But encouraged by the rapid congressional response, he decided to use the momentum to push his domestic agenda, setting off what would go down in history as the famous “Hundred Days”—the exact period of time between the opening and closing of the special session of the Seventy-third Congress. Roosevelt had borrowed the term, which had the intriguing ring of both victory and defeat, from the famous hundred-day Waterloo campaign in the Napoleonic Wars of more than a century earlier. Even Roosevelt had no idea how prescient the comparison would be, as Napoleon’s heroic escape from exile led him into the most severe trial of his life. Exhilarated by how fast, bipartisan, and enthusiastic the legislators were, and pressed by his cabinet, which was urging him to seize the opportunity this presidential honeymoon offered, he decided to keep them in session until his program was enacted. Considering that his program wasn’t fully formulated, it was an audacious move, and the challenge thrilled him.
What do You think about The Plots Against The President?
