The Legacy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt - Research Paper Example

25 June The Legacy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt Introduction Franklin D. Roosevelt was born in New York in atown known as the Hyde Park in 1882 (Theinl 4). He was born to a wealthy family who provided him with prestigious education. His studies began in Massachusetts where he attended his preparatory education. He later joined Harvard University for his Bachelor of Arts degree in history (Theinl 4). He then attended Columbia University for a law degree though he could not complete the studies. Although he grew up in a republican home district, his political life began as a democrat when he was elected to senate of New York State (Theinl 4). Franklin Delano Roosevelt left the most enduring legacy because of his social reforms, expansion of presidential power, economic turn around and his war time leadership; the benefits of these initiatives are still evident in the US nearly seventy years after his death. Roosevelt was reelected to senate in 1912; he was then elected as an assistant secretary of Navy (Coker 17). It is this role that molded him for the future job of being commander in chief. He was energetic and very efficient in his roles. His naval attributes and achievements contributed to his appointment as a vice president in 1920. He later took a political break before bouncing back in 1930 as a governor. It was the period of great depression and Roosevelt used the opportunity to eye for the position of presidency. He energetically called for reforms to tackle the depression, his approach convinced many people and in 1932, he defeated Hoover and claimed the presidential seat. Roosevelt’s Achievements Roosevelt’s election coincided with a period of great depression, a situation that even worsened after his inauguration. Industries faced closures and there was also increasing loss of jobs and unemployment. The economy too worsened. The country registered the worst crisis since the times of civil war. One of the first actions he took was the temporary closure of banks, it was a bold move so to say, and he then joined efforts with a special session of congress to introduce legislation governing major agencies that were set up. The agencies set up revitalized agriculture, business units and other various economic revivals. Banks were now reopened and people secured employment. This initial step gave a lot of confidence to people. “Another flurry of new deal legislation followed in 1935 including the establishment of the work projects” (“Biography of Franklin,” fdrlibrary.marist.edu). More evidence to Roosevelt’s commitment is that he gave hope to people through radio speeches and served as the longest president (Potts 5). Roosevelt’s wife, Eleanor Roosevelt was exceptionally active when it came to women’s welfare. She was appointed as the chairperson of the Democratic State committee. She was also active in the women trade Union league. Hershman states that “Eleanor was a modern woman, complete with a jumbled life that consisted of personal, professional and family aspirations” (7). These attributes that Eleanor possessed are advantages that made Franklin more unique; having such a wonderful woman made the progress much better. The achievements and personal characteristics of Roosevelt helped to shape America’s identity. His contribution differed from those of others. Charles Lindbergh for example was one president whom when compared with Roosevelt was single minded and inexperienced, while Roosevelt was consummate and effectively worked towards achieving his goals. FDR’s personal progress as an individual and as the president came down from his early invasion by polio; the disease seems to have shaped his life to which many observers believe that it gave him an insight into the world, unknown to many patriarchs of his caliber (Kloppenberg 513). FDR’s commonwealth club address in 1932 acknowledged the fact that industrialization had reduced the chances for some, while increasing those of others. In another speech in 1936, FDR gave a suggestion that he was looking forward to completing the American Revolution by addressing freedom issues from a political arena and an economic sphere. He always thought of ways of securing American’s right to work. FDR had set up National Resource Planning Board to provide institutional strategy for researching existing and possible government economic policies. Franklin identified himself with former presidents; he created a lot of admiration on Washington for his firmness to lead during crisis and difficult times and when there were difficult moments and problems to overcome. To show his greatness, Roosevelt used to recall the great deeds from the past that had been brought about by presidents who were not merely used by congress, but rather interpreted the requirements of the people (Pederson and Williams 12). Roosevelt, unlike some other presidents, was good hearted. Though he was a democrat, he praised Lincoln for his great achievements; he in fact wished that Lincoln was from the Democratic Party. He made a pilgrimage for Lincoln in 1936, an action which was rare in other democrats. Pederson and Williams describes that it was “a very distinctive thing for a democratic president to do in those days” (18). FDR knew of the sad story affecting the presidential papers once a president left office. As a great thinker and one who cared for the future and importance of information flow, he came up with the best idea to deal with his public papers, documents, and correspondences. The idea was that once he left office, those documents were to be provided to the public so that they could be accessed by students and scholars. He thought of his success in his first term and called it the “new term in American social, economic and political history” (Pederson and Williams 27). In contrast to Lincoln and though he was also a legend, Lincoln’s papers had been scattered all over in several repositories; they were not available for historians. When World War II erupted, Roosevelt had made it public that he was not going to contest for re-election, but due to the circumstances that followed the war, he was persuaded not to refuse the forth coming elections. FDR had a lot of confidence in the power of democracy; he believed that democracy gave