Book Review: “America First” is a powerful story of FDR’s fight against the isolationist movement

Historian HW Brands' “America First: Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadow of War” barely mentions former President Donald Trump or the 2024 election. But it may be one of the most relevant books for this year's presidential campaign.

Brands has written a powerful story about how Roosevelt fought behind the scenes – and ultimately publicly – against the “America First” movement, the name later adopted by Trump, who is seeking a return to the White House in this year's election.

The book tells how aviator Charles Lindbergh became the charismatic face of the “America First” movement that emerged after World War I and opposed United States intervention abroad as Adolf Hitler came to power.

Brands skillfully demonstrates the control that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt displayed in his first years in office as he approached the movement despite recognizing the threat it could pose to long-term foreign policy.

“Their policy was truly 'America alone,' at a time when the United States needed all the help it could get to deal with the existential challenge of militant fascism,” Brands writes.

The book also shows how Roosevelt maneuvered around Lindbergh during his rise, trying not to anger the aviator's supporters as the U.S. moved ever closer to involvement in Europe. Brands recounts how Lindbergh's rhetoric fueled his rise as an “America First” spokesman but also led to his downfall, culminating in a 1941 speech that was widely condemned for its anti-Semitism.

Brands shows great reticence and for most of the book avoids drawing parallels between Roosevelt's fight against isolationists and today's politics and the opposition of some conservatives to increased spending on foreign wars. But its clear history is an important guide to understanding the legacy of the movement that Lindbergh led.

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