True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.
Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.
These are famous quotes attributed to the greatest president of the 20th century whose birthday was last Friday. FDR wasn’t a perfect human being: he cheated on his wife, he died while hanging out with his mistress, he liked to pontificate, he had things organized around him to be the last word, he once told Jewish and Catholic staffers that people of their faiths were only guests in America, etc. Despite these things, he was far from being a dictator as per Republican revisionists claim all the while they discussed repealing the 22nd Amendment to give a demented B-movie actor a third term. Firstly, the last time I checked, dictators don’t bother to have elections unless they can rig them ahead of time, like, oh through voter ID laws and gerrymandering.
Not all the credit should go to FDR for all the progress he made during his presidency. He was assisted by a more cooperative legislature that didn’t question his citizenship or religious (or non) affiliation. In many ways, Congress pushed the nation more “to the Left” than FDR planned. There were times he could be petty. He backed congressional candidates more aligned to his plans in 1934 (failed) and he threatened the Supreme Court he’d pack it with judges who weren’t full of hate for the poor (namely, Chief Justice William Taft, the Jabba of his day); there’s nothing in writing saying SCOTUS is limited to nine members.
My point is, FDR was someone who stepped up during a horrible international crisis. Capitalism had eaten its young (again), many were giving up on Democracy and pointed toward the (false) successes in the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Even intellectuals said Democracy was through. He saved Capitalism from itself is what he ultimately did. This is a pointless argument with the Libertarian crowd while they drive on the Interstate, plug in their computers to post tirades and drink non-poisonous beverages. His “alphabet” agencies laid down the foundations that ushered in the prosperity America and the West enjoyed after WWII and into the mid-Seventies. These same programs also got the US ramped up faster to fight Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany. I diverge from him over the Anglophilia FDR had, yet the US being pulled into the horrible conflict was inevitable with at least Japan. The US was the only obstacle to their continued aggression in China.
I could go on and on. I’m going to cut it short but the man was ten times the leader we have currently (the Great Orator) and a thousand more than the six Republicans who followed him, combined. FDR has more right to be on the dime than any of them.