{"id":60523,"date":"2020-08-05T20:13:29","date_gmt":"2020-08-06T00:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/?post_type=lecture&#038;p=60523"},"modified":"2024-04-30T10:21:15","modified_gmt":"2024-04-30T14:21:15","slug":"franklin-d-roosevelt","status":"publish","type":"lecture","link":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/lecture\/franklin-d-roosevelt\/","title":{"rendered":"Franklin D. Roosevelt: Savior or Spoiler of American Democracy?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<section class=\"wp-block-umw-hero alignfull umw-custom-block umw-hero umw-hero--dark-text umw-hero--white umw-hero--with-no-media\"><div class=\"umw-hero__inner\"><div class=\"umw-hero__media\"><\/div><div class=\"umw-hero__title\"><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"umw-hero__title__wrapper\"><div class=\"umw-hero__eyebrow\">frankling d. roosevelt<\/div><h1 class=\"umw-hero__title__header\">Savior or Spoiler of American Democracy?<\/h1><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-umw-hero-ctas alignfull\"><div class=\"umw-hero__links\"><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"umw-hero__links__wrapper\">\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n<div class=\"wpv-view-output\" data-toolset-views-view-editor=\"e5dbccdfd6cb885dd5197a62c2f9e325\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-toolset-views-view-editor wpv-gutenberg-view-wrapper-61885\">\n\n\n<div id=\"wpv-view-layout-61885-CATTR8b9ad3febb9362a5a8ed682672ee36b3\" class=\"js-wpv-view-layout js-wpv-layout-responsive js-wpv-view-layout-61885-CATTR8b9ad3febb9362a5a8ed682672ee36b3\" data-viewnumber=\"61885-CATTR8b9ad3febb9362a5a8ed682672ee36b3\" data-pagination=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;61885&quot;,&quot;query&quot;:&quot;normal&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;disabled&quot;,&quot;effect&quot;:&quot;fade&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:500,&quot;speed&quot;:5,&quot;pause_on_hover&quot;:&quot;enabled&quot;,&quot;stop_rollover&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;cache_pages&quot;:&quot;enabled&quot;,&quot;preload_images&quot;:&quot;enabled&quot;,&quot;preload_pages&quot;:&quot;enabled&quot;,&quot;preload_reach&quot;:1,&quot;spinner&quot;:&quot;builtin&quot;,&quot;spinner_image&quot;:&quot;\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/wp-content\/plugins\/toolset-blocks\/embedded\/res\/img\/ajax-loader.gif&quot;,&quot;callback_next&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;manage_history&quot;:&quot;enabled&quot;,&quot;has_controls_in_form&quot;:&quot;disabled&quot;,&quot;infinite_tolerance&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;max_pages&quot;:1,&quot;page&quot;:1,&quot;base_permalink&quot;:&quot;\/greatlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lecture\/60523?wpv_view_count=61885-CATTR8b9ad3febb9362a5a8ed682672ee36b3&amp;wpv_paged=WPV_PAGE_NUM&quot;,&quot;loop&quot;:{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;data&quot;:[],&quot;id&quot;:0}}\" data-permalink=\"\/greatlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lecture\/60523?wpv_view_count=61885-CATTR8b9ad3febb9362a5a8ed682672ee36b3\">\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n          <h2 class=\"lectureDate\">Lecture Date: September 22, 2020<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Presidential Great Lives, 2020 FDR\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/452610814?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"533\" height=\"300\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<div class=\"topicSummary\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"255\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2020\/08\/Franklin-D.-Roosevelt-255x300.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium alignright\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" style=\"\" srcset=\"\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2020\/08\/Franklin-D.-Roosevelt-255x300.jpg 255w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2020\/08\/Franklin-D.-Roosevelt-870x1024.jpg 870w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2020\/08\/Franklin-D.-Roosevelt-768x904.jpg 768w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2020\/08\/Franklin-D.-Roosevelt-969x1140.jpg 969w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2020\/08\/Franklin-D.-Roosevelt.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 255px) 100vw, 255px\" \/><p>In the ranking of American Presidents, historians have traditionally placed only three consistently in the highest category of \u201cgreatness\u201d: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and -- the only one in the twentieth century -- Franklin D. Roosevelt.