The New Deal. I: The National Level; II: The State and Local Levels ed. by John Braeman, Robert Bremner, and David Brody (review)

364 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW prefersto examinenot the limitations of the reformersbut whathe regardsasthe formidable institutional barriers against realreform.Hisfailureorrefusal toregard politicsin class termsresultsin excusing the limitationsof the reformerswhile emphasizing the formidableopposition theyfacein a complex,pluralistic society. One maygrantthe complexnatureof the Americanruling class andthe divisions withinit but Patterson's brandof pluralism simplynegates theclass interests of the politicalrulers,grantingthemin return the statusof an autonomous •lite withina relatively closed system. JohnGaryClifford'streatmentof foreignpolicyagainpromotes theliberalposition .Clifford isonthe sideof theangels asacriticof theAmericanriseto globalism andthelatewarinVietnam,butheplaces theresponsibility for American failures on bureaucracy and policy-makers ratherthanthe natureof Americancapitalism. He hopesthat the United Stateshasnow learned its lesson,but doesnot question whether theglobal ambitions ofAmerican capitalism havechanged. The lasttwoessays in thisvolumediffer fundamentallyfrom their companion pieces.Richard Daviesseesthe crisisof American citiesas the result of private ambitionsdominatingpublicneeds.Harvard Sitkoff, in his contributionon race relations, recognizes that the earliercivilrightsmovementwaslimitedby middleclass values whichinhibitedthedevelopment of a working-class alliance thatmight fulfil the needs of both white and black workers. Both Davies and Sitkoffdeserve one further accolade.They refuse to pander to current lib-rad fashionby deemphasizing theprogress oftheless fortunatesectors oftheAmericanpopulace over the lastforty-fiveyears.Of course, theydo not believethatthisprogress hasbeen sufficient. Thesefiveessays constitute a goodintroductionto recentAmericanhistoryand afford historians of all persuasions an opportunityto grapplewith provocative interpretations. Yet, theyare importantnot because they are non-ideological but because eachauthor,consciously or not,takesaposition andargues itwell. STEPHEN SCHEINBERG Concordia University TheNewDeal. •: TheNationalLevel;II; TheStateandLocalLevels. EditedbyJOHN BV•EM^N, ROBERT BREMNER, and D^VmBRODY. Columbus,Ohio StateUniversity Press,•975. PP-xvi, 34•, xiv,434. $3ø.ootheset. In two volumesof originalessays on the New Deal one might havehopedfor interpretivebreakthroughs or originalsyntheses pointingthewayfor futurescholars .However,with a fewimportantexceptions, the workhereconsidered doesnot meetthese expectations. Thefirstvolume presents essays onthenational level which arelargelyarehashofexisting work,whilethesecond develops James T. Patterson's promising beginnings in TheNewDealandtheStates butnottoanygeneral, effective purpose. EllisHawleyon 'The New Dealand Business,' RichardKirkendallon 'The New DealandAgriculture,'MiltonDerberon'The New DealandLabor,'andRaymond REVIEWS 365 Wolterson 'The New Deal and the Negro' are all competentsummariesof their well-known worksin thefield.RichardPolenberg on'The Declineof theNewDeal, •937-•94o' and David Brody on 'The New Deal and World War IX'are effective syntheses whichdraw to goodeffecton somelittle usedprimary sources. Albert Romasco's historiographical 'Hoover-Roosevelt and the Great Depression' is a rehashof tired arguments. JamesHolt's attempt to examineNew Deal ideology throughtherhetoricof a fewleadingspokesmen istoobroadbasedtobeconvincing, whileEricSolomon's 'Fictionand the New Deal'isan unoriginaltreatmentof this area. There aretwoessays of realmeritin thefirstvolume.JohnA. Salmond's examinationof 'Aubrey Williams:AtypicalNewDealer'gives usagoodlookattheleftwingof theNew Deal.Williams'careerasa highofficialof theWorksProgress Administration and executive director of the National Youth administration shows us a determined integrationistand championof socialdemocracy.Salmond properly but perhapsprematurelyraises thequestion of whether'Williamswasa distinctive New Deal type.'He hopesthroughthisstrategyto challengesomeof thejudgmentsof recentradicalcriticsof the New Deal who haveviewedthe New Deal asbasically conservative. CertainlySalmond canfindNewDealcompany forWilliamsontheleft, butanattempttoresurrectapluralistNewDealisdoomedtofailureif therealities of power are ignored. There wasroom in the New Deal for Williams, for Rexford Tugwell,andothersocial democrats if theycouldstomach theessential conservatism (corporate liberalism) of Roosevelt andhismajorpoliticalallies. JerroldAuerbach's 'Lawyersand SocialChangein the Depression Decade'isan excitingtreatmentof a professional groupin a periodof social changewithin and withouttheprofession. Auerbachconvincingly arguesthatthedepression witnessed a basic readjustment of status in thelegalprofession asthe New Dealbureaucracy providedroomfor morethanthe'littleFrankfurters.'The sons ofthepoorormiddle class, from ethnicminorities,foundedthe NationalLawyersGuild to dobattlewith the Wall Streetlegalestablishment. But Auerbachiscarefulto point out that the lawyer'srole and training directshim to mediationand adjustmentrather than radicalism. The newlawyersfound their placein a public•lite parallelto but not replacing the•lite ofcorporation lawyers andcertainlynotdemocratizing theprofessionalstructure . Finally,Auerbachconcludes thatprofessional powerin the public arenashiftedto thisnew group. He doesnot go on in thisessay to analyzethe interpenetrationof theseparallel•lites in subsequent years,but that is properly beyondhistask.He hasopeneda promising fieldof investigation. The second volumemight havebeentitled 'More than you everwantedto know aboutPoliticsin the •93os. ' Mostof theseessays are competentand someof them movefromthenarrowlypoliticaltosocial history.Collectively, however, theeffort is a failureandthisislargelybecause theyare individualistic efforts,lackingcommon goals anddirections. The editorsmighthavepartiallyremediedthisif theyhadmade theefforttopulltogetherthesediverse strands inaconclusion. The twolocalhistory effortsof BruceStaveon Pittsburgh andLyleDorsetton Kansas Cityareworthyof scholarly attention. Finally,thisreviewermustdeplorethe ideological conformityimposedon this 366 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW collection. Not one of the contributors to Volume I is a radical critic of the New Deal. Certainlya collection of thissortcouldonlybeenhanced bytheclash of ideological perspectives. EditorJohnBraemanandcompanyserveup a ratherblandoffering, devoidofmuchofthespice essential toboththehealthanddelightoftheintellectual appetite. STEPHEN J. SCHEINBERG Concordia University TheAmerican Banking Community andNewDealBanking Reforms', •933-• 935. HELEN M...