I wonder what some folks said about FDR in 1932 ??

[kentuck]

"He ain't gonna help us poor folks. He's a rich guy from New York. You'll just be disappointed if you plant your hopes with that guy. Have you noticed the way he smokes those cigarettes with his nose up in the air...while I am lucky to roll my own? Don't get your hopes up too high. He's just another rich politician. Things ain't gonna change..."

[elocs]

1. I just saw on PBS a 2 hour program about FDR and another about Eleanor.

Very interesting. There was not much middle ground with FDR--either you loved him, or you hated him. Even if you loved him you had to face the reality that he was not perfect and he did not always make perfect choices. Sometimes he made the only choice he could make. This is something to remember today also.

[Hippo_Tron]

4. Yup, civil rights is a great example of that

Historians have some disagreement about how close we were to a fascist coup in the 1930's but I agree with those like Jonathan Alter who believe that Roosevelt and the New Deal saved American democracy.

And unfortunately too many Southern Democrats sat at the helms of powerful committees and this was back when committee chairs held far more power than the leadership did. Roosevelt knew that if he introduced a civil rights bill, the Southern Democrats would crush the New Deal and that would be the end of America as we know it.

He was also extremely hesitant to accept Jewish refugees from Germany because he feared political backlash from it even though he personally wouldn't have had a problem with it. Roosevelt was one of the most forward thinking politicians of his time. But he was still a politician and still bowed to the realities of public opinion.

[old mark]

8. Historians who disagree with that have not read much history.

Much of the "civilized world" was leaning toward facism/dictatorship in the early '30's, and with the state of the US economy it would be foolish to say we were in no danger of becoming a dictatorship one way or another. Check some of the political radio programming of the day-it is pretty scarey stuff. Most large towns and all cities had some sort of uniformed paramilitary organizations marcing around.
Roosevelt's election saved democracy in the US, maybe in a lot of other nations as well.
I believe most of those whe disagree have their own agenda to advance.
mark

[enough]

2. My grandmother's family hated FDR so much that they refused to speak his name in the house.

They called him "That Man."

Somehow, my grandmother became a Democrat during his administration and admired him greatly for the rest of her life.

[kentuck]

3. And my Grandma named her youngest son, Franklin Delano...

Uncle Frank.

[stevedeshazer]

5. My grandparents adored him

Rural electrification changed their lives very much for the better. They were dairy farmers.

[CreekDog]

6. a number of folks posted threads about preferring Kucinich

:hide:

[WinkyDink]

7. I'm not seeing your point. Is it that 1.) Obama is rich, and 2.) you think he'll be another FDR?

What do you mean by "some folks"?