PROGRAM

Acclaimed, award-winning historian Douglas Brinkley – called “America’s new past master” by the Chicago Tribune – returns to Roosevelt House to discuss his latest book, Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America, in which he examines a largely overlooked aspect of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s enduring legacy: his profound commitment to America’s environment.    

Brinkley’s previous bestsellers include The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America.  In Rightful Heritage, he demonstrates that FDR was a true heir of the first President Roosevelt, exploring FDR’s defining achievements, including establishing the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and his role as the premier protector of America’s public lands.  As Brinkley chronicles, FDR built from scratch dozens of State Park systems and scenic roadways.  Pristine landscapes such as the Great Smokies, the Everglades, Joshua Tree, Big Bend, Channel Islands, Mammoth Cave, and the slickrock wilderness of Utah were forever saved by his leadership.   

Rightful Heritage offers an irresistible portrait of FDR at his passionate best, skillfully illuminating the ways in which he resolved the tensions between business and nature, using our natural resources while working to conserve them.  Brinkley also depicts the key roles played in these efforts by Eleanor Roosevelt and Harold Ickes, the Secretary of the Interior who worked to further FDR’s belief that our treasured landscapes must be preserved as an American birthright.  

We hope you will join us at Roosevelt House for this important discussion.