City of Ambition FDR, La Guardia, and the Making of Modern New York

Franklin D. Roosevelt and Fiorello LaGuardia were an odd couple: patrician president and immigrant mayor, fireside chat and tabloid cartoon, Democrat and Republican. But together, as leaders of America's two largest governments in the depths of the Great Depression, they fashioned a route to recovery for the nation and the blueprint for a great city. FDR was determined to fight the Depression by channeling federal resources through the agencies of America's cities and counties. LaGuardia had replaced Tammany Hall cronies with policy experts committed to a vibrant public sector. The combination was potent: together they built parks, bridges, and schools; put the unemployed to work; and strengthened an expansive vision of government as serving the public purpose. For fans of Gotham and The Power Broker, this fascinating history recalls a time when crisis brought forth leadership, when politics could build and achieve.