Yesterday I was walking around the Tidal Basin to celebrate the arrival of the cherry blossoms while visiting my daughter Jackie in Washington DC. We popped into the FDR Memorial, and I was blindsided by how it inspired me.
Aware of all the rancor lately in our capital city, I lost myself in the natural and thought-provoking space the four outdoor rooms of the FDR Memorial. It was a misty morning. While this memorial lacked the grandiose feel of the nearby Jefferson Memorial, the Roosevelt Memorial swept me away: Heavy stones, cascading waterfalls (the challenge of troubled waters, and then life and hope), tangled vines, bronze statues of salt-of-the-earth people bearing hard times, and memories of a great statesman who inspired a nation to be both strong and civilized.
Depression, war, and fear gripped our nation then as it does now. And Roosevelt, rather than using more fear and scapegoats, reminded us that “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” With his leadership and New Deal, he appealed to our higher nature to inspire greatness in our citizenry. The quotes chipped into the rustic stone walls on the misty stroll struck me. Their wisdom seemed both timeless and timely. And with the perspective provided by the passage of a little time, the way our country’s “Greatest Generation” responded then gave me hope that we can still make FDR proud. Let these quotes take you on a 2010 walk with FDR, as they did me:
“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”
“In these days of difficulty, we Americans everywhere must and shall choose the path of social justice, the path of faith, the path of hope, and the path of love toward our fellow men.” —From a campaign address, Detroit, Michigan, October 2, 1932
“Men and nature must work hand in hand. The throwing out of balance of the resources of nature throws out of balance also the lives of men.” —From a Message to Congress on the Use of Our Natural Resources, Washington DC, January 24, 1935
“I propose to create a Civilian Conservation Corps to be used in simple work; more important, however, than the material gains will be the moral and spiritual value of such work.” —From a Message to Congress on Unemployment Relief, Washington DC, March 21, 1933
“I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded. I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen cities destroyed. I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I hate war.” —From an address at Chautauqua, NY, August 14, 1936
“More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginnings of all wars.” —From an undelivered address prepared for Jefferson Day to be delivered April 13, 1945
“Unless the peace that follows recognizes that the whole world is one neighborhood and does justice to the whole human race, the germs of another world war will remain as a constant threat to mankind.” —From an address to White House Correspondents’ Association, Washington DC, February 12, 1943
Travel—whether abroad our in our own country—roughs up the surface of our outlook so lessons stick better. I’m so glad Jackie studies in Washington DC so, together, we get to explore our nation’s capital.
Those are indeed inspiring quotations, and yet those of us who are old enough remember how FDR was hated and maligned, accused of duplicity and conspiracy to allow the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor so that the U.S had reason to enter WWII. I used to puzzle at how he was re-elected so often when not one single person that I knew voted for him. The passage of time allows us to reflect and see things in perspective. What will be the word about George W. Bush fifty years from now?
Louisa, you had me until “George W. Bush.” Seeing Bush as a stand-in for FDR is patently absurd, if not offensive. President Obama–who has been assailed as a “socialist” (and much worse) since before he was elected–is a far more obvious comparison, especially in these heated health-care reform days. My hope is that fifty years on, some wistful travel writer will be inspired by the Obama Memorial on a misty March morning in DC.
No “Bush as a stand-in for FDR” was intended. What was intended is that the passage of time changes our views and gives us perspective that differs from what we may think at the moment.
I have often thought that Rick Steves America Through the Back Door would be a great thing. Using the same approach to Europe in American cities and states to produce guidebooks, tv, radio, web content. It might be a good business proposition since more Europeans have more disposable income these days and the Euro is more valuable than the dollar.
