Ramesh , That Belkin piece was interesting, but it lets FDR off the hook too much. The reason the scandal almost ended FDR’s career is that he was ultimately responsible. FDR almost surely approved the sting. When it became public, he “glibly lied” about his involvement (in the words of Paul Johnson). A Senate investigation concluded that FDR’s (and his boss, Josephus Daniels’) actions were “immoral” and “an abuse of the authority of his high office,” that he lied to investigators and that, if he hadn’t known about the sting as he claimed, it would be evidence that he was “most derelict in the performance of his duty.”

I don’t go into too much detail about FDR’s tenure as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in my book, but it’s one of the most ignored and interesting chapters of his life, and quite at odds with much of the FDR myth.