This book offers a comprehensive theory of the New Deal, covering the ends it hoped to achieve and the means it used to achieve them. Looking at a mixture of history, American political development, and political theory, it aims to fill a critical gap in scholarship and provide a theoretical framework for contemporary progressive political actors.

"Historians and political scientists largely have viewed the New Deal as an almost purely political project. While a few historians and scholars of American political development have outlined a political theory of the New Deal, Stipelman (Dowling College) offers what is likely the first book-length study that takes seriously the ideas of New Deal Democrats. The author focuses on four key figures: Franklin Delano Roosevelt; his wife, Eleanor; his key aide (and eventual vice president), Henry A. Wallace; and the legal scholar and practitioner Thurman Arnold. Going beyond these thinkers' ideas about state intervention and institution building, Stipelman articulates the key assumptions about economics, liberty and happiness, and class structure that underlie their political thought. Some scholars may disagree with the author's emphasis on particular aspects of New Deal theory, such as the choice of consumerism as the basis of happiness and security. But even critical readers will appreciate this fine volume for its role in starting the conversation. Summing Up: Highly recommended." - CHOICE