With a fourth presidential debate slated for Wednesday, 20 White House hopefuls in the hunt for their party’s nomination, and fall foliage here in the East near peak, last Friday seemed like a perfect time to visit the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York.
From Harlem, I boarded a Metro North train that followed the Hudson River to Poughkeepsie, where a taxi took me to the library, about 10 minutes away. There I spent the afternoon in the museum amid exhibits that chronicle the nation’s 32nd president, whose four terms spanned the depths of the Great Depression to within a month of Allied victory in World War II.
The exhibits include audio excerpts from many of FDR’s 30 national radio addresses. As I listened to some of those “fireside chats,” I was struck by the contrast between the way FDR addressed the public and much of what passes for political discourse nowadays.
By the time FDR took the oath of office on March 4, 1933, nearly 13 million Americans—about one quarter of the civilian labor force—were out of work and nearly every bank was closed.
Three days into his term, as failures of financial institutions swelled, FDR ordered a week-long suspension of all banking transactions. On March 12, he took to the airwaves, to tell the American people about the bank holiday he had ordered.
After explaining a series of actions underway by the government to recapitalize and reopen banks, FDR called on Americans to resist “being stampeded by rumors or guesses” and to have confidence in the government’s ability to carry out the plan.
“Let us unite in banishing fear,” he added. “We have provided the machinery to restore our financial system; it is up to you to support and make it work. It is your problem no less than it is mine. Together we cannot fail.”
FDR challenged the American people. The seizing up of the banks wasn’t just the government’s or the president’s problem, he told them. It’s your problem, too.
Of course, he was correct. If you are unable to withdraw money from your bank account because the bank ran out of currency, you have a problem.
Still, it’s not as if FDR didn’t have opponents who had their own views on how to fix the economy. Or who hesitated to blast the president’s plan.
Business charged that the New Deal—the series of steps by FDR to end the Great Depression—gave too much power to trade unions. Republicans attacked Roosevelt for increasing the deficit and extending federal power.
From the left, FDR’s fellow Democrat, Senator Huey Long of Louisiana, would later propose to cap personal fortunes at $50 million and redistribute the wealth to guarantee each household a grant of $5,000 and a minimum yearly income of between $2,000 and $3,000 (nearly $54,000 in today’s dollars).
FDR may have had an excuse to pander. Yet he reminded us that we have a stake in, and an obligation to ensure, our country’s well-being.