Summary

Chapter 1: Means of Escape

William E. Dodd was a professor of history at the University of Chicago in 1933. Dodd had been a professor for decades but had grown frustrated dealing with the red-tape of a large university and felt disappointed that, at age sixty-four, his career was not further along. Dodd had political aspirations but was continually passed over for other candidates. With no offers from the political world, Dodd considered leaving teaching in favor of a writing career. He was already an author, having written the biography of President Wilson after Wilson's death. Dodd had personal connections to a member of the Roosevelt administration and told the man that he'd like to be appointed as a minister to Belgium or the Netherlands. He turned down one offer from the administration, but his name remained in the wind.

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