On April 12, 1945, a visibly exhausted President Franklin Delano Roosevelt jerked in his chair while having his portrait painted in Warm Springs, Georgia. FDR put his hand up, said “I have a terrific pain in the back of my head,” and lost consciousness. He died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage within hours.
Good morning, Professor! This is exactly what Biden is trying to do, bring everyone together, create jobs (which he’s done), stimulate the economy, in spite of inflation which he nor the Dems are responsible for. He has called out the world’s biggest enemy as a murderer, creating genocide. He is absolutely correct. I used to get mad at him for being what I thought was a loose cannon, when he spoke. I do not think that anymore. He is our century’s replica of FDR. He is juggling buckets of issues and is doing it quite well. Thank you for showing the words at FDR’s memorial. I take that to heart.
I have always found it intriguing that FDR, who by upbringing and socioeconomic background would clearly „belong“ to the Republican party (a „trust fund kid“ if there ever was one), would become the beacon of Social Democracy (which is the political science designation anywhere in the world but the USA).
From reading many biographies, I see three factors:
1. Social Democracy - the „New Deal“, as he labeled it - was REASON‘s solution for the problems before him
2. Eleanor, his wife, influenced him deeply in this regard. FDR realized there could not be a just society in the spirit of the US Declaration of Independence and Constitution without equal rights for women (I do not know enough about his personal theory for the suppression of non-whites)
3. POLIO, which struck him as a grown-up, was THE major educational influence on him. While he was arrogant and light-headed before, polio made him humble about every facet of his life.
“…he undertook to rebuild the nation after republicans had run it into the ground.” How many times has this been repeated since then? The republicans scream “socialism” about everything Dems do and everybody quakes. When will people quake over the repeating effort by republicans to run the nation into the ground. From csd on Twitter some time back. Still fits “They piss themselves every presidency, while we “tax and spend” libs have to buy new sheets.”
Republicans have long thought/used the "if you're not succeeding, you're lazy," argument; both sincerely and insincerely. Last week, I read Benn Steil's excellent, factual book The Marshall Plan, Dawn of the Cold War. When Harry Truman invited Republican Congressmen to the White House in September, 1947 to make his case of the plan, Republican Congressman John Tabor told him, he "had seen no 'underfed people' in his European travels (have to wonder where he went in 1947 Europe besides state dinners and hotels). Their problem was that they were simply 'not working as hard or as vigorously as they should. We in the United States,' he said, 'got where we are because we worked harder.'" Simple, grade-school-level analyses and solutions for incredibly complex situations and times (now, even more than then). Of course! Exactly what we need!
I think the majority of people just want the opportunity to make something of their lives, care for their loved ones, and do meaningful, productive work. Capitalism uncontrolled and taken to its logical end resulted in the chaos of the Great Depression. My greatest generation parents were deeply affected by what they saw and experienced during the Depression years. They were especially impacted by seeing families losing everything because they were foreclosed on by lenders, either person or institution, who stood to benefit from the families’ misfortunes. That’s what is really disturbing about the anti-democracy people--their willingness to hurt others even to the point of being gleeful about their meanness, because they can.
Thank you Heather for your excellent presentation last night in Portland! Your ability to tie our history in with our current issues is amazing. I’m also glad you enjoyed the Columbia River Gorge and the waterfalls. Please come back soon!
So... Where is the call among Democrats (besides Tulsi Gabbard) to reinstate the Glass-Stegall "firewall" between commercial banking (mortgages and small business loans to keep our communities moving) and parasitic Wall Street speculation? It was an essential part of FDR Democrats' rehabilitation of our financial system, but we got rid of it under Clinton, the best "Republican" president we ever had (just kidding; I'm a fan of Lincoln and Eisenhower).
I have always thought FDR was an interesting Politician as well as that time period to be intriguing as it showed this country for what it was. In many ways, "it's deja vu all over again". People were not so different. You had blatant racism and fiscal separation. Still do. This country also had a pull together mentality with the lower incomes. I'm seeing this again. There were 2 houses sold near me recently that are 2 family houses. Both houses were purchased by parents and their children. The retired parents were downsizing and the children have small families . Brilliant actually. This keeps families together, built in baby sitter of the children and role reversal as the parents age, split mortgage, taxes, upkeep. 2 cars not 4 cars. ++++++
As a side note, if you haven't already read Dr Fiona Hill's latest article about Trump, you should. " This was Trump pulling a Putin".
Trump's retort via the New York Times, " She doesn't know the first thing she's talking about. If she didn't have the accent she would be nothing. " Can it be that he is that stupid?
I call it "pragmatic capitalism," a system that works for everyone instead of a select few, in contradistinction to "crony capitalism," which works for the few, an oligarchy. I'm not sure that the term "pragmatic capitalism" is original with me, so I can't claim it as my own. Lincoln made the point that without labor, capital would not exist, and that therefore Labor needs a seat at the table, a condition that Republicans have denied since Ronald Reagan was in office. As to FDR, the real architect of the New Deal was FDR's Labor Secretary, Frances Perkins.
