As a response to the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal is widely understood as a turning point in American history. David Davenport and Gordon Lloyd go even further, calling the New Deal "America's French Revolution", refashioning American government and public policy in ways that have grown to epic proportions today.

President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal is widely understood as a turning point in American history. Roosevelt's decisions of 1933 reset the balance of power away from Congress and the states toward a strong executive branch. They shifted the federal government away from the Founders' vision of deliberation and moderation toward war and action. Modern-day presidents have declared war on everything from poverty and drugs to crime and terror. Exploring the consequences of these ill-defined (and never-ending) wars, this book calls for a re-examination of this destructive approach to governance.