Heated Perspectives: FDR

Most of my friends are conservatives - there are a few liberals here and there but most are right-leaning. Those friends who are into history tend to despise FDR with a passion. One such friend emailed me in response to my post about the FDR book by Jean Edward Smith and wrote,

"The first one here on FDR would not get a nice  comment as I can’t think of a thing he did beneficial to the country. His New Deal was a disaster prolonging the Depression and then sneaking us into WWII and his racism –I’ll stop there."


I won't name the author of that comment even though he's the kind of friend who probably wouldn't mind being named. In fact, he would probably wear that quote with pride. That comment didn't bother me in the slightest but it provoked this post because over the years I have struggled to get a grip on FDR and I must say, after reading quite a bit on him, he's a total mystery. The guy never wrote anything. No one could get a straight answer out of him on most subjects. The people closest to him didn't understand him or have any idea of where they stood with him. People talk about Richard Nixon being sneaky and secretive, but Nixon wore everything on his sleeve! He was an open secret! Not so with FDR. Despite having a remarkable story of combating polio and becoming president in spite of it, one has very little understanding of what made FDR tick. Biographies on him tend to be kind of dull and tedious because the very man is missing in the narrative!

Conservative hatred of FDR stretches back to conservative-leaning authors. Paul Johnson's Modern Times and A History of the American People are incredible books. Great stuff. However, every time the author mentions FDR, he never misses an opportunity to beat him with a stick - even going so far as blaming him for the onslaught of communism in East Asia. I mean, I get Yalta...but East Asia too? Johnson won't give FDR an ounce of credit for anything positive.

Despite this intense hatred of FDR, he continues to be ranked among the top three greatest presidents of all time. Liberal propaganda? If so, than how come George Washington and Abe Lincoln are just as often ranked in the number 1 and number 2 positions? Is George Washington adored by modern day liberals? The same ones who complain about his slave-owning and so-called capitalistic greed? How about Lincoln? I've heard plenty of liberals tear into him for his supposed cynical motives for ending slavery.

Could there be another reason FDR is ranked so highly despite the strong negative conservative feelings? The guy must have done something right. Maybe not everything, but something. The best I can come up with is that FDR played a huge role in bringing America into its modern-day role as world superpower during the Second World War. His lend-lease policy forced the British to transfer the basis of their ocean-going dominance of the world to the Americans. He played a role in the Bretton Woods conference which tied world currencies to the American dollar, paving the way for America's postwar prosperity. His G.I. bill prevented returning servicemen from swamping the job market and made a college education possible for an entire generation. I could go on, but I want to keep this post brief.

The New Deal had its share of failures, but the FDR legacy is both wide and deep. All efforts to tear him down in the historical rankings will be futile. I think a more fertile ground for criticism is in the New Deal programs themselves rather than an over-arching attack on FDR as a president.