Heres some perspective regarding public opinion about President Obama now. I am reading Doris Kearns Goodwins No Ordinary Time, a fabulous book about FDR and Eleanor and how their personal and public lives mixed during one of Americas most important times. In Chapter 21, page 547, Goodwin recalls how Republican candidate Dewey was beating up on FDR before the 1944 election: The steady barrage of Republican criticism ... suggesting the government was in the hands of tired old men who were destroying free enterprise, coddling labor, regimenting agriculture, and saddling the country with high taxes and dangerous debt -- was achieving its desired effect. Dewey was rising in popularity while Roosevelt was rapidly loosing ground. Of course, we know who won in 1944, but on page 553, Goodwin reminds us that FDR *only* won by 53.5 percent. On this Veterans Day, its not difficult to remember FDRs recent accomplishments just prior to the 1944 election: Liberation of Rome, Invasion of Normandy, Liberation of Paris and McArthur landing in Philippines (making good on his I shall return promise). Of course, FDR didnt exactly keep all his promises. During his 1940 campaign he promised not to send American troops to a foreign conflict. He broke this promise on a little technicality called Pearl Harbor, since after that attack the war was no longer just foreign. American joined the tattered and beseiged remnants of the free world in what certainly would become an existential life-and-death struggle against murderous fascist thugs. And, FDR along with his allies, Churchill and Stalin, were winning!!! Yet, the Republicans were still complaining that taxes were too high and our debt was dangerous. In 1944 ... when we had as many as 16 million soldiers and sailors fighting an existential threat in all corners of the world! What were they thinking???? What possible better use could taxes and debt be used for than beating the Nazis and Imperial Japan and building a foundation for 75 years of peace and prosperity? Of course, I am not comparing Obama to FDR, nor am I comparing WWII with the Affordable Care Act. But, it is worth remembering that at Americas greatest hour, one of Americas greatest presidents only got a 7.5% margin of victory in 1944 (53.5% to 46%), while Obama got 3.9% (51.1 to 47.2) in 2012 and 7.2% in 2008 (52.9 to 45.7). Additionally, Obama joins FDR, Eisenhower and Reagan as the only presidents who have gotten more than 50% of the vote more than once. Sure, things are tough for Obama now -- not everything is going according to plans -- but history gives an important perspective: partisan politics could be just as vicious (and in my opinion, wrong-headed) in the heat of the most important battle the world has ever witnessed -- even when we were winning! amazon/No-Ordinary-Time-Franklin-Roosevelt/dp/0684804484
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 01:56:51 +0000
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