“FDR recognized that the economic crisis created by unfettered capitalism threatened to end democracy forever as starving Americans turned either to communism or to fascism, as Europeans were doing.”
I would posit that the election of Trump, January 6 and the current shift of the Republican Party to the hard right are examples again of half the population turning away from democracy and, in this case, turning towards fascism or an authoritarian form of government, one that they hope will restore to them what they feel they’ve been losing. Unfettered capitalism drives us democrats to despair the same as unfettered regulation of social, racial and economic issues drives them.
Biden a Roosevelt for our times. That we should be in need of this not even one hundred years since Roosevelt changed the landscape for all of us speaks to the tenacity of politicians to divide us into classes and keep those that labor from achieving any type of equity.
We need to remember that for many years it was the Republican that led the fight for the working class and not the Democrats, but sometime in mid 20th century they switched to what we have now.
First, thank you for recognizing Roosevelt's BD and his ability to steer America out of one (of many) Republican economic debacles. The next one is likely to be the debt reckoning that has to come at some point given the feckless, irresponsible spending that America has undertaken since Reagan showed the way to irresponsible fiscal spending in 1980.
Second, I see it IS possible for the Feds to indict and charge a government official!!
It is possible, that is, IF THEY ARE BLACK. No surprise there.
We all await any sign of a hint that any of the white people, in government, who openly, blatantly, fragrantly, irresponsibly, with great hubris, that broke the law on Jan 06 will ever be indicted.
Hi Professor - it is almost 2:30 am in Seattle - your letter has not arrived in my email ... I did a search for 'Heather Cox Richardson April 12, 2022' and here it is - just on case other are having the same problem ... thank you so much for sharing the fruits of your labors!!
Russian Tech Industry Faces ‘Brain Drain’ as Workers Flee
Since their country invaded Ukraine, Russian tech workers have left by the thousands. They appear intent on rebuilding their lives and businesses in other countries.
Good morning, Professor! This is exactly what Biden is trying to do, bring everyone together, create jobs (which he’s done), stimulate the economy, in spite of inflation which he nor the Dems are responsible for. He has called out the world’s biggest enemy as a murderer, creating genocide. He is absolutely correct. I used to get mad at him for being what I thought was a loose cannon, when he spoke. I do not think that anymore. He is our century’s replica of FDR. He is juggling buckets of issues and is doing it quite well. Thank you for showing the words at FDR’s memorial. I take that to heart.
I have always found it intriguing that FDR, who by upbringing and socioeconomic background would clearly „belong“ to the Republican party (a „trust fund kid“ if there ever was one), would become the beacon of Social Democracy (which is the political science designation anywhere in the world but the USA).
From reading many biographies, I see three factors:
1. Social Democracy - the „New Deal“, as he labeled it - was REASON‘s solution for the problems before him
2. Eleanor, his wife, influenced him deeply in this regard. FDR realized there could not be a just society in the spirit of the US Declaration of Independence and Constitution without equal rights for women (I do not know enough about his personal theory for the suppression of non-whites)
3. POLIO, which struck him as a grown-up, was THE major educational influence on him. While he was arrogant and light-headed before, polio made him humble about every facet of his life.
“…he undertook to rebuild the nation after republicans had run it into the ground.” How many times has this been repeated since then? The republicans scream “socialism” about everything Dems do and everybody quakes. When will people quake over the repeating effort by republicans to run the nation into the ground. From csd on Twitter some time back. Still fits “They piss themselves every presidency, while we “tax and spend” libs have to buy new sheets.”
Republicans have long thought/used the "if you're not succeeding, you're lazy," argument; both sincerely and insincerely. Last week, I read Benn Steil's excellent, factual book The Marshall Plan, Dawn of the Cold War. When Harry Truman invited Republican Congressmen to the White House in September, 1947 to make his case of the plan, Republican Congressman John Tabor told him, he "had seen no 'underfed people' in his European travels (have to wonder where he went in 1947 Europe besides state dinners and hotels). Their problem was that they were simply 'not working as hard or as vigorously as they should. We in the United States,' he said, 'got where we are because we worked harder.'" Simple, grade-school-level analyses and solutions for incredibly complex situations and times (now, even more than then). Of course! Exactly what we need!
I think the majority of people just want the opportunity to make something of their lives, care for their loved ones, and do meaningful, productive work. Capitalism uncontrolled and taken to its logical end resulted in the chaos of the Great Depression. My greatest generation parents were deeply affected by what they saw and experienced during the Depression years. They were especially impacted by seeing families losing everything because they were foreclosed on by lenders, either person or institution, who stood to benefit from the families’ misfortunes. That’s what is really disturbing about the anti-democracy people--their willingness to hurt others even to the point of being gleeful about their meanness, because they can.
