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The Roundtable

Paul Sparrow's “Awakening the Spirit of America: FDR's War of Words with Charles Lindbergh and the Battle to Save Democracy”

By Joe Donahue

Published August 16, 2024 at 11:22 AM EDT

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Historian Paul Sparrow’s new book “Awakening the Spirit of America: FDR's War of Words with Charles Lindbergh and the Battle to Save Democracy” is a new work of history that brings Roosevelt, his allies, and his adversaries to life as he fought to transform America from an isolationist bystander into the world’s first superpower.

Franklin Roosevelt awoke at 2:50am on September 1^st, 1939, to the news that Germany had invaded Poland signaling the start of World War II. The situation was dire, and Roosevelt quickly found himself facing an unexpected adversary, Charles Lindbergh who is widely popular that led an aggressive attack on FDR’s policies.

The book “Awakening the Spirit of America: FDR's War of Words with Charles Lindbergh―and the Battle to Save Democracy” shows how Roosevelt overcame the forces aligned against him and a war against fascism. Paul Sparrow is a former director of the FDR presidential library in Hyde Park, New York.

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Joe talks to people on the radio for a living. In addition to countless impressive human "gets" - he has talked to a lot of Muppets. Joe grew up in Philadelphia, has been on the area airwaves for more than 25 years and currently lives in Washington County, NY with his wife, Kelly, and their dog, Brady. And yes, he reads every single book.

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