De Valera and Roosevelt
Irish and American Diplomacy in Times of Crisis, 1932–1939

Offers the first comprehensive study of the diplomatic relationship between America and Ireland in the 1930s.

Bernadette Whelan (Author)

9781108830171, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 10 December 2020

350 pages
24 x 16 x 3 cm, 0.8 kg

'Prof Whelan has in this book given us much detail and analysis about US-Ireland official contacts in the 1930s, a frequently neglected period. She has also thrown valuable light on the development of the young Irish diplomatic service. In doing so she has enhanced her reputation as the leading historian of the relationship between the US and Irish Governments.' Seán Donlon, Irish Times

How did Irish and American diplomacy operate in Washington DC and Dublin during the 1930s era of economic depression, rising fascism and Nazism? How did the Anglo–American relationship affect American–Irish diplomatic relations? Why and how did Éamon de Valera and Franklin D. Roosevelt move their countries towards neutrality in 1939? This first comprehensive history of American and Irish diplomacy during the 1930s focuses on formal and informal diplomacy, examining all aspects of diplomatic life to explain the relationship between the two administrations from 1932 to 1939. Bernadette Whelan reveals how diplomats worked on behalf of their governments to implement Franklin D. Roosevelt and Éamon de Valera's foreign policies – particularly when Éamon de Valera believed in the existence of a 'special' transatlantic relationship but Franklin D. Roosevelt increasingly favoured a strong relationship with Britain. Drawing on a wide range of under-used sources, this is a major new contribution to the history of American and Irish diplomacy and revises our understanding of the importance of Ireland to a US administration.

Part I. Soft Diplomacy and the Diplomat: 1. Introduction
2. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Éamon de Valera and the foreign policy world
3. The US diplomat's life in Ireland
4. The Irish diplomat's life in the US
Part II. New Regimes Settle in: 5. Transatlantic migrant tide
6. De Valera's Ireland
7. Roosevelt's America
8. Common worlds, 1939
9. Conclusion
Appendix 1. List of Irish officials in the US
Appendix 2. List of US officials in Ireland.

Subject Areas: 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], History of the Americas [HBJK], British & Irish history [HBJD1]