The New Deal: Time for a New Look

The Wall Street Journal ^ | October 20, 2003 | Robert L. Bartley

[OESY]

Peace, in setting presidential reputations, far outranks its brother prosperity. I didn't realize how completely war and peace define our presidents until I was asked to think about their economic leadership.

Our OpinionJournal.com1 and the Federalist Society sponsored a new rating of the presidents, and in June an expanded print version will be published in collaboration with Simon & Schuster. I was asked to join William Bennett, Richard Brookhiser, Robert Dallek and others in contributing. Asked about leadership on economic policy, I couldn't find much.

[OESY]

A graph accompanying Bartley's op-ed shows unemployment reached 25% in 1933 and he states that on the eve of WWII in 1939 it still stood at 17%, three times our present jobless rate. If we were to listen to Terry McAuliffe last week, we would berate FDR for not accepting that the Great Depression worsened of his watch instead of blaming his predecessor, Herbert Hoover, and the Congress which passed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff. It seems Democrats need mythology to rescue their failed economic schemes.

[jonno]

bump

[luckydevi]

for later

[el_texicano]

As an avid history buff and conservative, does anyone expand on the Jackson/FDR similarities in dealing with the nation's economy??? I would be interested in reading more of this.

Any sources???>

[aruanan]

I eagerly await the arrival of FDR's Folly, which I ordered last week. The author of the piece above appears not to have read it. FDR's Folly doesn't let Hoover off the hook or minimize his part in the succeeding troubles. Hoover tripped the victim. After the victim lay prone and bleeding, FDR and company took over and kicked him to the edge of death. True, had it not been for Hoover, FDR couldn't have done what he did, but this doesn't diminish FDR's responsibility for exacerbating Hoover's initial crime.

[Sam Cree]

The New Deal, that is, was not about economic recovery, but about displacing business as the nation's predominant elite.

"Interesting point. I guess FDR was successful, 40-50% of the nation's economy is probably now in the government sector, or the "public" sector, to euphemize it.

[Sam Cree]

" Franklin D. Roosevelt. He made his mark defeating Adolf Hitler, which earns him ratings as the top president of the 20th century."

He may not have been able to pull this off though, had Hitler not invaded Russia, and had the English not broken the Enigma code.

[expatpat]

It seems Democrats need mythology to rescue their failed economic schemes.

They need mythology to rescue ALL their dumb schemes.

[.cnI redruM]

FDR is a religious icon. It will another 20 years or so before we can really expect his policies to be reviewed in terms of cold hard logic.

[PatrickHenry]

From the article:
From the standpoint of the 21st century, it beggars the imagination that anyone could see this witches' brew as a recovery plan.

FDR's economic policies were a failure, and we're still living with the consequences today. Although he was president during WWII, I'm not aware of any serious historian who says we wouldn't have won without him. Presumably, things would have worked out pretty much the same no matter who was president. The only good thing I'll give him credit for was launching the Manhattan Project.

[n-tres-ted]

Morgenthau anticipated the Laffer Curve: "Of course we must have additional revenue, but in my opinion the way to make it is for businessmen to make more money." He put a plan to cut top marginal tax rates before the president, who snorted "A Mellon plan of taxation." FDR went on to ridicule the sign on Morgenthau's desk, "Does It Contribute to Recovery," proclaiming instead, "This is politics." Morgenthau's diary complains, "This lecture went on and on, he saying that this was going backwards and that this simply would mean that we would have a fascist President."

What an outrage that this man FDR remains revered as a great president! Put this together with Ann Coulter's documentation of his knowing, repeated promotion to important posts of Soviet spies and you have a president that is worse than bad. Outing this record cannot wait another 20 years.

[n-tres-ted]

Where did everybody go? This is a subject of continuing importance.

[n-tres-ted]

bttt

[Principled]

This is a subject of continuing importance.

Indeed, n-tres-ted!

Some posters have indicated a need to eliminate the income tax to "save social security"...

How will social security be funded if the income tax code is eliminated?

[el_texicano]

I am currently reading "FDR's Folly" and am becoming increasingly convinced (especially after reading "Treason") that not only did FDR ignore the communist spies in his administration, but he hired numerous people at the beginning of his presidency who were openly socialist.

It is little wonder then that FDR ignored the 'warnings' of communist spies in his adminstration. Hell, he was coddling them from the beginning.

I am becoming more and more convinced that this man was leading this country down the same path as communism, indeed trying to reform it to that image. It is frightening to begin to see the level of his success.

The book, "FDR's Folly" is excellent readng, I recommend it to all. I do hope as the author of the article above states that he hopes this sparks some serious debate/discussion, some serious investigation into this second most corrupt administration behind x42id...

[billbears]

FDR was a 'hero' of the 'conservative' movement. At least according to leading 'conservatives'....Wonder who 'conservatives' will tell us is next?

Neoconservatism is the first variant of American conservatism in the past century that is in the "American grain." It is hopeful, not lugubrious; forward-looking, not nostalgic; and its general tone is cheerful, not grim or dyspeptic. Its 20th-century heroes tend to be TR, FDR, and Ronald Reagan--Irving Kristol, Weekly Standard, Aug 25

[nightdriver]

"Put this together with Ann Coulter's documentation of his knowing, repeated promotion to important posts of Soviet spies and you have a president that is worse than bad."

I remember hearing ol' FDR saying, in his phony Hahvahd accent "...some of my best friends are communists."

Of course, the democRAT party was really playing footsie with the communists in those days and they've never really distanced themselves since.

[meyer]

How will social security be funded if the income tax code is eliminated?

A better idea might be to eliminate Social Security, privatize it, or make it voluntary like it should be.

As for FDR, he was not one of my favorites - he was a socialist and I don't like socialism.