65 years ago today, our party's greatest President died.

Franklin D. Roosevelt died at Warm Springs, GA in 1945.

the ironing board crying. She said "The greatest President ever of the US has died." I remember listening to "Fireside Chats" and could stay up if I was quiet. It was a national mourning, no doubt about it. There are wonderful pics of Americans of every stripe standing along rail tracks to pay tribute as FDR's body was transported.... In those days you had to go to the movies to see the newsreels and I remember being fascinated.

that she didn't hear about it until she was leaving work. The newsboy on the corner was waving the afternoon paper and shouting "FDR Dead!". Well, this kid had the habit of making up sensational headlines so Mom & a coworker marched over to him to let him know he'd gone too far this time. Sadly, he was telling the truth. Mom was just 21 then, she still calls it a "terrible day" and called me this morning to remind me it had been 65 years.

of 9/11 my younger son called me at work, known through the family as a prankster. Often would disguise his voice and call me to tell me he was the police and would I come to the station to pick him up. You get my drift. He calls me that morning to see if I had heard. To be honest, I thought it was just a tragic airplane accident. "No, no, I'm not kidding mom, we're being attacked." He stopped doing that s@$#t to me after that.

...he is the reason that I have had Scotties over all these years.

The man who made America a superpower, saved the economy, and crushed the Fascists.

ER: We rock!
FDR: Indeed we do, Old Girl! Suck on it and like it Republicans!

However, all presidents have some black marks against them, and his was definitely the Japanese internment. How I wish he had stood up for Japanese Americans instead of shipping them off and ruining their lives.

of civil rights.

The fact that we can see his faults and see his greatness at the same time is an example of the difference between the way we look at Roosevelt and the Republicans look at Reagan.

created the middle class.

Reagan just managed NOT to drool on important legislation and that is apparently the only metric of success in the Republican Party.

He is remembered for taking office and starting with a full and active agenda.

True but what people forget, or never knew, is that in those days Innauguration was in March and from November to March while the financial system was in a meltdown he didn't do one thing to stop the panic. Hoover was desperate to demonstrate a bridge to the new administration and basically offered to start any program of FDR's ahead of time.

But FDR wanted to make a clean break of it, but during those 5 months hundreds of banks collapsed, hundreds of thousands of businesses went under and millions lossed their jobs and during this period the President elect was silent.

Obama engaged Bush immediately and worked with Bush to pass emergency measures and then made many public appearences to reassure the public.

FDR's action was politically better strategy but few argue that during the time the Great Depression became much worse than it had to.

Obama's action cost him politically but it stopped the large bank's from collapsing (WAMU's bankrun for example was just as bad as any of the 30's if not worse) and made for a quicker recovery.

I still think that FDR was the best President we ever had and a better commander in chief than either Churchill or Stalin but he was President for over 12 years and during that time made some tremendous mistakes, most of which the present day admirers are unaware of.

In addition to his complete unwillingness to advance any kind of civil rights legislation (because he knew that Southern Democrats held his legislative agenda by the balls and would squeeze hard if he tried to disrupt segregation), there was the disgustingly partisan attempt to pack the Supreme Court in 1937 (that resulted in the resignation of his Vice President, John Nance Garner, as well as the loss of every bit of goodwill he earned among Congressional Democrats in the '34 and '36 elections), as well as the internment of thousands of Japanese-Americans during the war.

Sorry but that is not the hallmark of a great president.

Andrew Jackson took on the bankers and won AND he backed ethnic cleansing of Native Americans in the Trail of Tears.

Teddy Roosevelt was a progressive and environmentalist at home AND an ardent imperialist abroad.

Abe Lincoln freed the slaves, but wanted the soft Reconstruction that Andrew Jackson enacted that emboldened the South to enact Jim Crow.

Who did I leave out?

Some better than others.

is going to have many big mistakes.

But the point here is the romantication of FDR, who I agree is the best President todate.

It is a common thread at DU that "Obama is no FDR" and the fact is that the FDR that they are thinking of is no "FDR".

Take the simple issue of his first 100 days. Remembered for being the greatest launch of an administration, but no one remembers the 150 days from election to innauguration that FDR sat on the sidelines while the US financial system went through a melt down that made the effects of the Depression worse.

When FDR was elected the United States was already at the height of the Great Depression. There was no chance to avert anything. The responsibility fell on the man who WAS in office, Herbert Hoover. A quarter of the workforce was unemployed. Farmers were in deep trouble as prices fell by 60%. Industrial production had fallen by more than half since 1929. Two million were homeless. Due to the lack of employment, organized crime and outlaws were on the rise. Where was Herbert Hoover and the congress during these times? I fail to understand how Roosevelt could be blamed for not instituting programs that Hoover could have implemented himself, but failed to do. After all Hoover WAS the President during that time, not FDR. Obama could continue Bush's policies, but carry them out himself before election? Hardly. Work with Bush? Sure. As a senator he had the ability to do so. However FDR was not a member of congress when elected, so he was unable to even play that role. Hoover was a walking disaster. This is the same man who led what turned out to a death march against United States soldiers who came to DC to get back pay. His economc policies were even worse. If anyone "sat" it was Hoover. If anyone had to answer for what occured on Hoover's watch, it was the man himself.

FDR's first 100 days were like nothing this country has ever seen before or since. By the evening of March 4, 32, when FDR took office. of the 48 states, as well as the District of Columbia had closed their banks. The New York Federal Reserve Bank was unable to open on the 5th, as huge sums had been withdrawn by panicky customers in previous days. Beginning with his inauguration address, Roosevelt began blaming the economic crisis on bankers and financiers, the quest for profit, and the self-interest basis of capitalism.

