I’m pretty sure that anyone who reads this book will have the same question running through their minds. “How have I never heard of this woman?” What an incredible story, an incredible life and a great story teller to write it!

Genre: Historical Fiction

Summary: Anne Marie Rosenberg, an immigrant to the United States, with only a high school education became the “Most Important Woman in America” according to Life Magazine. Her story is one that seems to have been forgotten because few have heard it. This book takes us on a journey from her humble life growing up as a Hungarian Jew who immigrated to the United States and became a powerful voice amongst those who worked on the policies that helped win WW2. We learn about her life and how she never allowed her humble beginnings to limit how she lived her life.

Pace: Slow-Medium

If I didn’t know any better, I was a reading a historical fiction book. I had to keep reminding myself that this was a memoir about Anne. What an incredible story to tell. I can only imagine how challenging it was to edit this book! How do you leave anything out? I thought at times, the pace and detail got to be too much. I was so intrigued by Anne that I did’t care. I just pushed through because I knew that I would learn another fact about her that would drop my jaw to the floor again. The way that Christopher Gotham brought her story to life in the pages of this book was incredible. I feel that he was able to honor her spirit with the way he wrote her story. I loved this book!

Anna Rosenberg was a woman, Jewish, an immigrant, pro-labor, and shared her surname with atomic spies. A Tammany Hall Irishman taught her NYC politics. Her vocabulary could make longshoremen blush. She guided men to places of distinction, chief among them, FDR. During WWII, she sent workers to West Coast ship builders and to Tennessee for the Manhattan Project. George Marshall made her his Assistant Secretary of Defense during the Korean War.
Her lack of credentials bothered her, and she didn’t promote herself. How did she accomplish so much? This is the story of what one extraordinarily driven citizen can do for democracy in war and peace.

How have I never heard of Anna M Rosenberg? Truly one of the most remarkable people I've ever read about. That she was wielding power and influence in an even more sexist society than we live in today is incredible. The first female Assistant Secretary of Defense, particularly during a major "police action" is impressive. She knocked down so many doors for women but sadly, they were slammed closed behind her again. I have new-found respect for FDR and HST. This book is rich with details and really brings Anna to life. It almost reads like historical fiction at times.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

I wanted to like this one. But unfortunately for me as a reader, there was just a little bit too much FDR in the book for my taste. Never been an FDR fan. I wanted more of Anna Marie Rosenberg as it was suppose to be her biography.

Why don't I recall ever learning about Anna Rosenberg?!?!? (The author was a teacher, so glad that he had a student who wanted to know more about this fascinating woman.)

So glad that I read the Confidante by Christopher C. Gorman. Well written and well researched. (The answer is throughout The Confidante; Anna would rather handle things in person and she was never interested in writing a book, especially since so many others already had.)

One of the things I felt missing from the book was about her personal life. She must have had a good relationship with her son, as they partnered in a business together for a while.

If you are looking for a book regarding a remarkable person, Anna Rosenberg was amazing. She was the perfect balance for so many situations. If you want to get something done, give it to a woman!

Wow! What a great non-fiction book!

Thank you to NetGalley, Christopher C. Gorham the author and Kensington Publishing Corp for the opportunity to review the advance read copy of The Confidante in exchange for an honest review. Publication date is 21 Feb 2023.

Additionally, one of the best Acknowledgements section that I've read in a while.

Have you ever heard of Anna Marie Rosenberg before? I will admit that even a nerd like me had never heard her name before. Luckily, Christopher Gorham did the hard work and wrote this book!

The best way I can describe Anna Rosenberg is to take Forrest Gump, make him a woman, and then make her extremely smart and savvy. Rosenberg was a key player in the presidencies of everyone from FDR to LBJ. She was the first person ever to receive the Medal of Freedom at the behest of then General Eisenhower. She was also an Assistant Secretary of Defense in 1950. She also made a whole bunch of money on her own through her own business in the private sector. She seemed to be in the middle of everything for decades.

So why don't people know her name? Gorham goes a long way to show how it happened. Rosenberg's power was in her personal touch and, perhaps more importantly, she knew how to keep her mouth shut.

This is a great biography of someone you never heard of before but really should have. Also, bonus points for one president coming off as a total jerk in this narrative. It's not the one you think it is!

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Kensington Books. The full review will be posted to HistoryNerdsUnited.com on 2/21/2023.)

This was an exceptionally interesting telling of Anna Rosenberg's story. Despite holding undergraduate and graduate degrees in history, I was not aware of her story and contributions to our nation during WWII and in the postwar years. Her influence and efficiency earned her the nickname by FDR of "my Mrs. Fix-It," which accurately summed her up. I always find it interesting to read about the unsung female heroes of history, and it seems this is a story that had largely been forgotten been overlooked or forgotten, The fact that she was able to overcome sexism, anti-Semitism, and a McCarthy driven smear campaign is impressive. It is no wonder that President Truman saw fit to award her the first ever Medal of Freedom.

Early 20th Century America was a place of change and opportunity. Within the first 50 years, US citizens were a party of industrialisation, the depression, two world wars, and the cold war. What is not so well known is the part Anna Rosenburg, a Jewish-Hungarian immigrant, facilitated and negotiated to help shape the America we know today.