<\/p>\n<p>Roosevelt\u2019s eminence derives from his handling of both of the two major challenges to confront the country since the Civil War: the Great Depression at home and World War II abroad. <\/p>\n<p>The scion of an aristocratic New York family, like his distant relative Theodore, FDR faced several setbacks on his journey to the White House. On the political front, as a rising star in the Democratic Party, he was defeated in his bid for the Vice Presidency in 1920, a victim of the Republican post-World War I resurgence. <\/p>\n<p>Potentially more damaging was the physical trauma that ravaged him the following year when he contracted polio. Though the disease left him physically impaired for the rest of his life, it did not break -- and indeed seems to have enhanced -- his spirit. <\/p>\n<p>Some observers noticed that the disease had, in the words of historian Arthur Schlesinger, \u201cpurged him of frivolity and arrogance, enlarging his compassion and deepening his understanding.\u201d Certainly it gave him a broader perspective on life. As he once put it, \u201cIf you had spent two years in bed trying to wiggle your big toe, after that anything would seem easy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Such resilience became crucial when in 1932, in the depth of the Great Depression, he was elected President, promising a \u201cNew Deal\u201d for the American people.  A heavily Democratic Congress under his leadership enacted a spate of legislation that expanded the reach of government to unprecedented levels.  And, for the first time, the federal government established a nationwide retirement program with the creation of the Social Security system, perhaps the New Deal\u2019s most significant long-term contribution to the nation\u2019s welfare.<\/p>\n<p>Although such initiatives assisted countless people in tangible ways, Roosevelt understood that more was needed -- that the nation\u2019s fundamental confidence in itself had to be restored. Having chosen as his campaign theme song \u201cHappy Days Are Here Again,\u201d he memorably assured the American people in his inaugural address that \u201call we have to fear is fear itself.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>He augmented that optimistic outlook through a series of radio addresses -- the fabled \u201cfireside chats\u201d -- in which he spoke directly and confidently to the American people. And the nation\u2019s collective gloom began to lighten.<\/p>\n<p>To be sure, Roosevelt had his critics. Staunch conservatives, deeming him \u201ca traitor to his class,\u201d disparaged New Deal programs as \u201csocialistic.\u201d Isolationists distained his foreign policy, with some revisionists even alleging that he was complicit in the Pearl Harbor attack, claiming that the calamity was part of FDR\u2019s plan to get the country involved in World War II because he had come to believe that it was the only way to fully revive the American economy. <\/p>\n<p>Whatever the truth of such claims (questionable), Roosevelt\u2019s role in resuscitating the ailing nation should not be discounted -- nor should the impact of his distinctive personality. In the days before television or (gasp!) Twitter -- the intimacy of Roosevelt\u2019s \u201cfireside chats\u201d made a profound impression. \u201cWe can never forget,\u201d recalled one admirer, \u201chow he came into our homes, calling us his friends.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His enduring popularity was demonstrated in his overwhelming election to unprecedented third (1940) and fourth (1944) terms as President, even though by the time of the last one, he was visibly in declining health. Indeed, only a few months later, he died, leaving the nation bereft<br \/>\nof the leader who had sustained the country through enormous challenges, both domestic and foreign. <\/p>\n<p>Perhaps best summing up the sentiment of the American public in that moment was a young Congressman from Texas who, several decades later, would carry forward Roosevelt\u2019s program of reform: Lyndon B. Johnson. Upon hearing of Roosevelt\u2019s death, the future President sought to find words to express the gratitude of his generation. \u201cHe was the only person I ever knew -- anywhere -- who was never afraid,\u201d he said.  \u201cGod, how he could take it for us all.\u201d<br \/>\nPublished in the <a href=\"https:\/\/fredericksburg.com\/opinion\/commentary-fdr-fearlessly-led-the-nation-during-great-depression-world-war-ii\/article_ddf44e32-6ab6-57bb-af03-ac1463f3202b.html\"><em>Free Lance-Star<\/em><\/a><br \/>\nSeptember 20, 2020<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"lectureSpeaker\" style=\"padding-top: 1em;\">Speaker: William B. Crawley<\/h2>\n<div class=\"speakerInfo\">\n<p>UMW Professor Emeritus of History<br \/>\nDirector of Great Lives<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"umw_cb_additional_links":[[]],"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_advisory_expires_time":"","_advisory_meta_include":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"season":[1187],"class_list":{"0":"post-60523","1":"lecture","2":"type-lecture","3":"status-publish","5":"season-fall-2020","6":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Franklin D. 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