Tugwell

As a member of Roosevelt’s brain trust, chairman of New York City’s Planning Commission, and governor of Puerto Rico, Rexford G. Tugwell was a public figure frequently stereotyped by historians who saw in him what they wanted to see. Namorato’s clear and thorough examination of Tugwell’s life is the first complete biography of this prominent political figure. The volume opens with an investigation into Tugwell’s early years and then discusses his experiences during World War I, the years from 1920 to 1932 which Tugwell spent as an economics professor at Columbia University, Tugwell’s brain trust role, and his New Deal years from 1932 to 1936. The author also examines Tugwell’s term as chairman of the NYCPC and as governor of Puerto Rico from 1937 through 1946. Namorato’s portrayal provides a fresh and balanced view of this unique statesman.

MICHAEL V. NAMORATO is Associate Professor of History at the University of Mississippi. He has written articles on twentieth-century American history and American/Southern economic history that have appeared in books and journals. He has also edited two books, one on the New Deal and the South and one on civil rights since the Brown decision.