Rick, this traveler grew into an adult parented by my widowed mother, who was a huge FDR supporter. Her first vote, age 21, in North Dakota, marked down FDR for President in the elections of 1932. Her admiration for this remarkable man, who detractors called “a traitor to his class,” never waivered. Just prior to her passing, at age 97, I was asking her questions about milestones in U.S. history since her birth in 1908. Taking down her personal biography, for our family history I asked what led the list. “FDR,” she said, “kept our country free, when the Depression could have caused a dictatatorship. His decisions gave our little farm town people hope, and he was our best President.” Her mind, unlike her body, was always clear right up to her death. When her eyes could not read the daily paper, she asked us to read her the news and editorials. She never felt any later President could match up. These quotes you’ve blogged today brought all her thoughts back to mind, Thank you. Larry from Springfield,
Something’s going on — it’s the second time today someone has mentioned the FDR memorial to me. I had the pleasure to see it for the first time last fall with my father whose middle name is Delano and who was born when FDR was first elected. Also, recently having read two great books about that time, I have been so proud to be a social worker. Social Workers Frances Perkins and Harry Hopkins were fierce in creating many of the programs of that time that we are benefitting from today — unemployment compensation, labor rules. Thanks for reminding me of the hope, promise and fortitude of the leadership of that time AND I do think it’s really not much different from today.
I doubt if the citizens of Poland, Czechoslovakia, the Baltic States, the former East Germany, and other former Soviet-block countries would be quite as enthusiastic in their praise of FDR. His give-away of Eastern Europe at Yalta doomed these unfortunates to almost 50 years of Communist repression.
Joe, I was wondering if anyone would have the courage to bring that up. Most people today are completely ignorant of that part of world history and the role that FDR played in it. Thank you.
Some Europeans I know feel Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the U.S.’s greatest president. Scholars and average Americans consistently rank him in the top 3 usually after Washington and Lincoln. Washington,DC with its cold monuments is not the best place to get a sense of the man who brought the country programs like the New Deal i.e.Social Security and the Civilian Conservation Corps. Warm Springs, Georgia and FDR’s Little White House, where he went for respite from polio is lovingly managed, homespun-plain, evocative and inviting especially in spring with azaleas in full bloom.
What do your European friends think about the selling out of Eastern Europe to the Soviets after WWII? How do they feel about Harry Truman who oversaw the Marshall plan that saved Europe? Most of my European friends have a dimmer perception of FDR.
Like cats who have lost their whiskers, all of us are occasionally thrown off balance by people who write opinions which conflict with our own. One of the most interesting presidential libraries in the U.S. is located at Independence, Missouri where the Marshall Plan which helped rebuild Europe is explained along with many other Truman Administration accomplishments. After that, it’s only a short drive to the home of Jesse James who left his mark on America for different reasons.
One of the most interesting presidential libraries in the U.S. is located at Independence, Missouri where the Marshall Plan which helped rebuild Europe is explained along with many other Truman Administration accomplishments. I disagree. I would call it the single most interesting presidential library. So, Rick, because you have given us so many recommendations in Europe, would you care to share with us your favorite restaurant in Washington DC?
Thanks Rick. I hope you post this on Facebook. FDR, Lincoln, Washington and Jefferson — all great presidents.
For an alternative but scholarly and well-researched history of FDR and the New Deal, I heartily recommend “The Forgotten Man” by Amity Shlaes. Its full of inconvenient truths about the Depression, for example, the fact that unemployment was almost as high in 1939 as it was in 1933.
Truman had a tough act to follow. He was crusty,a product of the Boss Pendergast machine, threatened to punch a NY critic for criticizing daughter Margaret’s piano recital (she turned out to be a better writer than musician)and hated because he fired that supreme egotist, MacArthur (America’s Caesar). He loved Bess, tho.
The one thing I know is that I am too young to know how life was with FDR. But my parents in their 80’s have lived through a lot diversity and change in their life time. They have seen so many major changes in their 80 years that I don’t think anyone today could really cope and press forward like that generation has done. Of corse they did come out with some adverse effects, but managed to live a long life and take care of themselves and their families. They really have lived a rich life despite it all.
Instead of heeding the words of FDR, we still find wars to fight. Red state, blue state, Obama, Bush, Reid, Palin, health care reform, tea parties, etc…..why can’t Washington get it’s collective act together and our country become one ‘purple’ nation? Political partisanship is dragging us all down to the lowest commmon donominator. We are a great country that deserves better from our elected officials. Perhaps this is why today there is so much interest in the ‘greatest generation’? Vent concluded.