men strength and dignity. He was once quoted saying that “let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand it” (Pederson and Williams 39). Presidential Ranking With the above noted achievements of Roosevelt, several researches had been conducted to reveal the rating of each president from Washington to Clinton. At some point, Roosevelt was rated above Kennedy, who was among the great presidents together with Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. As noted by Schlesinger, “there have been nine greats and near greats in nearly all the scholarly reckonings. Lincoln, Washington and F. D. Roosevelt are always at the top” (182). The historians and those involved in the rating had considered the developmental aspects of each president. It’s no wonder that Franklin Roosevelt was ranked among the great as this is clearly demonstrated by his appealing performance. For a long time, Franklin Roosevelt toped the standings and on various occasions, he was ranked with the great Lincoln and Washington. Schlesinger continues to state that the rating was despite the fact that there were many who were against his New Deal philosophy (182). As of 1982, a stunning report suggested that Franklin Roosevelt was ranked higher than George Washington, though he was still behind Lincoln (Schlesinger 182). To cement the fact that Roosevelt was becoming the president of the century, Newt Gingrich joined the sycophants praising the name of F. D. Roosevelt; his sentiments were echoed by the conservatives. The ratings place George Bush in the near great positions. This is despite the fact that Bush applied his military skill to handle the coalition that won the Gulf war. Compared to how Roosevelt handles the world war in 1939, it would have been expected that Bush would be above Roosevelt. This suggests that Washington was a great achiever. One thing that brings George Bush down is his inability to have purpose in domestic policy, whereas Roosevelt was much able. Roosevelt’s domestic programme was very successful (Buckley 113). In the same list are the rankings of the failures. Here, Harding and Grant make the list; they are the obvious suspects and victims. Their ranking is attributed to their failures and inabilities to handle scandals and corruption. They are characterized by Schlesinger to have been “careless and negligent rather than Villainous” (180). This evidence is enough to appreciate the fact that Franklin Roosevelt isn’t in this category of failures. What can be depicted therefore is that indeed, Franklin Roosevelt was a great achiever. The analysis of the ranking was done by great people, and at the end, they ranked Roosevelt at the top, and not with the likes of Harding and Grant. Further down the list comes Nixon. Contrary to his ranking down the list, it is stated that Nixon was intelligent, but his behavior was somehow crooked. He leads in an unbeaten record of acting against the constitution and his reputation goes far beyond a failure. In fact, he was forced to resign since his behavior could no longer be condoned. Again, Nixon’s life speaks more about his counterpart Roosevelt, who remains to be the only president who serves four terms; he was even persuaded to go back to office in 1941, an attribute that Nixon failed to achieve. In regard to interpreting the constitution, Roosevelt believed that he knew how to interpret it even more than the Supreme Court (Shaw, Pederson and Williams 93). The ratings of the presidents were not based on their heights or their sizes; some were on average height below the six inch. Education level was also not the case to gauge the greatness and the ranking. As noted, some of those who made the top list including Washington and Lincoln never attended a college. “Great presidents possess or are possessed by a vision of an ideal America. Their passion is to make sure the ship of state sails on the right course” (Schlesinger 186). A great president is the one deeply connected to the needs and dreams of the people. One with an insight, sympathy and a great vision. These are what made Franklin Roosevelt and the other greats to receive much recognition. Their adequacies in times of crisis showed that an individual can stand to make history. Measurement of greatness is also based on how one handled the nation in times of crisis. Polk, Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt made their reputations in the battle field. Roosevelt was a commander in chief during the war. During the period of great depression, Franklin Roosevelt rallied his contingents to move together emulating a trained and loyal army. He instructed his executive army to act on any emergency. The great encouragement and leadership coupled by successful achievement ranked Roosevelt among the great. Works Cited “Biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt.” fdrlibrary.marist.edu. n.d. Web. 25 July 2014. Bucley, Thomas H. American Foreign and National Security Policies, 1914-1945. Chattanooga: University of Tennessee Press, 1987. Print. Coker, Jeffrey W. Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Biography. West Port, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005. Print. Hershman, Courtney. Charles A. Lindbergh and Franklin D. Roosevelt. n.d. PDF file. Kloppenberg, James T. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Visionary. Reviews in America History, 34 (4) 2006, pp. 509-520. Harvard: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. Print. Pederson, William D. and Frank J. Williams. Franklin D. Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln: Competing Perspectives on Two Great Presidencies. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 2003. Print. Potts, Steve. Franklin D. Roosevelt. Minnesota: Capstone Press, 1996. Print. Schlesinger, Arthur M. Rating the Presidents: Washington to Clinton. Political Science Quarterly 112 (2) 1997, pp 179-190. Published by Academy of Political Science. Print. Shaw, Stephen K., ‎William D. Pederson and ‎Frank J. Williams. Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Transformation of the Supreme Court. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 2004. Print. Theinl, Kevin. Americas Great Depression and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Attempt to Reorganize the Market with his New Deal. Munich: GRIN Verlag, 2013. Print. Read More