The Untold Story of FDR | Historian Challenges the Myth

INSIDE THE BOOK “FDR: A New Political Life” by David Beito.

Barbara Galletti
Senior Producer, Lib​er​tar​i​an​ism​.org
David T. Beito

David T. Beito is professor emeritus of history at the University of Alabama and a senior research fellow at the Independent Institute. He is the author of several books and scholarly articles, including From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State: Fraternal Societies and Social Services (2000), T.R.M. Howard: Doctor, Entrepreneur, Civil Rights Pioneer (2017), and The New Deal’s War on the Bill of Rights: The Untold Story of FDR’s Concentration Camps, Censorship, and Mass Surveillance (2023). Beito’s most recent book is FDR: A New Political Life, published in 2025.

In this “INSIDE THE BOOK” episode, we talk with David Beito, author of “FDR: A New Political Life” (2025). Beito’s book examines the latest historical scholarship on Franklin D. Roosevelt to shed light on the life and legacy of the late president. Beito grapples with Roosevelt’s opportunism, the progressive ideas that influenced him, and the dangerous precedents he set as the longest-​serving president in US history.

Buy the book here.