FDR’s Legacy 65 Years Later

Axis of Right ^ | 4/12/2010 | Ryan

[SalAOR]

Two critical things happened in American history today: the first is that today marks the 149th anniversary of the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, SC, which began the Civil War in 1861. Seven states had already seceded and four others were about to go as well, leading to the largest trauma in our nation’s history.

The other is the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945. Long regarded as one of the best presidents in our history, a sober look at his record shows that Roosevelt caused much harm to this country. At best he was an able and inspirational wartime President, at worst he was the American Dictator, elected four times and seemed to stick around until this day, 65 years ago when nature did what American politics would not do — he left office, dead of a “terrific headache” caused by a severe brain hemorrhage.

I’m not going to write a treatise on the good and the bad of FDR, but I will entertain a few thoughts about his legacy. By shattering the “old faith” the masses had of pure American rugged individualism, FDR ushered in an Entitlement Era in which government intrusion into our lives took a benign face: a permanent solution (perpetual government entitlements) to a temporary problem (the Great Depression).

[Woebama]

It’s hard to believe the American people were such suckers as to make a hero out of a President that presided over the 7 worst years in American history during the Great Depression. Nothing he did for 7 years worked and the depression went on and on. Families destroyed. Lives wasted. And he was re-elected. Insanity.

[Michael.SF.]

Long regarded as one of the best presidents in our history

Long regarded, by liberals, statists and other socialist, as one of the best presidents in our history.

There fixed it.

[Retired COB]

It’s hard to believe the American people were such suckers as to make a hero out of a President that presided over the 7 worst years in American history during the Great Depression.

I agree.....although I would have never thought that we would have elected Bill Clinton or Barack Obama. The general populace does not follow politics closely enough to know who are the good guys and who are the bad ones.

I do follow politics now, and I actually voted for Mitt Romney in the primary (McCain had already won by the time WV voted in the primary, so it was really a protest vote) based upon his public profile. Wild horses couldn't get me to vote for him now that I've had some exposure to him. He really didn't do well on O'Reilly's show last night.

[oh8eleven]

Throw in LBJ's legacy and it's a wonder there's any America left at all.

[Woebama]

Yah, at the end there it was McCain and a bunch of flawed opponents. I voted for Huckabee at the end. If I had it to do over again I’d vote for Paul.

[NavyCanDo]

The FDR propaganda machine was a powerful one. It is no wonder that so many good people, many of them our grand or great grandparents, drank to koolaid and still believe the myth. There was opposition to FDR, like radio voice Father Coughlin, the Glenn Beck of his time, but it was a real David and Goliath battle to get the truth out.

[newfreep]

Modern studies have shown FDR’s Keynesian economics of higher tax rates + higher govt spending (sound familiar?) extended the Great Depression by an additional 8+ years.

[Woebama]

Modern studies have shown FDR’s Keynesian economics of higher tax rates + higher govt spending (sound familiar?) extended the Great Depression by an additional 8+ years.
____________________________________________________________

Yah, I don’t know that we can be precise and accurate in any analysis, but I do know that the results were the worst in American history economically . . . and yet he was re-elected.

[newfreep]

From UCLA summary:

Recovery came only after the Department of Justice dramatically stepped enforcement of antitrust cases nearly four-fold and organized labor suffered a string of setbacks, the economists found.

"The fact that the Depression dragged on for years convinced generations of economists and policy-makers that capitalism could not be trusted to recover from depressions and that significant government intervention was required to achieve good outcomes," Cole said.

"Ironically, our work shows that the recovery would have been very rapid had the government not intervened."

-UCLA-

[Dixie Yooper]

Someday, Social Security along with all other entitlement programs will have to be abolished due to the lack of funds to back any of it. In order to accomplish this, it will take a leader who has complete control of our government. This person, for all we know, could already be in office.

[KosmicKitty]

My father always called FDR “the Father of Our National Debt”