Landmark Books in All Fields
ItemID: #117189
Cost: $500.00

Happy Warrior. Alfred E. Smith

Franklin D. Roosevelt

"VICTORY IS HIS HABIT—THE HAPPY WARRIOR—ALFRED E. SMITH": FIRST EDITION OF FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT'S SCARCE SECOND BOOK, THAT HAPPY WARRIOR ALFRED E. SMITH, 1928

ROOSEVELT, Franklin D. The Happy Warrior. Alfred E. Smith. A Study of a Public Servant. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin/Riverside, 1928. Slim octavo, original dark green cloth, printed orange paper label, original dust jacket. $500.

First edition of FDR's scarce second book, featuring a very early printing of his famed address nominating New York's powerful four-time governor as a candidate for president at the June 1928 Democratic National Convention, along with the first publication of FDR's eloquent tribute to Smith, in bright original dust jacket.

The Happy Warrior, FDR'S second book, was published the same year Smith, the powerful four-time governor of New York, made his unsuccessful bid for the presidency against Hoover, and notably features FDR's famous speech nominating Smith at the June 1928 Democratic National Convention. This volume, in which FDR praises Smith as a "leader—a pathfinder… a happy warrior," nevertheless marks the beginning of a rift in their complex friendship. While they came from very different backgrounds Smith, who rose to power from rough city streets, "liked the dapper, charming upstarter" and by 1920 Smith chose FDR to second his name at the Democratic National Convention (Slayton, Empire States, 349-51). Yet "Smith's failure to realize his foremost ambition, election to the Presidency, led to a break with FDR, long his friend, who twice proposed him for the Democratic nomination as the 'Happy Warrior.' After giving belated support to FDR in 1932 he declared for the Republican nominees in the two succeeding Presidential campaigns" (New York Times). Halter T457.

Book fine, dust jacket with mildly toned spine and a bit of shallow edge-wear, one small tape reinforcement to verso, near-fine.

Main Office & Gallery: 1608 Walnut Street, 19th Floor .::. Philadelphia, PA 19103 .::. 215-546-6466 .::. fax 215-546-9064
web: www.baumanrarebooks.com .::. email: [email protected]