The Secret Gift by Ted Gup

Book club today--I have a fresh cold, so I will pass and NOT pass it on.  Our March selection is a very interesting and heart warming story that takes place for the most part in Canton, Ohio. The secret gift, by Ted Gup. His grandfather, Sam Stone, had secretly given $5 to needy families in 1933, and Gup follows up on the outcome, plus the dark secrets of his grandfather's past.

I was left with the question of why does Gup know so little about how FDR's programs (aka New Deal), intended to help, extended the Depression for over 10 years. Also, I wondered as I read the inspiring stories of struggle and accomplishment, whether our country today that already has about 50% of the population receiving some sort of government benefit (some of it we paid up front like Social Security and Medicare), could ever rebound or even know how, from such a disaster.  Gup is a college professor, and in that environment where over 98% vote "progressive" or Democrat or liberal, there is little room for peeking under the covers of the accepted wisdom that FDR was a great guy and helped the country recover.