(no subject)

[novapsyche]

It is a testament to how successful the conservative energies in America have been that FDR is rarely mentioned.

FDR, the greatest president (certainly in living history). Where would the 20th century be without him? My God, we went from Wilson to Harding to Hoover. That's as bad a stretch as I ever heard of (until the last seven years).

There was a time when you'd visit certain houses and see a picture of Lincoln. When's the last time you saw a picture of FDR on someone's wall or mantle?

We used to celebrate Washington's birthday and Lincoln's birthday (now, with capitalism running the reins, those have been incorporated into a shopping holiday). FDR's birthdate is January 30th. I suppose if we began celebrating it, we'd have people complaining it couldn't fold into MLK's birthday.

Comments

[rmeidaking.livejournal.com]

The difficulty with FDR is that he was a pragmatist, a guy who had a huge fortune - and recommended that rich people be taxed more than poor people; a guy who was severely handicapped - and wouldn't let people know it (I mean, he was far beyond not complaining about it; he took huge steps to hide it); he played both ends against the middle. No special interest group can claim him as their own, so no one does. I mean, he cut the Federal budget. He started the New Deal - but also cut benefits for military veterans and widows. Everything he did was both good, and bad.

We don't have a modern equivalent. We're into extremists at the moment.

[o-lucky-man.livejournal.com]

In West Virginia it's not uncommon for people to have pictures of FDR and the Kennedys in their homes. At least it wasn't 20 years ago when I lived there.

[pstscrpt.livejournal.com]

LBJ to Nixon was pretty bad, too. And while I personally admire Jimmy Carter, he really wasn't a terribly successful president.

[riverrealm.livejournal.com]

FDR came up in a conversation a couple nights ago-- the fact that he had indisputable information about what was going on in the concentration camps in Europe for quite some time before the 'heroic' US liberation/photo-op, and chose to do nothing.