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Psssst. (Original Post) kpete Oct 2015 OP
Without a doubt!! Love this. RiverLover Oct 2015 #1
It's safe to say that FDR created the idea of the great middle-class majority. reformist2 Oct 2015 #42
And clearly an elite, who was part of the poltical establishment. Agschmid Oct 2015 #2
That's how he got in, then he went populist on them. And brought the rest of the country RiverLover Oct 2015 #3
So he flip flopped? Agschmid Oct 2015 #6
The best president ever. RiverLover Oct 2015 #9
He seemed to have a thing for the prison industrial complex... Agschmid Oct 2015 #10
FDR was not above exploiting Asians. OnyxCollie Oct 2015 #35
it's amazing AnAzulTexas Oct 2015 #41
What are you talking about? nt OnyxCollie Oct 2015 #43
Who do you think was the best? nt artislife Oct 2015 #36
+1 Cracks me up treestar Oct 2015 #5
Yup. Agschmid Oct 2015 #7
I doubt it...Teddy K wasn't. Armstead Oct 2015 #39
You liked FDR airc? Did you change your mind again? Or was that someone else? sabrina 1 Oct 2015 #23
+1 uponit7771 Oct 2015 #45
K&R..... daleanime Oct 2015 #4
Depends on who you ask. JaneyVee Oct 2015 #8
+1 no bully pulpit necessary treestar Oct 2015 #11
The timing was just right for Roosevelt Auggie Oct 2015 #15
Not really on the majorities. jeff47 Oct 2015 #19
FDR hand an >70% PROGRESSIVE congress throughout his 4 terms as president... uponit7771 Oct 2015 #46
Face it... world wide wally Oct 2015 #12
FDR had the same problems then he would have today. But he was a fighter. Didn't dream of sabrina 1 Oct 2015 #24
Oh, yeah, love me some FDR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hepburn Oct 2015 #13
he was a starry eyed idealist olddots Oct 2015 #14
KnR 99Forever Oct 2015 #16
The Four Freedoms...Republicans still disagree! Human101948 Oct 2015 #17
Excellent! tex-wyo-dem Oct 2015 #18
damn right. liberal_at_heart Oct 2015 #20
... F4lconF16 Oct 2015 #21
Only now that people have had it with neoliberal policies and Corporate candidates, has FDR suddenly sabrina 1 Oct 2015 #25
Idk if you misread my response? F4lconF16 Oct 2015 #26
I think you're talking to someone to the left of you, not to the right Armstead Oct 2015 #40
K & R!!! Thespian2 Oct 2015 #22
Kick and R BeanMusical Oct 2015 #27
And here we are with one candidate channeling fdr, the other channeling Reagan Doctor_J Oct 2015 #28
Kaboom! ^^^^^^ Nt. Juicy_Bellows Oct 2015 #29
..... bigwillq Oct 2015 #49
How many years do you anticipate changing Congress to a Democrat Congress? Thinkingabout Oct 2015 #30
Once again we get to guess your point and this is a tough one. rhett o rick Oct 2015 #31
Actually I don't think we have a chance. Doesn't mean I won't continue to fight, but your rhett o rick Oct 2015 #32
Did you mean a DemocratIC congress? ibegurpard Oct 2015 #33
Yes, I caught that too Fumesucker Oct 2015 #44
I thought he was a 1%er... brooklynite Oct 2015 #34
Yes, he was born into great wealth Bernblu Oct 2015 #37
But most of you do. nt artislife Oct 2015 #38
I like how the one guy tried to make it about you... Agschmid Oct 2015 #47
Who's we? d_legendary1 Oct 2015 #50
K&R! This post has hundreds of recommendations! Enthusiast Oct 2015 #48

reformist2

(9,841 posts)
42. It's safe to say that FDR created the idea of the great middle-class majority.
Thu Oct 22, 2015, 01:40 AM
Oct 2015

Before FDR, probably only 25% of the people in the US had a decent standard of living. Because of FDR's presidency, the great middle class was created, where more than 75% of the population lived decently. This was unheard of in the modern world at the time. And something that the rich thought was not only impossible, but downright irresponsible. But they were wrong. And FDR was right. And to think, it all got started in the depths of a depression.

