Overview

"Taming the Street tells the epic story of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's battle to regulate Wall Street in the wake of the 1929 Crash and the ensuing Great Depression. Deeply reported and vividly told, this tale takes readers back to a time when America's financial landscape was a jungle ruled by the titans of vast wealth, largely unrestrained by government. Roosevelt ran for office in 1932 vowing to curb that ruthless capitalism and make the world of finance safer for ordinary savers and investors. His deeply personal campaign to tame the Street is one of the great untold dramas in American history. The outcome of this fight was far from clear for FDR and his New Deal allies - who included the political dynasty-builder Joseph P. Kennedy and the future Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. Wall Street's old guard, led by New York Stock Exchange president Richard Whitney, fought every new rule to the ""last legal ditch."" That clash - between two sharply different visions of financial power and federal responsibility - has shaped how ""other people's money"" is managed in America to this day. As inequality once again reaches Jazz Age levels, Henriques brings to life a time when the system worked - an idealistic time when ordinary Americans knew what had to be done and summoned the will and the leadership to do it. A vital history and a riveting, true-life thriller, Taming the Street raises an urgent and troubling question- What does capitalism owe to the common good? The""extraordinary"" (New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice)story of FDR's fight for the soul of American capitalism-from award-winning journalist Diana B. Henriques, author of The Wizard of Lies- Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust ""I thought I was well versed in the New Deal, but it turns out I knew next to nothing. Diana Henriques's chronicle is meticulous, illuminating, and riveting.""-Kurt Andersen, New York Times bestselling author of Evil Geniuses and Fantasyland A BLOOMBERG BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Taming the Street describes how President Franklin D. Roosevelt battled to regulate Wall Street in the wake of the 1929 stock market crash and the ensuing Great Depression. With deep reporting and vivid storytelling, Diana B. Henriques takes readers back to a time when America's financial landscape was a jungle ruled by the titans of vast wealth, largely unrestrained by government. Roosevelt ran for office in 1932 vowing to curb that ruthless capitalism and make the world of finance safer for ordinary savers and investors. His deeply personal campaign to tame the Street is one of the great untold dramas in American history. Success in this political struggle was far from certain for FDR and his New Deal allies, who included the political dynasty builder Joseph P. Kennedy and the future Supreme Court justice William O. Douglas. Wall Street's old guard, led by New York Stock Exchange president Richard Whitney, fought every new rule to the ""last legal ditch."" That clash-between two sharply different visions of financial power and federal responsibility-has shaped how ""other people's money"" is managed in the United States to this day. As inequality once again reaches Jazz Age levels, Henriques brings to life a time when the system worked-an idealistic moment when ordinary Americans knew what had to be done and supported leaders who could do it. A vital history and a riveting true-life thriller, Taming the Street raises an urgent and troubling question- What does capitalism owe to the common good?"

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Reviews

“I thought I was well versed in the New Deal, but it turns out I knew next to nothing. Diana Henriques’s chronicle is meticulous, illuminating, and riveting.”—Kurt Andersen, New York Times bestselling author of Evil Geniuses and Fantasyland “Diana Henriques’s gripping narrative of unbridled capitalism in the Jazz Age and its consequences is beyond timely—it’s urgent.”—James B. Stewart, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and co-author of Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy “This compelling, brilliantly told story of the fierce battle to rein in Wall Street excesses in the FDR era couldn’t be more timely.”—James B. Steele, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and co-author of America: What Went Wrong? “Diana Henriques takes us on the incredible—and rarely explored—journey of what led to the vital Wall Street regulations we take mostly for granted today.”—William D. Cohan, author of the New York Times bestselling Power Failure: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon “Diana Henriques is one of our most astute writers about the world of finance, and with Taming the Street, she once again tells a thrilling and essential story.”—Bethany McLean, New York Times bestselling co-author of The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron “This is historical storytelling at its best! With vivid characters, cinematic settings, and nonstop pacing, Diana Henriques brings to life a political battle from the 1930s that is still deeply relevant almost a century later.”—Joe Berlinger, award-winning documentary filmmaker and director of the Netflix series Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street “Astute readers have long known that Diana Henriques is a fine writer and a powerful reporter. Here, though, she demonstrates a new skill: superb historian. . . . Simply outstanding.”—Daniel Okrent, New York Times bestselling author of Last Call and The Guarded Gate “Taming the Street is a most timely work of meticulously researched market history that echoes loudly today.”—Ron Insana, CNBC senior analyst “Henriques makes the potentially dry subject of SEC regulation fascinating, and the vivid prose evokes the dynamic personalities involved. . . . It’s a skillful account of a pivotal era in America’s economic history.”—Publishers Weekly

