The Politics of Upheaval, 1935–1936 was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1960 as the third volume of The Age of Roosevelt. It covers the most turbulent period of the New Deal: the rise of demagogic challenges from both left and right, the Supreme Court’s invalidation of major New Deal programs, and Roosevelt’s overwhelming victory in the 1936 election.
The demagogues provide Schlesinger’s most colorful material: Huey Long, the Louisiana senator-dictator whose Share Our Wealth program threatened to outflank Roosevelt from the left; Father Charles Coughlin, the radio priest whose weekly broadcasts reached thirty million listeners and whose politics careened from New Deal populism toward antisemitic fascism; Francis Townsend, the elderly doctor whose old-age pension plan attracted millions of followers. Schlesinger presents them as symptoms of genuine economic desperation being channeled into authoritarian directions — the American equivalents of the European movements that produced Mussolini and Hitler.
The volume’s climax is the 1936 election — Roosevelt’s crushing victory over Alf Landon, carrying every state except Maine and Vermont. Schlesinger presents this as the democratic vindication of the New Deal: the American people, given a clear choice between reform and reaction, chose overwhelmingly to continue the experiment. The trilogy ends here, with Roosevelt at his zenith — the court-packing fight, the recession of 1937-38, and the coming of war remain unchronicled.
Collecting The Politics of Upheaval
First edition (Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1960): Cloth with dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine/fine: $50–$125
- Very good: $20–$50
Projected values (2026–2036): Moderate appreciation.
The New Deal Under Attack
The Politics of Upheaval (1960) is Volume III of The Age of Roosevelt, covering 1935–1936 — the period when the New Deal faced its greatest challenges: the Supreme Court struck down major programs, Huey Long and Father Coughlin attacked from the populist left and right, and FDR responded with the “Second New Deal” (Social Security, the Wagner Act, the WPA). Schlesinger’s account of the 1936 election — Roosevelt’s landslide victory over Alf Landon — is a masterpiece of political narrative.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the final volume? Yes — Schlesinger never wrote the planned fourth volume covering 1936–1940. The unfinished nature of the project is one of the great frustrations of American historiography.