Agschmid

(28,749 posts)
2. And clearly an elite, who was part of the poltical establishment.
Wed Oct 21, 2015, 10:35 AM
Oct 2015
Roosevelt was born in 1882 to an old, prominent Dutch family from upstate New York. He attended the elite institutions of Groton School and Harvard College. In 1905, he married Eleanor Roosevelt, with whom he had six children. He entered politics in 1910, serving in the New York State Senate, and then as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson.


Source.

RiverLover

(7,830 posts)
3. That's how he got in, then he went populist on them. And brought the rest of the country
Wed Oct 21, 2015, 10:38 AM
Oct 2015

with him.

And THAT is when America became the greatest nation on earth.

Now, we're not.

FDR Had It Right

What We Can Learn From FDR

Agschmid

(28,749 posts)
6. So he flip flopped?
Wed Oct 21, 2015, 10:42 AM
Oct 2015

Look FDR was a great president, probably the best in the last century, but a meme is just that, a meme.

The good and the bad.

 

OnyxCollie

(9,958 posts)
35. FDR was not above exploiting Asians.
Thu Oct 22, 2015, 01:13 AM
Oct 2015

In fact, it had bipartisan support, with both parties having anti-Asian planks in their platforms.

While the Japanese were interned, precious crops (and farm corporation liens) withered away in the fields.

But, wait! The farm corporations had a plan: government-subsidized dummy corporations would pick the crops and sell them back to the farm corporations at a low price. Any expenses would be billed to the Japanese.

This allowed for great profits.

AnAzulTexas

(108 posts)
41. it's amazing
Thu Oct 22, 2015, 01:37 AM
Oct 2015

what 60 years of sane ideological progress brings to the ethos of a nation...

so if you're serious, take a look around

sabrina 1

(62,325 posts)
23. You liked FDR airc? Did you change your mind again? Or was that someone else?
Wed Oct 21, 2015, 07:16 PM
Oct 2015

Yes, he was part of the wealthy class, so were the Kennedys. That's makes him such a great president. He didn't allow his great wealth to blind him to the needs of ordinary people. That's possible you know?

They're 'not all the same'. Did you think that all wealthy people were like the current crowd who are running this Government?

That is kind of a biased, to be kind, view of an entire group of people don't you think?

FDR is still the most popular president not just in this country, but elsewhere also.

Great to see someone from the Elite Class, not allow that to interfere with his policies, for a change.

 

JaneyVee

(19,877 posts)
8. Depends on who you ask.
Wed Oct 21, 2015, 10:43 AM
Oct 2015

But he did do some great things. He also had HUGE majorities in House and Senate.

treestar

(82,383 posts)
11. +1 no bully pulpit necessary
Wed Oct 21, 2015, 10:53 AM
Oct 2015

or "standing up to them" or "fighting" or all the usual BS trying to get around this fact.

Auggie

(31,061 posts)
15. The timing was just right for Roosevelt
Wed Oct 21, 2015, 12:12 PM
Oct 2015

Without the Depression a lot of social programs and government regulation would have never seen the light of day. One could argue it was an early form of Disaster Capitalism/Shock Doctrine, except the programs put in place were meant to help people.

jeff47

(26,549 posts)
19. Not really on the majorities.
Wed Oct 21, 2015, 02:18 PM
Oct 2015

The majorities were mostly on-paper. Dixiecrats and Democrats were quite different.

FDR tried to pass single-payer, for example. Dixiecrats stopped him.

uponit7771

(90,225 posts)
46. FDR hand an >70% PROGRESSIVE congress throughout his 4 terms as president...
Thu Oct 22, 2015, 05:30 AM
Oct 2015

... if people want an FDR president we need and FDR congress

sabrina 1

(62,325 posts)
24. FDR had the same problems then he would have today. But he was a fighter. Didn't dream of
Wed Oct 21, 2015, 07:20 PM
Oct 2015

trying to negotiate with extremists or of caving or compromising on things that would harm the people. They hated him. Tried to assassinate him. Still he was able to fight them. That's what we need now, no 'compromising with terrorists' but someone who knows it isn't possible and engaging the people, as FDR did.

