We relocated about 11 hours drive away from our children, grandchildren and old friends. Yes, this does have something to do with our book review as we have gotten into the habit of listening to audio books on the drive between West Virginia and New York. We sometimes listen to serious books covering American history—Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis or one that brought us an intense acquaintance with James Madison and that scoundrel Patrick Henry in James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights by Richard Labunski. From that we learned that if Virginia had not ratified the Constitution, and it was a close vote, George Washington, son of Virginia, would not have become President and the whole history of this country would have been quite different. Trying to visualize this continent as separate countries, satellites of France, England and Spain was quite an eye opener. We have listened twice to April 1865 by Jay Winik. As Civil War living historians, we look forward to listening again to Winik weave the whole war into the final crucible of that last month.

We also listen to murder mysteries: David Baldacci and the Camel Club series, Elizabeth Peters with Amelia Peabody and all that English kaf-kaf and Egyptian mummy hunting, Janet Evanovich and her series about Stephanie Plum the largely inept New Jersey bail bonds-woman and her unlikely cast of characters including the overweight former call girl who favors brightly hued spandex and sits on the bad guy until help comes, her grandmother who loves to attend funerals and the tall gay cross dresser.

The miles fly by; we resent having to turn off the CD to discuss traffic and negotiate turns. It is a good way for us to experience the same book at the same time. We discuss it; we make guesses about the next turn of events. We frequently turn to each other and say, “I didn't know that.”

The difficulty is that there is no turning back a page or turning down a corner for a return read. With that in mind, bear with us as we tell you about The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope, by Jonathan Alter, published by Simon & Schuster in 2006 narrated by Grover Gardner.

Cyla: Alter maintains that Franklin's particular accident of birth to a young doting mother and a distant father had much to do with his development, in fact, his success as President later. Eric, do you think he was a Mama's boy?

Eric: Not exactly. He was able to throw off his mother as he grew older and do what he thought best.

Cyla: I think Alter pointed out that being rich and doted upon gave him certain advantages in travel and education. His name, Roosevelt, also put expectations on him. I didn't know that he was physically accomplished, much like his cousin TR. He was something of a social outsider, attending Groton two years later than most boys because his mother wanted him home.

Eric: She also indulged him, not demanding he stick with any of his interests very long. If he wanted to collect something, he did and if he lost interest, he threw it over and moved on to something else. That attitude was reflected in the First 100 Days of his presidency when he tried one thing and if it did not work, he was not married to it. He quickly threw it away and tried something else.

Cyla: The only thing that stuck was stamp collecting which ended up giving him an extensive knowledge of geography. Alter said that frequently our presidents had dominating mothers and non-existent or weak fathers. He named Clinton for one.

Eric: Obama and Carter were others. He named more, but I can't remember for now.

Cyla: Interesting theory. Some apply the same theory to serial killers, though. Anyhow, for a vigorous and somewhat self centered man who had just married Eleanor Roosevelt, contracting polio was a terrible blow. He was only 23.

Eric: Yes, it did something to his thinking, showed him that people needed help, not only the poor. I think the polio brought the idea that people through no fault of their own could need help. He opened the center in Warm Springs, Ga., not to make money, but to help, to give hope and to improve the quality of life for others.

Cyla: It seemed to me that Alter gave more attention to FDR's infantile paralysis, a name the president hated, than any other writer I have read. The horrible disease was a crucible to his development, caused him to be a man who decided to overcome, not give in but who was, nevertheless, always disabled and could never again ever walk or get along without help. It was daily, constant.

I just read the biography Alice by Stacy Cordery (a really good read) and I also read the diary/letters of Margaret Suckley, Daisy, his Closest Companion in the last year. I have failed to read much about Eleanor Roosevelt, so I found Alter's references to her and the marriage to FDR fascinating. For all of its faults, it seemed to work well for this country, if not for their personal development or for their children.