“I thought I was well versed in the New Deal, but it turns out I knew next to nothing. Diana Henriques’s chronicle is meticulous, illuminating, and riveting.”—Kurt Andersen, New York Times bestselling author of Evil Geniuses and Fantasyland “Diana Henriques’s gripping narrative of unbridled capitalism in the Jazz Age and its consequences is beyond timely—it’s urgent.”—James B. Stewart, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and co-author of Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy “This compelling, brilliantly told story of the fierce battle to rein in Wall Street excesses in the FDR era couldn’t be more timely.”—James B. Steele, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and co-author of America: What Went Wrong? “Diana Henriques takes us on the incredible—and rarely explored—journey of what led to the vital Wall Street regulations we take mostly for granted today.”—William D. Cohan, author of the New York Times bestselling Power Failure: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon “Diana Henriques is one of our most astute writers about the world of finance, and with Taming the Street, she once again tells a thrilling and essential story.”—Bethany McLean, New York Times bestselling co-author of The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron “This is historical storytelling at its best! With vivid characters, cinematic settings, and nonstop pacing, Diana Henriques brings to life a political battle from the 1930s that is still deeply relevant almost a century later.”—Joe Berlinger, award-winning documentary filmmaker and director of the Netflix series Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street “Astute readers have long known that Diana Henriques is a fine writer and a powerful reporter. Here, though, she demonstrates a new skill: superb historian. . . . Simply outstanding.”—Daniel Okrent, New York Times bestselling author of Last Call and The Guarded Gate “Taming the Street is a most timely work of meticulously researched market history that echoes loudly today.”—Ron Insana, CNBC senior analyst

“I thought I was well-versed in the New Deal, how FDR and his administration during the Great Depression reimagined and reengineered the U.S. economy to be more fair and secure, setting us up for a three-decade-long golden age. But it turns out I knew next to nothing . . . Diana Henriques' chronicle is meticulous, illuminating and riveting.”—Kurt Andersen, bestselling author of Evil Geniuses and Fantasyland   “Diana Henriques is one of our most astute writers about the world of finance, and with Taming the Street, she once again tells a thrilling and essential story . . . And maybe the past can help answer one of today’s key questions: If society allows capitalism, what does capitalism owe society?”—Bethany McLean, contributing editor to Vanity Fair and New York Times bestselling co-author of The Smartest Guys in the Room   “In Taming the Street, bestselling author Diana Henriques takes us on the incredible—and rarely explored—journey of what led to the vital Wall Street regulations we take mostly for granted today.”—William D. Cohan, author of the New York Times bestselling Power Failure: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon   “Taming the Street is a most timely work of meticulously researched market history which echoes loudly today. Decades ago, progressives and pragmatists worked together to bring Wall Street to heel after years of abusing the public['s] trust.”—Ron Insana, CNBC Senior Analyst   “This is historical storytelling at its best! With vivid characters, cinematic settings, and nonstop pacing, Diana Henriques brings to life a real-life political battle from the 1930s that is still deeply relevant almost a century later. It is a vital story—a rare instance when Washington faced down Wall Street’s titans and summoned the courage to get it right.”—Joe Berlinger, award-winning documentary filmmaker and director of the Netflix series Madoff: Monster of Wall Street   “With America’s regulatory ‘Deep State’ under fierce attack, Diana Henriques’s gripping narrative of unbridled capitalism in the Jazz Age and its consequences is beyond timely—it’s urgent.”—James, Stewart, Pulitzer Prize-winning co-author of Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy   “This compelling, brilliantly told story of the fierce battle to rein in Wall Street excesses in the FDR era couldn’t be more timely. At its center is the perennial debate over how much power government should have to regulate financial markets. Contrary to doomsday predictions, the SEC proved that government could oversee the market without ruining it. How little has changed.”—James B. Steele, Pulitzer prize winning journalist and bestselling co-author of America: What Went Wrong?   “Astute readers have long known that Diana Henriques is a fine writer and a powerful reporter. Here, though, she demonstrates a new skill: superb historian. Her account of Wall Street in the time of its greatest crisis, and of the men who brought it to heel, is simply outstanding.”—Daniel Okrent, author of Last Call and The Guarded Gate

Author Information

Diana B. Henriques is the author of five previous books, including the New York Times bestseller The Wizard of Lies- Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust, which was adapted as an HBO film starring Robert De Niro and was cited in the widely watched Netflix documentary series Madoff- The Monster of Wall Street. A staff writer for The New York Times from 1989 to 2012, she is a George Polk Award winner and a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and she has received Harvard's Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting, among other honors. Henriques lives in Hoboken, New Jersey.

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