Happy Birthday, FDR!

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on this date in 1882. Today marks the 127th anniversary of the late 32nd President's birth.

When I was a young boy, FDR always fascinated me. I liked his relative, 26th President Teddy, much more, nevertheless, I took an interest in FDR. Perhaps it had to do with my family who, I recall, talked about FDR being a man who cared for the people "unlike the Republicans". Actually, I have no idea if my parents voted Democratic or not but I sure got the impression they were firm Democrats partly (maybe largely) due to FDR's presidency.

FDR, of course, passed away in 1945 before I was born so all I knew about him was what I read. That material certainly played a major role in my taking a liking to him. Everything I got my hands concerning FDR indicated he was a wonderful man and how a great President.

I recall seeing "Sunrise at Campobello" when it came to our local theater. The movie recalled the story of FDR's battle against polio with which he was afflicted in 1921. I watched any television program that even mentioned FDR. I recall one of the episodes of the TV series "The Untouchables" revolved around the shooting of the mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak, who was with President-elect Roosevelt at the time. The shooter, Giuseppe Zangara, was actually trying to assassinate FDR but hit Cermak and 4 others in and around FDR's car. Cermak was taken to the hospital in FDR's car and, supposedly, said to the future President, "I'm glad it was me instead of you". He died within a month. Zangara was executed only a couple of weeks after Cermak's death (justice moved swiftly, eh?).

I also recall paying one of my fellow classmates in grade school (Cliff Beadle?) $2.00, a fairly high price for an elementary student, for an original St. Louis newspaper from April 13, 1945, the day following FDR's death. The paper, of course, covers many aspects of his life, death, and Presidency. I still have that paper somewhere.

The principal thing I was taught about FDR was how his Presidency saved the United States from the Great Depression as well as saved the world from the Nazis and the Japanese in World War II. Of course, I have long since learned that President Roosevelt and his big government programs actually did not rescue our nation from the depression, rather, it was the war that did so. His programs simply extended the depression. And, in fact, even today we are paying more and more taxes to the government in order to continue funding the programs FDR established (plus many others since).

On the other hand, his leadership during World War II must be acknowledged. I could criticize him for not helping Britain earlier in their fight against the Nazis but America, as a whole, wanted no part of the war in Europe. FDR was not a whimp when it came to foreign policy. He recognized you could not simply sit down and talk to every foreign leader diplomatically and convince them we can all live in peace. Hitler, Mussolini, and others would never have listened. Rather, war, military might, was the only recourse for dealing with them and Roosevelt knew it. Some of our leaders today need to recognize their great Democratic forerunner was right and they and their naive thinking are wrong and dangerous.

Furthermore, let's give him credit for his appeal to the American people. He was elected four times as President, a feat which will never be matched. I suspect some of our other Presidents may have kept the White House for four or more terms if they had wanted it or had lived long enough. Yet, FDR is the only one who has done so.

Politically, FDR did not always succeed. As I noted, his big government programs did not save the nation from the depression. Some of his New Deal programs enacted during his first term were being invalidated by the Supreme Court. So, after winning reelection in 1936, Roosevelt attempted to enlarge the Court in order to prevent future invalidations. Thankfully, he lost that battle.

FDR's moral character was also covered up in the material I read. The picture painted by the biographies, movies, etc., that I read of this President always revealed a loving father and husband, completely devoted to his wife. Well, today we know this was not exactly the case.

So, over the years my respect for FDR has waned somewhat from my earlier view of this President. I would have put him near the top along with Washington, Lincoln, and his 5th cousin, Theodore. Today, my opinion of his Presidency and of his character would drop him lower on my list of the greatest Presidents. Nevertheless, I still hold him in respect because of his leadership during the war and for his personal spirit of never giving up which he illustrated in his battle against polio.

Happy Birthday, Mr. President! I wish you would have left those big government programs in some filing cabinet somewhere, nevertheless, thank you for your courage and your leadership during one of the darkest times of our nation's history.