest in Franklin Roosevelt will certainly find value in the rich detail Woolverton brought to this new religious biography.
