Democrat and Diplomat: The Life of William E. Dodd
Robert Dallek
Abstract
This book offers a look at the life of William Dodd, an American diplomat stationed in Nazi Germany. The book exposes the dark underbelly of 1930s Germany and explores the terrible burden of those who realized the horror that was to come. Dodd was the U.S. Ambassador to Germany from 1933 to 1937, arriving in Berlin with his wife and daughter just as Adolf Hitler assumed the chancellorship. An unlikely candidate for the job–and not President Franklin D. Roosevelt's first choice—Dodd quickly came to realize that the situation in Germany was far grimmer than was understood in America. His early o ... More
This book offers a look at the life of William Dodd, an American diplomat stationed in Nazi Germany. The book exposes the dark underbelly of 1930s Germany and explores the terrible burden of those who realized the horror that was to come. Dodd was the U.S. Ambassador to Germany from 1933 to 1937, arriving in Berlin with his wife and daughter just as Adolf Hitler assumed the chancellorship. An unlikely candidate for the job–and not President Franklin D. Roosevelt's first choice—Dodd quickly came to realize that the situation in Germany was far grimmer than was understood in America. His early optimism was soon replaced by dire reports on the treatment of Jews and his pessimism about the future of Germany and Europe. Finding unwilling listeners back in the U.S., Dodd clashed repeatedly with the State Department, as well as the Nazi government, during his time as ambassador. He eventually resigned and returned to America, despairing and in poor health.
Keywords:
diplomat,
William Dodd,
Nazi Germany,
Berlin,
Adolf Hitler,
Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Jews,
Europe,
America
Bibliographic Information
Print publication date: 2012 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780199946938 |
Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: March 2015 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199946938.001.0001 |