No, read this book and know the truth.
Worth repeating. Small-government conservatives -- that phrase should be redundant but, these days, I'm not so sure -- need not apply.
In the popular memory (fed by the media, and also, sadly by many who lived through FDR's administration) he is considered a good president. Historical fact speaks a bit differently.
The Great Depression was more than an economic crisis, it was a psychological blow to the US. Although Hoover (a much maligned individual, and wrongly so) had attempted some Keynesian efforts (something many history classes, not mine, though, ignore), what Hoover did was too little, too late. Hoover rightly feared "creeping socialism" and never went full bore as Roosevelt did with the New Deal.
The New Deal was as much about psychology as it was about trying to get people back to work. Programs such as the PWA, the CCC and the WPA had an impact, but other programs such as the NRA (National Recovery Administration) were both worthless and unconstitutional. Roosevelt's court packing scheme (which led to his losing states in the 1940 elections, as well as his unprecedented run for a third term) was indicative of a lust for power which is singularly Democrat.
Now begs the question, "Would Wendell Wilkie have been as good a wartime president as Roosevelt?" Who knows? Roosevelt was at least smart enough to leave the conduct of the War to his generals and admirals (thank God for George Marshall, Hap Arnold, Douglas MacArthur and Curtis LeMay...among others), and not micromanage the War as LBJ so disastrously did 20 years later. Roosevelt's foreign policy was disgustingly pro-Soviet, and grew more so during the war years, primarily at the prodding of his VP, Henry Wallace (who himself ran as a basically Communist candidate in 1948). Roosevelt also made a major blunder in not committing adequate resources to the Pacific Theater during the War as part of the "Hitler First" strategy. The fact that the Japanese were whupped by American forces using inadequate equipment is testament as much to the skill and tenacity of the American fighting man as it is to the incompetance of Japanese military and political leadership.
Basically, was FDR a good president can be answered in this way: Yes and no. Domestically he did some good, but at a terrible cost to our economic and personal liberties. In foreign policy, he made good choices in who commanded the troops in war, but his diplomatic decisions paved the way for nearly fifty years of Cold War against the Soviets.
Ironically, it took a former Roosevelt Democrat to end Roosevelt's Cold War.
Thank you, Ronald Reagan.
NO
Neither one.
If F.D.R. being good was giving handouts to people experiencing borderline starvation, then he was just barely O.K.. F.D.R. had a lot of baggage (including his own personal disability) and his kids. His kids were like Billie Carter without the Billie Beer.
The best thing about F.D.R. was his wife, who put up with his philandering and still stood out as an honorable person.
That's opposed to Hillary Clinton who put up with the same philandering by her husband and is viewed by most as a disgusting person.
FDR
The father of our national debt
(as proclamined by my 94 year old father who actually lived through the FDR presidency)
Regarding Roosevelt, he has been the only President with the gall to think the tradition established by our greatest President, George Washington, of limiting oneself to two elected terms did not apply to him.
And thus does my last shred of respect for Joe Farah evaporate. What an ignorant comment.
Which begs the question: Was Roosevelt a good president?
If there was a poll with this question:
Was Roosevelt a good president?
I would not vote, unless there is a Hell No choice.
When Reagan called FDR a great president, he remembered what it was like to be in the grip of depression and the hope FDR brought. Just like those of us who remember the Carter years. Reagan is great because he was able to lead us back from the abyss... FDR did the same for his generation.
No.
FDR was a terrible president saved only by WW II that "cured" the depression. His handling of foreign policy, especially benefitting Stalin, was a disaster that we still suffer from due to the massive tax money lavished on Russia and former Russian satellites, along with the trillion dollar socialistic mishmash he created. The writer is an obvious RAT with his own weird agenda, so he can be ignored. I hope to see him eat his words about Bush "being turned out of office."
Newt Gingrich calls F.D.R. the greatest President of the century. Bob Dole praises F.D.R. as an "energetic and inspiring leader during the dark days of the Depression; a tough, single-minded Commander in Chief during World War II; and a statesman."
He even admired both socialist systems. He was the equivalent of Clinton in the 1930s until events caught up with him.
The Great Creator of The Welfare State
No, read this book and know the truth.
I am thinking that maybe our own Dubya is turning out to be that kind of a leader.......