Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945)



Today, January 30th, is the birthday of one of the greatest men i history, FDR. In this short essay, I shall describe why FDR is such an influence to me, what I thought of him, and expand on his greatness. My knowledge might be shallow, or even inaccurate and biased, so feel free to correct me, but I believe he is a great man nonetheless, and I cannot be too far from the truth.

I am not a American. However, as a liberal from the 21st century, I daresay, that the United States of America never had a better president than the 32nd President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who presided over the nation for three presidential terms, from 1933-1945, until his untimely death. I will even go so far as to say, hitherto, I have never known of a better leader of a country.

One would follows American politics would have to know of the pedigree of the Roosevelts, with two Presidents hailing from the family: Teddy and FDR. Both great men of ambition, Teddy led the progressive movement prior to FDR, and FDR led the New Deal coalition during his time.

FDR was a great man, and his Presidency was unprecedented. Not many Presidents before FDR had brought so much to the table. He occupied the White House over some of the greatest and unprecedented crises of the World: Namely the great depression and World War II.

He started many trends, while their practicality and benefits can be debatable, they are nonetheless trends. It was first under him that deficit spending became popular, he ended with one of the largest increase in debt. He started the presidential trend of radio addresses to the nation with his fireside chats, which roused the morale of millions of Americans, even conservatives like Ronald Reagan. And the public's attention of Obama's first 100 days is also due to FDR.

FDR was a trailblazer, he was a revolutionary.

But perhaps what he will forever be remembered for, is his influential and courageous wave of sweeping reforms and sound policies: The legendary New Deal.

HIS POLICIES

The New Deal was a particularly populistic, and possibly socialistic, set of policies and reform, which reflect FDR's love for the nation and compassion for all Americans, rich or poor. My favourite piece of legislation from the New Deal has to be the Social Security Act. Social welfare is paramount, and the federal government should ensure that its people get all the welfare they deserve. While not a Nordic Country-Scale welfare system or a peerless system, it is a step forward for the backwards country that was the US, it covered public pensions, unemployment benefits and healthcare to a certain extent.

FDR also helped workers by passing the National Labor Relations Act(NLRA). With the NLRA, he strengthened workers by empowering labour unions, and giving workers more rights and more bargaining power. He also passed the Fair Labor Standards Act(FLSA), which implemented minimum wage and effectively outlawed child labour.

You would think that such policies such have existed prior to FDR. But no, the USA was still fairly barbaric prior to FDR, that was due to conservatism in olden days, but FDR did bring about social welfare evolution and paved the path for future democrats.

Economically, he did fairly well too. He passed reforms that helped enforce regulations over financial institutions, such as the famous Glass-Steagall Act that was meant to separate commercial banks from investment banks, and the Securities Act and the Securities Exchange Act that regulate over trading of securities in the market. And obviously, the Emergency Banking Act, that closed down banks during the crisis for federal inspection and deciding which banks were allowed to continue.

He was also man that envisioned global unity, and it was under him and the allies in World War II that the world saw the birth of the United Nations(UN). So many great things can be attributed to this man.

HIS SPEECHES

If you have the chance, you should listen, or read some of his incredible speeches. Not only was he a true visionary, he was an incredible orator as well.

One example is the Four Freedoms speech:



Another is his proposal for a Second Bill of Rights:



HIS FLAWS

As you have seen, this essay is a praise essay for the man that was FDR, but he was not a perfect saint by any means. He did have his flaws, such as giving in to opponents such as the Southern Democrats and the Republicans, like giving up on the anti-lynching bill so as to retain support from the Southern Democrats. It was a highly political move.

Another flaw of his was his rather harsh mistreatment of the Japanese Americans, sending them to concentration camps. Which is another highly political move, since the Americans feared the Japanese Americans at that time, just after Pearl Harbor.

And furthermore, he packed the Supreme Court with judges, another highly political move, in order to pass his New Deal.

FDR was a great leader and visionary, but he was also a shrewd politician, he had to play along with the other politicians, he had to outmaneuver them. He was by no means a saint throughout his presidency.

But even the greatest men have their flaws and make mistakes. I mean even Ghandi was a genuine racist during his younger days in South Africa. I am enchanted by this man and I'm sure many other people share my awe. FDR was a great man that the USA had never met before, and what the world needs now is for another charismatic hero like him.

More shockingly, FDR had disabilities in movement, from the waist down! He had to move using a wheelchair most of the time. The media respected the President, and his disability was not widely known, and there were little pictures of him in wheelchairs. He tries to stand using metal braces and some human aid during public appearances like speeches, to not demoralise the nation.

THE GREATEST US PRESIDENT

FDR was loved by the American people, even by his party's potential opponents such as Ronald Reagan. His populism touched the heart of the American people, his leadership was admired by many, that is why he is the only President who attempted for another term after his second term and managed to attain Presidency again, and the only president who won four elections. He made the greedies politicians from both parties dread him, and trembled in fear of genuine Democrat Populism and educated Democrat leadership, in fear of a second FDR, who will be adored and admired by the people and get elected more than two terms. That is why the 22nd amendment was proposed, to prevent a second FDR.

No US President president before or after him did or will match his greatness or his influence. FDR is a legend in his own right (or left).

Racism Is Funny

I'd touched on Racism before, on why it isn't as taboo as people think it is, but today I'm touching on why Racism is funny.

Yes my personal stance on racism is that people should be "colour blind" and there should be no racial distinction, and there should not be any exceptional treatment of any other race based on their race alone.

But racism is very much present around us, even today.

The most glaring flaw of racism is that there is no basis for racism! It's like saying all Republicans are stupid (many are, but there are many shrewd ones that exploit the stupid ones) or all Christians are fundamentalists or evangelists (many are, but there are also many peaceful and rational Christians out there), in other words, it's stereotyping.

But racism goes beyond stereotyping. Racism is stereotyping people based on their race, and feeling a sense of superiority and entitlement over other races, because of your own race, and that leads to despising the other races. And your contempt for these other races makes you treat them harshly compared to your own race or other races, or project hostility and animosity towards them due to their different race.

Racism is just a baseless ego problem that is like nationalism, but even worse. Racism makes people think they are better because they were born into a certain race. But these racists do not realise that it's all just luck and coincidence, you are not born into a "superior race" because you are better. And just because you are born into a "superior race", it does not make you automatically better as well.

Furthermore, there is nothing "superior" about your race, these physical differences between you and other races are just a result of natural selection. They might prove to give you an edge over other races for survival in the wild, and give you adaptability to the local climate and terrain, but when you are living in a modified environment, what "superiority" does that give you?

What really moulds a person is the way he led his life, his education, his life philosophy, his social upbringing, his political views, and perhaps his religious views. If a Chinese was raised in a Western country, he would fit in well with the Westerners, with the only difference being his physical attributes.

That is why Racism is funny: It's a sense of self entitlement and superiority of egoistical people that over-think an insignificant factor (race), and treat people who look different from them harshly. In fact, I think these people are just primitive humans that cannot accept people who are different from them, and they fear them, they do not understand the true concept of race, and judge people with their amazing ignorance!