Hepburn

(21,054 posts)
13. Oh, yeah, love me some FDR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wed Oct 21, 2015, 11:29 AM
Oct 2015

My choice of Scottie dogs started with I was in grade school and I learned about FDR. He will always have my heart.

 

Human101948

(3,457 posts)
17. The Four Freedoms...Republicans still disagree!
Wed Oct 21, 2015, 01:26 PM
Oct 2015

"In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.
The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want—which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear—which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor—anywhere in the world.
That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb."—Franklin D. Roosevelt, excerpted from the State of the Union Address to the Congress, January 6, 1941

tex-wyo-dem

(3,190 posts)
18. Excellent!
Wed Oct 21, 2015, 01:38 PM
Oct 2015

I do hope that Bernie starts drawing the parallels with FDR and his vision of Democratic Socialism. I think it would be a lot more effective than just presenting Nordic countries as examples.

We need a new New Deal that Bernie can promote!

We also need something else that FDR made possible...the rapid conversion of our manufacturing base from civilian to military for WWII. We need the very same or greater effort, except in this case to convert our fossil fuel dependency to renewables to fight the enemy that is climate change, as soon as possible!

F4lconF16

(3,747 posts)
21. ...
Wed Oct 21, 2015, 03:01 PM
Oct 2015

Only now that Sanders is running does anyone call FDR a Democratic Socialist.

He explicitly said he was protecting the capitalist class. I mean, what more will it take to convince you?

He was not a socialist. At best, he was a social democrat. And really, not even that.

Definitions do matter. The term Orwellian gets tossed around a lot, but redefining a long-used term to identify it with something that it isn't--indeed, something that arguably means the opposite (capitalist protection)--strikes me as very much so. Especially with the gaslighting that tends to happen to anyone who disagrees.

I've gotten over Sanders calling himself that. It took me a while to warm up to the idea, but I can see good reason for it. Who knows--he might even be one underneath his social democratic policy. He also does seem to be mildly interested in pushing people towards true Democratic Socialism.

But calling FDR and other liberals Democratic Socialists is going too far, imo. Same with all the other redefining of "socialism" as happy liberal fluffiness around here these days go talk to the DSA--they'll say they're happy to work with people like FDR and Sanders, but they sure as heck aren't going to tell you his policies are what they advocate for. Socialism, even the non-revolutionary type, goes way further than a welfare state.

sabrina 1

(62,325 posts)
25. Only now that people have had it with neoliberal policies and Corporate candidates, has FDR suddenly
Wed Oct 21, 2015, 07:23 PM
Oct 2015

become to a few Dems what he always was to Repubs.

But most people still view him as one the greatest presidents so far.

It's funny to come here to DU and see some of the same stuff re FDR I used to see only when I was arguing with Repubs.

FDR, one of the best Democratic Socialist Presidents we've had so far.

 

Doctor_J

(36,392 posts)
28. And here we are with one candidate channeling fdr, the other channeling Reagan
Wed Oct 21, 2015, 08:09 PM
Oct 2015

And guess who's winning?

This is a big reason the party is almost dead.

 

rhett o rick

(55,981 posts)
31. Once again we get to guess your point and this is a tough one.
Wed Oct 21, 2015, 11:59 PM
Oct 2015

Here goes: It will take way too long to "change Congress to Democratic control" that we should give up and vote for HRC. Am I close?

 

rhett o rick

(55,981 posts)
32. Actually I don't think we have a chance. Doesn't mean I won't continue to fight, but your
Thu Oct 22, 2015, 12:05 AM
Oct 2015

side has all the money, media, and police. Sadly, not only do We The People have to fight the Republicons that support the oligarchy, we also have to fight the Conservative Democrats that also represent the oligarchy. HRC says she wants some social justice changes, and maybe we will actually see them, but at what cost? Her billionaire backers aren't going to pay. Maybe we can squeeze more from the middle class. Goldman-Sachs doesn't care about the 16 million American children living in poverty.

We are in a class war and it's obvious that Sen Sanders and HRC are on opposite sides. Why Democrats would side with the 1% is beyond me.

Bernblu

(441 posts)
37. Yes, he was born into great wealth
Thu Oct 22, 2015, 01:22 AM
Oct 2015

but fought for the working people. He was unapologetic and the 1% of his day hated him for it. There was no third-way in those days.

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