In his book City of Ambition, Mason B. Williams presents an illustrious chronicle of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and its influence on Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia’s New York City. An occasionally trudging, detailed history of the first large-scale federal bailout of New York City, in turn met with more favorable reports and media attention than the comparable New York Times headline stating, “Ford to City: Drop Dead.” The alliance between LaGuardia’s ultimate progressivism and President Roosevelt’s inclination to put the federal government—through a myriad of public programs, including the infamous Works Project Administration—into measures that solved the city’s problems, were a critical piece in constructing “a new conception of urban
…show more content…
at Colombia University specializing in urban politics, clearly composed City of Ambition as an expansion of a Ph.D. thesis into a narrative - large font, double spaced pages, expansive introduction, and sometimes redundant detail- makes the book seem longer than it is. However, the relatively short accountment holds an abundance of interesting information, as Williams did a meticulous job of taking a narrative that commonly would appeal mainly to political scholars, and wrote it in a manner that is accessible, and even entertaining, for the masses. It's an educational book, but it's also fun and engaging to read. In this aspect, City of Ambition proposes to young historians that scholarly and historically dense texts, still have mass-market …show more content…
While perhaps too detailed, City of ambition is a contextually useful addition to the history of New York City Politics. President Roosevelt and Mayor La Guardia were the pinnacle of the odd couple mantra: aristocratic president and immigrant mayor, fireside chat and populous cartoon, down-to-earth Democrat and reform Republican. However, both being born in 1882, both New York lawyers, and both hostile towards Tammany Hall made them unstoppable allies. In the height of the great depression, the leaders of America’s two largest governments worked together to expedite a route to recovery for the nation and the master plan for a powerful city. It is notable that Williams impressively succeeds in his aim is to write a history of New York City Politics, not a biased policy analysis. America’s cities are the country’s true economic heartland, and much of our most important past is urban. City of Ambition helps us to understand the history of the creation of United States’ economic, political, and cultural mecca: modern day New York
at Colombia University specializing in urban politics, clearly composed City of Ambition as an expansion of a Ph.D. thesis into a narrative - large font, double spaced pages, expansive introduction, and sometimes redundant detail- makes the book seem longer than it is. However, the relatively short accountment holds an abundance of interesting information, as Williams did a meticulous job of taking a narrative that commonly would appeal mainly to political scholars, and wrote it in a manner that is accessible, and even entertaining, for the masses. It's an educational book, but it's also fun and engaging to read. In this aspect, City of Ambition proposes to young historians that scholarly and historically dense texts, still have mass-market …show more content…
While perhaps too detailed, City of ambition is a contextually useful addition to the history of New York City Politics. President Roosevelt and Mayor La Guardia were the pinnacle of the odd couple mantra: aristocratic president and immigrant mayor, fireside chat and populous cartoon, down-to-earth Democrat and reform Republican. However, both being born in 1882, both New York lawyers, and both hostile towards Tammany Hall made them unstoppable allies. In the height of the great depression, the leaders of America’s two largest governments worked together to expedite a route to recovery for the nation and the master plan for a powerful city. It is notable that Williams impressively succeeds in his aim is to write a history of New York City Politics, not a biased policy analysis. America’s cities are the country’s true economic heartland, and much of our most important past is urban. City of Ambition helps us to understand the history of the creation of United States’ economic, political, and cultural mecca: modern day New York