Has anyone noticed that the Pope no longer has syphilis? What’s up with that?
Joe and Louisa: The Yalta “sell-out” has been part of conservative mythology for decades, but it is a myth. Neither FDR nor Churchill–who was hardly pro-Soviet–saw any feasible alternative. The Soviet army was already in occupation of Eastern Europe, a direct consequence of the course of WWII. To remove them would have involved a Third World War….ask a surviving vet the ETO how he feels about the prospect of fighting the Russians after VE Day. And FDR had another concern…the prospect of losing a million men invading Japan. He was desperate to get Russian help. Notice how much tougher Truman could be once the 1st bomb was tested in NM. And Amity Shales? Please, she is a hack. Read a genuine historian’s work, not a Wall Street Journal writer’s hit job.
You are free to believe it’s a myth (it’s not), but why does it have to be a “conservative” myth? Many Europeans that I met immediately after WWII asked, very seriously, why America had not “finished the job.” When I mentioned that Margaret Truman’s criticized concert was a vocal recital, not a piano one, I was only trying to set the record straight, not being critical.
Louisa: I notice that you repeated your claim rather than responding to any of–not my, these are standard arguments among historians of the period–the arguments against the “sell-out” position. Given the tens of millions of dead Europeans, the vast swath of devastation covering much of the continent, the nearly complete economic breakdown of the continent, another war would have been unthinkable. If some Europeans you met were critical of American policy, that is hardly surprising, but not relevant to the core issue–should the US have started a Third World War? I call it a conservative myth because that is what it is. The Republicans ran on the claim of “sell-out” from about 1948 for the next 20 years. Joe McCarthy and John Foster Dulles ranted and raved about how the US gave away eastern Europe. But notice how Dulles, in 1956, refused to intervene in Hungary…it was all hot air, political puffery. Read Gerhard Weinberg’s masterful history of the Second World War, or George F. Kennan’s memoirs to get thoughtful and well-researched accounts of what happened rather than political soundbites.
Rick Steves’ daughter’s study in DC may indeed be enlightening for both. It is inside the Beltway in the sense that many very well compensated people live there and depend upon the US Govt. for their livelihood. There are also lots of poor. DC doesn’t even have a congressional rep who can vote. Lots of crime plus tourism adds to the mix. If you want to understand America, don’t count on “The District” to inform you.
The U.S. Post Service was established in 1775. You have had 234 years to get it right and it is broke. Social Security was established in 1935. You have had 74 years to get it right and it is broke. Fannie Mae was established in 1938. You have had 71 years to get it right and it is broke. War on Poverty started in 1964. You have had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to “the poor” and they only want more. Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. You have had 44 years to get it right and they are broke. Freddie Mac was established in 1970. You have had 39 years to get it right and it is broke. The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. It has ballooned to 16,000 employees with a budget of $24 billion a year and we import more oil than ever before. You had 32 years to get it right and it is an abysmal failure.
The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him. —Leo Tolstoy, 1897
If you want to read a good book on US history from the late 20’s through WWII try David Kennedy’s Freedom from Fear. It’s a fascinating book that opens your eyes to what it was like to live in this time. There are a lot of commonalities. I can add to the list of people whose relatives voted for FDR. Both my immigrant grandparents who came to the US post WWI from the UK voted for FDR. One was a carpenter and the other a nurse and daughter of a schoolmaster. Pam
Exactly who’s “you” Caroline? What country do you hail from?
Alfran glad you asked. I am starting a new Political Party. Not Democrat, Not Republican, Not Independent, Not Tea Party. It’s called the “PISSED OFF PARTY” (or POP) and I am addressing all 535 voting members of the Legislature.
Caroline, what’s “broke” about the U. S. Postal Service? Actually, it was formed in 1969; mail was delivered prior to that by the Post Office Department. The modern USPS handles more mail, more efficiently, to more places, without receiving any tax subsidies from the government, than any other postal organization in the world. Electronic communication is affecting the USPS but the organization is taking steps to address this, while maintaining mail delivery to every american at a standard, very resonable, price. Good luck with your Pissed Off, Ornery Party (Poop).