The Gatekeeper
Missy LeHand, FDR, and the Untold Story of the Partnership That Defined a Presidency

Quotes

“Franklin Roosevelt’s longtime loyal personal secretary earns a much-needed, balanced portrait…A marvelous portrait of a professional woman ahead of her time whose relationship with FDR sheds new light on his personality and decisions.” Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Journalist Smith grants readers an unusual insider’s view of FDR’s political career by profiling his longtime private secretary. Marguerite ‘Missy’ LeHand…A fascinating account of one woman’s involvement in an important administration.” Publishers Weekly

“Engaging.” Library Journal

“A well-written, informative, and valuable biography, and an important addition to the many-faceted and perpetually fascinating Roosevelt story.” Booklist

“Behind every great president is a small group of advisors selflessly devoting themselves to the task of making their president as successful as possible. Missy LeHand was one the people who enabled Franklin D. Roosevelt to become the FDR of history. Kathryn Smith makes a brisk and compelling case that Missy LeHand was one of the most important women of the twentieth century.” Bob Clark, director of archives, Rockefeller Archives Center

“Missy LeHand was one of the most powerful women of twentieth-century Washington, yet since World War II her name has faded from public awareness. Kathryn Smith has restored LeHand to her proper place with a rich and poignant biography, deeply researched and thoroughly absorbing.” James Tobin, author of The Man He Became

“Kathryn Smith’s The Gatekeeper is a vivid, much-needed life of one of the least known but most consequential figures in FDR’s immediate circle, Missy LeHand. Anyone interested in Roosevelt, the New Deal, or the path toward global war will want to snap it up.” Geoffrey C. Ward, author of A First-Class Temperament

“Despite the many shelves of books written on the personal and political life of Franklin D. Roosevelt, we have no biography of Marguerite ‘Missy’ LeHand, FDR’s close friend and aide. She was with him—and vital to his progress—from the earliest days of his affliction with polio in 1921 to the world crisis of 1941. Now Kathryn Smith is assembling the written materials and the personal remembrances of Missy’s family to tell a most important story about America’s most successful twentieth century president.” Frank Costigliola, author of Roosevelt’s Lost Alliances

“For the two decades between 1921 and 1941 no one spent more time with Franklin Delano Roosevelt than Marguerite ‘Missy’ LeHand. From modest Irish Catholic Boston roots, Missy rose to become an indispensable intimate confidante, adviser, chief of staff and exclusive conduit to the most consequential personality of the twentieth century. No woman has ever wielded more influence in a presidential administration. Likewise, Missy was admired and respected by Eleanor, the Roosevelt children, and every other key member of the Roosevelt administration. Because of a severely disabling stroke at just forty-five years of age, Missy’s contribution to history has been marginalized and nearly forgotten. This definitive biography, published with the authority of her family and containing much information never before revealed, is long overdue, and will finally afford Missy the credit she deserves as one of the most important female figures in American history.” Dr. Steven Lomazow, author of FDR’s Deadly Secret

Awards

• Amazon Best Book of the Month