The confidante : the untold story of the woman who helped win World War II and shape modern America / Christopher C. Gorham.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 353-358) and index.

The Eagle's Nest -- Roman candle -- The Tammany instinct -- The busiest woman in New York -- This man Roosevelt -- Action in Albany -- A New Deal -- Hyde Park -- The inner circle -- Sign it, Mr. President! -- Mrs. Fix-It -- War is an "all-out" business -- The Buffalo plan -- Ask no questions -- Wartime mission -- When Johnny comes home -- Casualties of war -- Homecoming -- General Marshall calls -- Enemies within -- A woman is running the Army! -- Every ridge a heartbreak -- Drafting Eisenhower -- Happy Birthday, Mr. President -- A true friend across all these years -- The last New Dealer.

As Franklin Delano Roosevelt's special envoy to Europe in World War II, Anna Rosenberg went where the president couldn't go. She was among the first Allied women to enter a liberated concentration camp, and stood in the Eagle's Nest, Hitler's mountain retreat, days after its capture. She guided the direction of the G.I. Bill of Rights and the Manhattan Project. Gorham shows that Rosenberg was the real power behind national policies critical to America winning the war and prospering afterward. Astonishingly, her story remains largely forgotten. He shows how Rosenberg's career continued after FDR's death, tapped in 1950 to become the assistant secretary of defense, and fighting tirelessly for causes from racial integration to women's equality to national health care until the end of her life. -- adapted from jacket