Join us by the fireplace in the library as we continue our series, Fireside Chats: Exploring the Roosevelt Legacy.

By the summer of 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt’s historic opportunity to shape American law finally dawned when he made tectonic changes in the makeup of the Supreme Court — he appointed seven justices and elevated an eighth to be Chief Justice. It would become a revolutionary era in American constitutional law as well as in the future of the nation. An unabashedly bold and progressive Court, FDR's justices restructured and reinforced congressional powers while at the same time paving the way for a new consciousness in civil rights and civil liberties freedoms. Even so, when it came to the President’s war powers, they gave FDR near carte blanche power to, among other things, intern (“imprison”) innocent Japanese-Americans. Such precedents determined our destiny . . . and they might also one day dictate our future when it comes to the workings of the Roberts Court and its equally bold justices of a far different ideological persuasion. Presented by Ronald Collins, the Lewes Public Library’s Distinguished Lecturer and the author or co-author of twelve books including The Judge: 26 Machiavellian Lessons.

President Franklin Roosevelt broadcast his first Fireside Chat on March 12th, 1933, just eight days after his inauguration. During his 12 years in office he delivered dozens of Fireside Chats, guiding America through the Great Depression, and guiding a global audience through the horrors of World War Two. FDR’s Fireside Chats were a new form of political communication, using radio to connect with Americans in an intimate setting – right in their living rooms. His compelling and persuasive broadcasts encouraged Americans to believe in democracy and its future. Paul Sparrow, a nationally recognized expert on Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and the former director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, hosts this series of programs that build on the foundation laid by FDR’s Fireside Chats, and find their relevance to our world today.

This series is moderated by Paul Sparrow, a nationally recognized expert on Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and the former director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. He has written articles and blogs on them, and has appeared on the CBS Evening News, CNN, CSPAN, the History Channel, and the Washington Post’s Presidential podcast.

NOTE: seating is limited so registration is required.