Anna Rosenburg, a 5'3" pocket rocket, with little more than a high school education, rose to the inner sanctum of the White House during these pivotal years, 'You don't have to be like a man to succeed. If you know your stuff, you'll be alright.' Anna began as a negotiator between the fast-forming unions of the early 20th Century and capitalist corporates. Her unique sense of mediation, so that both sides could win, as opposed to brute force, won all-around trust. This skill base was leveraged to bring about the greatest mobilisation of troops and factory workers when the US entered WW II - including the negotiation to desegregate and include African Americans. She further pushed for the use of women in the war effort, 'The morale of the nation depends upon its women.' Despite being the first person to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, her credibility was attacked during McCarthyism. Still, throughout this ordeal, she held her head high and stayed true.

'The Confidante' not only details the life of this amazing woman. it also offers a robust summary of these transformational years in American history. It is astounding just how pivotal Anna Rosenburg, who is so little recognised today, was. Often stories of inspiring, historical women figures, are about the struggle they suffered in breaking into a 'man's world'. Anna's story is different. Anna only saw advantages to being a woman within her place of work, 'Men will talk more freely to a woman than to another man, and when men talk freely nine times out of ten misunderstandings vanish'. She ultimately just wanted to be herself and if that meant she could make a difference, then she worked hard at doing so.

Christopher Gorham has done a fantastic job delivering a short history of American politics in the early 19th Century and Anna Rosenburg's pivotal, and unbelievably integral role within this. 'The Confidnate' is both an inspiring and illuminating book, well worth a read for so many reasons.

I found The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America to be a fascinating read. I am giving it four stars.

The Confidante by Christopher C. Gorman I had no idea what to expect of this book because I am perhaps like many, I had no idea who Anna M. Rosenberg was. Mr. Gorham has corrected this and I thank him for this book. Mrs. Rosenberg was a Jewish- Hungarian immigrant who came to America as a young girl with her family in 1913. With only a high school education, small in size but a passionate belief in the rights of her fellow Americans she rose up first in New York as a mediator in labor relations. Early in her career she met a young FDR who took a liking to her and she rose up with him. When FDR was president, she was his sounding board for what the average American was thinking and when the war came, she played a significant role in getting Americans, white, black, man and women into the labor force to help produce everything the US needed to support the Allied efforts. One story Mr. Gorman tells I found so very much like Mrs. Rosenberg. She was visiting and as always it was less about seeing management but being with the workers on the floor. She spoke to a woman who was running a tool producing small screws. She asked her was the work interesting and the woman answered honestly, “no.” Anna responded, “let’s see what these screws are used for.” So, they followed the process and discovered the screws were used for the gunsight on fighter planes which made the effort for this woman now valuable. Also, during the war at the request of FDR she went to Europe to see how the soldiers felt. Doing this of course she traveled to the front lines to speak to them unfiltered by the brass. She even experienced first-hand prior to the end of the war the depravity of a concentration camp. For all her efforts during WW II, she was awarded the medal of Freedom by President Truman at the request of Dwight Eisenhower. Also, during the war at the request of FDR she went to Europe to see how the soldiers felt. Doing this of course she traveled to the front lines to speak to them unfiltered by the brass. In the early 50’s she was asked by Secretary of Defense George Marshall to become Assistant Secretary of Defense. In her normal fashion, she twice went to the front lines in the Korean War to meet with the soldiers. Just an amazing woman! There is so much more in this book about her efforts with JFK and LBJ as well. I highly recommend this book about a forgotten but very important woman.

Most people live their lives while history happens around them. Some though are an integral part of history, so involved at the heart of things that perhaps the world itself would have been different without them. Anna Rosenberg, little known today, was at one time one of the most famous women in America, a confidante of mayors, generals, and presidents.

Anna immigrated to America as a child from the Austria-Hungary Empire. As a teenager, she marched through the Manhattan streets in the women’s suffrage movement and, later, despite having only a high school education, was the greatest of the labor negotiators, trusted by both capitalists and workers, and able to achieve what few others could. She became a trusted ally of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and then a confidante Of Governor Roosevelt, soon to become President Roosevelt. Anna was a key cog in FDR’s New Deal programs including Social Security. She was a trusted lieutenant in labor negotiations, keeping the labor peace as the world plunged into war.

During the Second World War, Anna played a major role in war production, mobilization, and recruitment. She was FDR’s eyes and ears, being on the ground with the troops as Normandy was liberated, in Paris as the Allies swept out the Germans, and among the first to see firsthand Hitler’s death camps. Later, under Truman, Anna became the Assistant Secretary Of Defense and assisted in the reinvigoration Of America’s military for the battle in Korea and against Communism. Of course, her biggest trial was Senator McCarthy and his smear campaign against her and she was the first to stand against him And not fall.

All throughout, Anna, standing at five foot three, was impeccably dressed stylishly. Only Eleanor Roosevelt was better known.

This biography casts a new light on a remarkable woman who has somehow disappeared into the forgotten shadows of history. It is well-written and meticulously researched.

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I love reading about women who affected history, and too often disappear in the retelling.
Anna Rosenberg was the most powerful woman in Washington, D.C. during World War II and the Korean War.
This fascinating book tells her story, and is hard to put down!