The Plot Against America by Philip Roth

A believably scary what-might-have-been, for most of its length

Following his historic solo flight from New York to Paris, Charles Lindbergh was the most famous and beloved American alive. Unfortunately, however, this handsome, charming, and charismatic hero had white supremacist views that were very similar to the Nazis. He made openly antisemitic remarks and was an advocate of eugenics (selective breeding of human beings) for the advancement of the white race. What if Lindbergh had developed a closer relationship to the Nazis and used his celebrity to further an antisemitic agenda in the United States? Author Philip Roth asks that question in his novel The Plot Against America, published in 2004.

In this alternate history, Lindbergh runs for president in 1940 on an isolationist platform and defeats the incumbent Franklin Delano Roosevelt. A Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey, is startled and appalled by the election results and fearful of what effect Lindbergh’s presidency will have on the lives of America’s Jews. The novel is narrated by the family’s nine-year-old son, Philip Roth, an alternate version of the author himself. It is probably safe to assume that portions of the novel are based on the real Philip Roth’s own youth in Newark, before the plot ventures off into an alternate universe.

Although this book is a political thriller of sorts, much of the narrative is simply a realistic look at the life of a Jewish boy and his family in the 1940s. If you’re looking for a Robert Ludlum-type thriller about evil Nazis plotting a terrorist takeover of America, this isn’t it. Prior to reading the book, if you’re aware of its premise, you might expect concentration camps and jack-booted stormtroopers marching through the streets of Newark. To my surprise, this Nazi invasion is much more toned-down and realistic in nature, which is the book’s strength. Although the plot burns on a slow fuse, for most of it’s length it is quite believable. The fact is, prior to America’s entry into World War II, there were many Nazi sympathizers in America, ultraconservatives who hated and feared communism, and at that time America as a whole was probably pretty antisemitic. Roth builds upon this historic reality without exaggerating it to the point of a science fiction dystopia or a tongue-in-cheek satire like Sinclair Lewis’s It Can’t Happen Here. In fact, Lindbergh’s actions as president in this novel are actually more subtle and less overtly totalitarian than many of the brash displays of executive power by presidents in our recent history. Events in this book escalate on a gradual scale, but they still bear terrifying implications, not just for Jews but for any American who values democracy and freedom.

Unfortunately, the book takes a strange turn towards the end. In Chapter 8 (of 9), all of a sudden the plot becomes really far-fetched. The story ventures into Lindbergh conspiracy theories that undermine the realism of what came before. Then, in the final chapter, Roth regains his sense of humor at an inappropriate time and injects comedy scenes into depictions of events that should have been tragic and profound. The foibles-of-a-young-Jewish-boy humor that worked so well in Chapter 1 feels out of place after a Nazi-inspired pogrom.

Overall, the merits of The Plot Against America outweigh its faults. This is an intelligently created alternate reality that insightfully examines real history and in doing so broadens the reader’s understanding of that history. Whether he’s writing about a Nazi plot or everyday Jewish-American life, Roth’s storytelling is so captivating that you may not even realize you’re getting a valuable lesson in American history, culture, and politics.  

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