Eric: It worked out well, according to Alter. He tells us how unhappy she was about becoming first lady. Although she helped him in his campaign to be elected, she was resigned to being a wallflower, to becoming a nobody in the Whitehouse and giving up the life she had built for herself. The discovery of his affair with Lucy Mercer created a divide between them that was never healed. And it looked like she liked to pal around with ladies.

Cyla: That is all speculation. May or may not be true—last week the conservative press trotted out a lesbian label for one of Obama's candidates for the Supreme Court opening—standard fare for any successful unmarried woman. Eighty years later and people still can't believe a woman can live without a man . . .

Eric: OK, OK. But a divorce was out of the question because Sara, Franklin's mother, threaten to cut him off without a cent. And Lucy was Catholic, besides.

Cyla: They had six children who, by the way, almost to a one, made poor marriages. I think that men of great power may not be men of great loyalty. Or, psychologically, their wives become like mothers and so they feel free to go out and find a mate. I don't know, but such behavior is common.

Cyla: Anyhow, we have a well educated, somewhat spoiled young man married who is brought down by a devastating illness. Before his illness, he had taken on Tammany Hall, run for office and like his cousin TR, been assistant secretary of the Navy, all important experiences. He learned politics and he learned bureaucracy.

He was not knocked out for long, though and ran for Governor of NY in 1926 and 1930 on basically an anti corruption platform. It is here that he formed such a close alliance with Harry Hopkins and Frances Perkens. We also become acquainted with worried, wiry Louis Howe, who guided Franklin's political life.

Campaigning across the country, FDR strove to look strong, always stood when he gave speeches. Herbert Hoover's campaign spread rumors, some of the juiciest being that Franklin's illness was not polio but syphilis and would soon attack his brain.

FDR won or maybe Hoover lost. Alter tells an interesting story of the transition period.

Eric: The transition was awful between Herbert Hoover and FDR. At that time the election was over in November and the new president was not sworn in until March. Meanwhile the country was staggering through the worst depression in history. Banks were failing; Hoover wanted Franklin to join him in sponsoring a national bank holiday. Until that time, individual states would declare holidays which wouldn't work as then businesses would turn to other states for funds then those states would experience runs, sort of a domino effect. Roosevelt said no, that Hoover could do it on his own, but he would not sign it jointly. I think that may not have been best for the country.

Cyla: Hoover didn't have the chutzpah to do it on his own.

Eric: Before his inauguration, FDR had the papers drawn up for a bank holiday and dated 12:01 Monday morning—so as not to look as if they were 'working' on Sunday. Roosevelt got all the credit for doing what Hoover wanted to do but did not have the courage to do.

Cyla: Alter maintains that Franklin saved democracy. Before he took over there was a cry for the return of a monarchy, a king, a dictator. Fascism was admired. Many Americans thought that democracy was doomed. Many predicted civil unrest with an unemployment level of 25% or more, with farm prices falling 60% and overproduction on those farms making it foolish to even try to get food to the markets. In his first 100 days, which actually get short shrift in Alter's book, two programs seem to stand out. One was legislation—the FDIC. The other was the CCC.

Up and running within three to four months, three million men were employed at a dollar a day to get out of the cities and into the countryside to do much needed work, not the least of which was the reforestation of the south with three billion trees where poor farming and harvest of lumber had turned the land into dust bowls.

Roosevelt was called a socialist, fascist (maybe complimentary?), communist, slave owner. His comment was that long term planning was needed but that people needed to eat every day. It passed Congress with one amendment—that blacks had to be included and that program was in operation more quickly than any other program in America.

Maybe I have a positive prejudice for the CCC. I have a picture of my father in the Civilian Conservation Corps and I have a copy of his papers from there. I don't know much about his experience, but as one of a poor family of nine, I know that any work was appreciated. He was later killed in WWII. Here in WV there was a camp up in Stompin' Creek and the Corps put in Watoga State Park and the cabins there that are still rented today.

Eric: I thought the book was quite good. I learned a great deal about FDR that I didn't know.

Cyla: Me too. I guess we could go on. It was, after all, 11 disks. I didn't get bored, the story was intriguing and the miles flew by.