FDR's legacy -- myth versus reality

Let's take a break from triangles for now.

A long time ago and in a far away place such as Hopewell Middle School, I was in Mrs. Mahaney's U.S. History Class.  It was 4th period, right before lunch time and my mind often strayed to what was for lunch.  In the spring, we finally got to the 1900's, past WWI, and into the Great Depression.

I recall how Mrs. Mahaney portrayed President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) as a savior to the US economy and our standard of living; how his "New Deal" policies made things better for all Americans; and, that his ebullient self-confidence gave the beleaguered nation hope in time of despair.  Photographs of FDR with his chin raised in the air with his ubiquitous cigarette holder clenched between his teeth portrayed the image of supreme self confidence.  Even his name sounded majestic.  Like JFK years later, FDR had a public persona the belied quite a different private reality.

I walked away from that class and into my adult life viewing FDR as the man who saved our country and also led it through WWII.  I looked upon President Hoover as a complete dunce.

Well, years later I have come to understand better that FDR was not universally accepted in his day as a great savior; that he had many detractors; that he had no plan whatsover to attack the Great Depression; and, how some economists now believe that his "alphabet soup" of social programs (WPA, CCA, NRA, etc.).  I have come to discover that many were beginning to question at the time whether capitalism would survive.

Currently, I am listening to Jim Powell's book that offers a contrarian view on FDR.  For more click here.

Perhaps FDR's greater legacy was his leadership through WWII and his reaching out to Americans via his "Fireside Chats".   Regardless, he led our nation through extraordinary times, "No Ordinary Times" is how Doris Kearns Goodwin described them in her Pulitzer prize winning work.