Did you know that FDR was attacked as being too close to Wall Street?

[ecstatic]

I saw this article and it provides a lot of perspective on the debate we're having today.

...it’s pretty remarkable how closely the attacks Roosevelt experienced from his left echo the attacks that liberals make against Obama today. There was criticism of Roosevelt for being too close to Wall Street, criticism of the New Deal’s pragmatism and non-ideological approach, criticism of the New Deal for not going nearly far enough, criticism of the New Deal and Roosevelt as preferring conservatism to liberalism, and so on.

...the relationship between Roosevelt and the liberals of his day was not as smooth or happy as many of you might have believed. The sort of adulation with which some liberals today treat Roosevelt has created the impression of him as a liberal superman. This could not be further from the truth, and this was especially the case beginning in late 1934.

...This notion that FDR was, despite his words, a conservative at heart was one that was echoed by other liberally-aligned critics as well. The Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union (yes, they were called the STFU for short), said of Roosevelt that “too often the progressive word has been the clothing for a conservative act. Too often he has talked like a cropper and acted like a planter.” (McElvaine 262)

...My big takeaway from all this is that the current despair and disillusionment on the part of liberals is nothing new or unique. Being hyper-critical is something that appears to be hardwired into the genetic code of liberals. After all, if liberals were not even satisfied with the liberal superhero Franklin Roosevelt, we shouldn’t be surprised that liberals are so disappointed with Barack Obama. This is not to rag on liberal criticism. Rather, it is to point out that liberals today don’t have an antipathy that is specific to President Obama. As Eleanor Roosevelt wrote to Molly Dewson, “the ups and downs” in the feelings of liberals “are an old, old story”. And judging by the looks of things today, Eleanor Roosevelt’s words about the dissatisfaction of liberals, “I should think they might get over with it, but they never do”, ring truer than ever. We should not view the liberals of today as uniquely ungrateful in the arc of American political history, because the truth is that they are rather typical. Like Prince’s mother in the song “When Doves Cry”, they’re never satisfied. The sooner some of the president’s defenders realize that, the less they will despair over liberal criticisms of President Obama.

http://ukiahcommunityblog.wordpress.com/2010/08/12/liberal-criticism-of-franklin-roosevelt-and-the-new-deal/

[TheKentuckian]

1. Rightfully so to some degree. FDR could have mobilized the public to throw off capitalism

and we'd not have come to the pass we are at now.

Fuckers like Prescott Bush should have been dispossessed, jailed, or even hung. The banks that caused the agony and literal deaths of many should have been nationalized rather than being put in charge of the economy.

[KittyWampus]

12. Can you recommend a good biography of FDR? One that is a good read?

[virgogal]

2. OMG,the STFU. Can't stop laughing here.

[DireStrike]

3. Yeah, it shows that the "Center" doesn't exist. -nt-

[Drale]

4. And FDR was elected 4 times as president

imagine that.

[Edweird]

10. Yep, he sure was - for doing pretty much the exact OPPOSITE of what Obama is doing.

Despite whatever nonsense is posted about FDR,
the man brought us the 'New Deal' and Obama
is clearly bent on destroying the last vestiges
of it.

[luvspeas]

5. really intresting...

I went to the Lincoln Memorial for the first time this weekend. Missed Obama being there by a day. So I was looking at the Gettyburg address and thinking about how we have lauded Obama as a great orator. I know that Lincoln faced immense criticism, to the point of literally dividing the country. I think that given time, he will be seen as an amazing President.

[Drale]

7. Even more than that the criticism lead to his death

There is evidence that a bunch of elected officials might have been involved in the plot to kill the president.

[luvspeas]

8. I have yet to meet a person of color in this country that lets that stop them from anything...

admirable trait imho

[Tx4obama]

6. VIDEO: Republican Rep Claims FDR Was A Communist on Floor of The House

Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) thinks President Franklin Delano Roosevelt loved Joseph Stalin so much that he sent advisers to Russia to see "what Stalin was doing there so that FDR could replicate it here in the United States."

Broun was speaking Tuesday on the House floor about how the "original intent" of the Constitution was to promote the "general welfare of the nation, not welfare of individuals." The concept of promoting the "welfare of individuals" started with Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, he said: "Both progressives. Both had socialist beliefs."

"In fact," Broun continued, "Franklin Delano Roosevelt sent his advisers, his close friends, his Cabinet people to go visit with Stalin in communist Russia to study what he was doing, what Stalin was doing there, so that FDR could replicate it here in the United States. And he did everything that he possibly could to do so."

VIDEO here: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/04/rep-broun-fdr-was-a-communist-video.php?ref=fpb

[OHdem10]

9. When Representatives are so desperate to hang on their

constituents that they make up lies to frighten
them about Democrats, I would say this is one desperate
Republican. A tactic as old as the hills.

[Edweird]

11. I see. Crapping on FDR to try and make Obama look less bad.

Do you really believe that will work with
anyone that admires FDR? Or are you just preaching
to the DLC choir?

[ecstatic]

13. Did you read any of the excerpts before spouting off?

This is not a slam on FDR silly.

[Zorra]

14. Yeah, well, everyone has their opinions. Cool info here, FDR, from wikipedia:

Starting in his "first hundred days" in office, which began March 4, 1933, Roosevelt launched major legislation and a profusion of executive orders that gave form to the New Deal—a complex, interlocking set of programs designed to produce relief (especially government jobs for the unemployed), recovery (of the economy), and reform (through regulation of Wall Street, banks and transportation). The economy improved rapidly from 1933 to 1937, but then went into a deep recession. The bipartisan Conservative Coalition that formed in 1937 prevented his packing the Supreme Court or passing much new legislation; it abolished many of the relief programs when unemployment practically ended during World War II. Most of the regulations on business were ended about 1975–85, except for the regulation of Wall Street by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which still exists. Along with several smaller programs, major surviving programs include the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which was created in 1933, and Social Security, which Congress passed in 1935.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt

The election took place as the Great Depression entered its eighth year. Incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt was still working to push the provisions of his New Deal economic policy through Congress and the courts. However, the New Deal policies he had already enacted, such as Social Security and unemployment benefits, had proven to be highly popular with most Americans. Roosevelt's Republican opponent was Governor Alf Landon of Kansas, a political moderate.

Although some political pundits predicted a close race, Roosevelt went on to win the greatest electoral landslide since the beginning of the current two-party system in the 1850s, carrying all but 8 electoral votes. Roosevelt carried every state except Maine and Vermont.

By winning 523 electoral votes, Roosevelt received 98.49% of the electoral vote, the highest percentage since 1820. Roosevelt also won the largest number of electoral votes ever recorded at that time, so far only surpassed by Ronald Reagan in the 1984 election when 7 more electoral votes were available. In addition, Roosevelt won 60.8% of the national popular vote, the second highest popular-vote percentage won by a U.S. presidential candidate since 1820.


Electoral vote
523

8
States carried

46

2
Popular vote

27,752,648

16,681,862
Percentage

60.8%

36.5%
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1936