Chapter 5 Summary

This chapter is about Franklin Roosevelt's nomination for a third-term as President through insider dealings at the Democratic National Convention.

As Roosevelt's second-term was ending, no one knew if he would run for a third-term. Most people assumed that he would not. Ever since the first President, George Washington, had declined a third-term, a two-term precedent had been put in place. Most Americans supported term limits and most key people in the political system did too. For example, the Chairman of the Democratic Party, James Farley, did not want FDR to run again because he felt that it discouraged talent from the party by closing the door to new appointments for a new administration. Roosevelt had actually put out a few signals that he was not a candidate. By refusing to say publicly that he was not a candidate, he was paralyzing the...