Roosevelt's "First 100 Days" concentrated on the first part of his strategy: immediate relief.

"From March 9 to June 16, 1933, he sent Congress a record number of bills, all of which passed easily.
His inauguration on March 4, 1933 occurred in the middle of a bank panic, hence the backdrop for his famous words: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." The very next day Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act which declared a "bank holiday" and announced a plan to allow banks to reopen. However, the number of banks that opened their doors after the "holiday" was fewer than the number that had been open before. This was his first proposed step to recovery. To give Americans confidence in the banks, Roosevelt signed the Glass-Steagall Act that created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)."


"Relief measures included the continuation of Hoover's major relief program for the unemployed under the new name, Federal Emergency Relief Administration. The most popular of all New Deal agencies, and Roosevelt's favorite, was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which hired 250,000 unemployed young men to work on rural local projects. Congress also gave the Federal Trade Commission broad new regulatory powers and provided mortgage relief to millions of farmers and homeowners. Roosevelt expanded a Hoover agency, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, making it a major source of financing to railroads and industry. Roosevelt made agriculture relief a high priority and set up the first Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA). The AAA tried to force higher prices for commodities by paying farmers to take land out of crops and to cut herds. "


"Reform of the economy was the goal of the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) of 1933. It tried to end cutthroat competition by forcing industries to come up with codes that established the rules of operation for all firms within specific industries, such as minimum prices, agreements not to compete, and production restrictions. Industry leaders negotiated the codes which were then approved by NIRA officials. Industry needed to raise wages as a condition for approval. Provisions encouraged unions and suspended anti-trust laws. The NIRA was found to be unconstitutional by unanimous decision of the U.S. Supreme Court on May 27, 1935. Roosevelt opposed the decision, saying "The fundamental purposes and principles of the NIRA are sound. To abandon them is unthinkable. It would spell the return to industrial and labor chaos."<50> In 1933, major new banking regulations were passed. In 1934, the Securities and Exchange Commission was created to regulate Wall Street, with 1932 campaign fundraiser Joseph P. Kennedy in charge. "

"Recovery was pursued through "pump-priming" (that is, federal spending). The NIRA included $3.3 billion of spending through the Public Works Administration to stimulate the economy, which was to be handled by Interior Secretary Harold Ickes. Roosevelt worked with Republican Senator George Norris to create the largest government-owned industrial enterprise in American history, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which built dams and power stations, controlled floods, and modernized agriculture and home conditions in the poverty-stricken Tennessee Valley. The repeal of prohibition also brought in new tax revenues and helped him keep a major campaign promise." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt#cite_note-safehaven2-53

In addition to walking into a Depression, he led this country through the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, and a World War. While I like President Obama very much, he didn't and hopefully never does, have this much on his plate to deal with.

While I think FDR's internment of the Japanese was wrong, we still abide by the Patriot Act, illegal wiretapping,etc and now the order to kill an American on foreign soil, without benefit of trial, because we think (like we did about Iraq having WMD's?) he may have terrorist dealings. Some people will tell you desperate times require desperate measures, but that's an argument for another day.

Sorry but I don't see giving credit were it is due and comparing it to "sentimentalization". While FDR wasn't perfect, I have yet to meet one person who is, let alone any President. But this was a man who had the love and trust of his countrymen enough to be elected 4 times to office. Who led them succesfully through some of the worst times this country has ever seen. Not to mention living with a disability he had to deal with every day of his life.


I think it so sad that a President who accomplished so much good for this country, gets barely a nod on DU, while Republicans still hawk Reagan as the "greatest" and I can't think of one damn thing he ever did that helped anyone but his rich buddies. To give praise to FDR, doesn't take away from any Democratic president, present or former. And yet Democrats always seem so stingy when it comes to give him any praise. Republicans just the opposite, they all want to be Reagan. Hell they would dig him up and give him a seat at a GOP convention, if they could. But FDR? Democrats rarely bring his name up. And yet he had so many more accomplishments and successes then Reagan could have ever hoped for. I'd also rather use someone like Elenaor Roosevelt as a role model for young women, than Nancy Reagan.


Just makes me sad.

This should be a stand alone OP. Great response.

And there are those who do it. I've seen the thread he's referring to and he's right. I don't think you can compare the two as there are some things that would simply make it too difficult to do.

Having just read a rather large book about Roosevelt, I believe he did have quite a few weaknesses.

That mentality and help is what we need.

bowing the the other side.

and a little less, "The insurance companies deserve to make a profit."

would it really be that hard to actually do something that was a teeny bit socialist in nature? Methinks it would never happen... ;(

moment.

The vampire was on the ground in the sunlight about to burst into flames and turn to dust, and Obama dragged it into the shade and gave it a pint of our blood.

"President Obama to Announce New Boss Salary Restrictions for TARP-Receiving Companies"
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/02/president-obama.html

Obama Introduces New TARP Program To Increase Small Business Loans
http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/articles/obama-introduces-new-tarp-program-to-increase-small-business-loans-54573.aspx



The Obama Administration also included payback provisions (e.g., 5% interest) that has added billions and will continue to add billions to the Treasury. Senior preferred shares in TARP institutions such as Citibank will net many more billions for taxpayers. Unlike Bush, TARP conditions under Team Obama is turning out to be a win for taxpayers in more ways than one (saving the auto industry and thus millions of American jobs, for instance). Many corporations can't pay back funds fast enough.

hack-berries. :-)

It was a great book and I learned so much about Roosevelt.

... topped with barbed wire and patrolled by guard dogs and armed soldiers, purely on the basis of their Japanese nationality -- in complete and total abrogation of their constitutional rights and much to this nation's everlasting shame.

Funny how he didn't do that to German-Americans, eh?

:sarcasm: