Michael Wolraich Books

Focusing on a transformative era in American history, the book presents a compelling argument about significant political shifts that shaped the nation. Michael Wolraich analyzes key figures and events, highlighting their impact on contemporary politics. With a sharp and concise narrative, it invites readers to reconsider the dynamics of political change and the role of influential individuals during this pivotal time. The exploration promises to engage those interested in political history and the forces that drive societal transformation.

Vivian Gordon went out before midnight in a velvet dress and mink coat. Her body turned up the next morning in a desolate Bronx park, a dirty clothesline wrapped around her neck. At her stylish Manhattan apartment, detectives discovered notebooks filled with hundreds of names--businessmen, socialites, gangsters, and bootleggers. And something else: a letter from an anti-corruption commission established by the governor of New York, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Led by the imperious Judge Samuel Seabury, the commission had uncovered a police conspiracy to frame women as prostitutes; many suspected that Vivian Gordon had been executed to bury her secrets. As FDR pressed the police to solve her murder, Judge Seabury doggedly pursued the trail of corruption to the top of Gotham's powerful political machine--the infamous Tammany Hall. A final dramatic showdown between Seabury and playboy mayor Jimmy Walker precipitated Tammany's downfall and cleared the way for FDR's presidency.