Presidents and Political Thought by David Siemers

Author:David Siemers [Siemers, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: United States, Political Science, Executive Branch, American Government, History, General
ISBN: 9780826218667
Google: Gww5Vx0_5uQC
Goodreads: 7894926
Publisher: University of Missouri
Published: 2010-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT: A FIRST-CLASS TRIMMER

In the words of the great essayist, “the voice of events is proclaiming to us. Reform if you would preserve.” I am that kind of conservative because I am that kind of liberal.

—Franklin Delano Roosevelt, campaign kickoff speech in Syracuse, September 29, 1936

Our first question is this: what makes for the greatest good of the greatest number?

—Franklin Delano Roosevelt, speech at Oklahoma City, July 9, 1938

At first blush it would seem that Franklin Delano Roosevelt would be a most unlikely case study for this subject. Famously pragmatic and not much of a reader of books, Roosevelt exhibited a lack of attraction to political theory that was palpable. In this respect he is the polar opposite of John Adams and James Madison. FDR also has a reputation as something of an intellectual slouch. He earned “gentlemen’s C’s” at Harvard College when it most fervently catered to a moneyed elite, and he complained to friends that none of his classes there had been interesting.1 Nor did he distinguish himself as a scholar at Columbia Law School.

During his convalescence from polio, FDR tried his hand at writing, beginning several book projects only to have each of them stall in its initial stage. He began to write a book about American political history in 1924. In this, as in so many other things, he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his distant cousin Theodore, but he quickly learned that he could not replicate the elder Roosevelt’s dogged determination with the written word. The project was abandoned while still in its first chapter.2 It is no wonder that the scholarship on Roosevelt repeats Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.’s half indictment over and over: FDR possessed a “second class intellect, but a first class temperament.”3

Clearly Franklin Roosevelt used his temperament to great effect as president, but the evidence suggests that he also used his intellect in the way that is at issue here—the shape of his presidency was informed by political theory. His knowledge of political theory was sparse and his public display of it was very limited, but theoretical understandings of politics were indeed reflected in his rhetoric and in the way he dealt with public policy. Still, a wholesale reassessment of the thirty-second president is not in order. He was an indifferent student, he did not much enjoy reading books, he was highly pragmatic, and he did chafe at theories. However, none of this prevented FDR from finding and practicing his own chosen theory of politics. One need not have a first-class intelligence to gain something from political theory. Someone generally hostile toward political theory can still borrow from it and embrace certain axioms about politics. A politician can also find meaning in rejecting certain political theories. FDR did these things. His approach to political theory may have been different from Adams’s and Madison’s, but that doesn’t make it any less real. In fact, for a practicing politician of the modern era, this casual, utilitarian approach is much more normal than making a study of political philosophy.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.