Thank you Heather for your excellent presentation last night in Portland! Your ability to tie our history in with our current issues is amazing. I’m also glad you enjoyed the Columbia River Gorge and the waterfalls. Please come back soon!
So... Where is the call among Democrats (besides Tulsi Gabbard) to reinstate the Glass-Stegall "firewall" between commercial banking (mortgages and small business loans to keep our communities moving) and parasitic Wall Street speculation? It was an essential part of FDR Democrats' rehabilitation of our financial system, but we got rid of it under Clinton, the best "Republican" president we ever had (just kidding; I'm a fan of Lincoln and Eisenhower).
Thank you Heather.
I have always thought FDR was an interesting Politician as well as that time period to be intriguing as it showed this country for what it was. In many ways, "it's deja vu all over again". People were not so different. You had blatant racism and fiscal separation. Still do. This country also had a pull together mentality with the lower incomes. I'm seeing this again. There were 2 houses sold near me recently that are 2 family houses. Both houses were purchased by parents and their children. The retired parents were downsizing and the children have small families . Brilliant actually. This keeps families together, built in baby sitter of the children and role reversal as the parents age, split mortgage, taxes, upkeep. 2 cars not 4 cars. ++++++
As a side note, if you haven't already read Dr Fiona Hill's latest article about Trump, you should. " This was Trump pulling a Putin".
Trump's retort via the New York Times, " She doesn't know the first thing she's talking about. If she didn't have the accent she would be nothing. " Can it be that he is that stupid?
Be safe. Be well.
I call it "pragmatic capitalism," a system that works for everyone instead of a select few, in contradistinction to "crony capitalism," which works for the few, an oligarchy. I'm not sure that the term "pragmatic capitalism" is original with me, so I can't claim it as my own. Lincoln made the point that without labor, capital would not exist, and that therefore Labor needs a seat at the table, a condition that Republicans have denied since Ronald Reagan was in office. As to FDR, the real architect of the New Deal was FDR's Labor Secretary, Frances Perkins.
“FDR recognized that the economic crisis created by unfettered capitalism threatened to end democracy forever as starving Americans turned either to communism or to fascism, as Europeans were doing.”
I would posit that the election of Trump, January 6 and the current shift of the Republican Party to the hard right are examples again of half the population turning away from democracy and, in this case, turning towards fascism or an authoritarian form of government, one that they hope will restore to them what they feel they’ve been losing. Unfettered capitalism drives us democrats to despair the same as unfettered regulation of social, racial and economic issues drives them.
Biden a Roosevelt for our times. That we should be in need of this not even one hundred years since Roosevelt changed the landscape for all of us speaks to the tenacity of politicians to divide us into classes and keep those that labor from achieving any type of equity.
We need to remember that for many years it was the Republican that led the fight for the working class and not the Democrats, but sometime in mid 20th century they switched to what we have now.
Dr. Richardson.
First, thank you for recognizing Roosevelt's BD and his ability to steer America out of one (of many) Republican economic debacles. The next one is likely to be the debt reckoning that has to come at some point given the feckless, irresponsible spending that America has undertaken since Reagan showed the way to irresponsible fiscal spending in 1980.
Second, I see it IS possible for the Feds to indict and charge a government official!!
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/12/nyregion/brian-benjamin-resigns-indicted.html
It is possible, that is, IF THEY ARE BLACK. No surprise there.
We all await any sign of a hint that any of the white people, in government, who openly, blatantly, fragrantly, irresponsibly, with great hubris, that broke the law on Jan 06 will ever be indicted.
If Americans can understand and remember anything, this is it!!! Please America know this history!!!
Hi Professor - it is almost 2:30 am in Seattle - your letter has not arrived in my email ... I did a search for 'Heather Cox Richardson April 12, 2022' and here it is - just on case other are having the same problem ... thank you so much for sharing the fruits of your labors!!
Russian Tech Industry Faces ‘Brain Drain’ as Workers Flee
Since their country invaded Ukraine, Russian tech workers have left by the thousands. They appear intent on rebuilding their lives and businesses in other countries.
(Gifted)
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/13/technology/russia-tech-workers.html?unlocked_article_code=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEIPuomT1JKd6J17Vw1cRCfTTMQmqxCdw_PIxftm3iWka3DJDm8ZiPgYCIiG_EPKarskfcYoxDWSAcNMO79qW_tozeJFJAptVwys6NOiqagyHh8U-8i1T39kmNXER6w5-jvnKWLkJL8gyeDh-h7eYGH1XKCM0mkrIFlkvZsyJVusjCcOwv2WR_VnmYUrhYdXDZh8QTcGYyOKueC5SEktfYXbMWyPr1U-SOpbWjrMnNOD67hmcAxaDF3OT3oX8n9roZoHe4tRZPCjWkZmLMnugrwRCXhqKJOqBfAyRovSkLZqsN3duLIe277QHHD65BegM0b1ai4&smid=tw-share
I did not receive my morning Letter. Are there problems with transmission again? So glad i could come here to read it:)