Can Biden Be Our F.D.R.?

[Little Raven]

He's off to a good start.

“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it sometimes rhymes,” Mark Twain (supposedly) said. If so, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. could be a couplet. With a few breaks and the skillful execution of what seems to be a smart legislative strategy, President Biden is poised to match F.D.R.’s stunning debut in office.

That doesn’t require Mr. Biden to transform the country before May 1, the end of his first 100 days, the handy if arbitrary marker that Mr. Roosevelt (to the irritation of his successors) laid down in 1933. But for America to “own the future,” as the president promised last month, he needs to do amid the pandemic what Mr. Roosevelt did amid the Depression: restore faith that the long-distrusted federal government can deliver rapid, tangible achievements.

With one of the biggest and fastest vaccination campaigns in the world and the signing of a $1.9 trillion dollar Covid relief package, the president has made a good start at that. His larger aim is to change the country by changing the terms of the debate.
...

A few days after taking office, Mr. Roosevelt attended retired Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes’s 92nd birthday party. After the new president left, Mr. Holmes remarked: “Second-class intellect, first-class temperament.”

The same can be said of Mr. Biden. At 78 (Mr. Roosevelt was 51 when he took office), his persona more snugly resembles grandfatherly Dwight Eisenhower or Ronald Reagan, whose minor verbal slips were also indulged. He is less devious and manipulative than Mr. Roosevelt, and hardly to the manor born. Otherwise they share many traits.

Both men were ennobled by suffering (Mr. Roosevelt’s polio forced him into a wheelchair; Mr. Biden lost his first wife and, over time, two children), which deepened their empathy and connection to people. Before the presidency, both were repeatedly derided as long-winded lightweights destined to sell out liberal principles for votes. Both were seen as too infirm to be nominated by the Democrats, and won in large part because of disgust with their Republican predecessors — Herbert Hoover and Donald Trump, respectively — who mismanaged the crisis of the day.

Both came to office when democracy was at grave risk (many Americans wanted a dictator in 1933) and saw themselves as called to bolster it. As canny politicians with good relationships on Capitol Hill, both learned to surround themselves with smarter people dedicated to making them look good. Up close, both proved hard to dislike. Meeting Mr. Roosevelt was like, as Winston Churchill said, “opening your first bottle of champagne”; meeting Mr. Biden is like one’s first encounter with a tail-wagging therapy dog.

Mr. Roosevelt essentially invented intimacy in mass communications. When he described those listening on the radio as “my friends” and adopted a conversational (as opposed to the usual stentorian) tone, he did for public speaking what Bing Crosby and other crooners did for singing. He recalled that when he was writing his first Fireside Chat, he looked out the window of the White House and saw the inaugural scaffolding being taken down. “I decided I’d try to make a speech that this workman could understand,” he told an aide. He later said he pictured a Hudson River Valley workplace where one man was painting a ceiling, another fixing a car and a third worked at cash register.

Mr. Biden is no great communicator, but his national bedside manner resembles that of “Old Doc Roosevelt.” In his first prime-time address on March 11, he leaned forward as if comforting a patient, shattering any ice of indifference.

Maybe we should have skipped Obama and gone straight for Joe.

[hepcat]

Threads like this are created to fail.

[Little Raven]

No doubt. But we need more threads and fewer mega-threads, damn it. That way someone can necro this in 10 years.

[Jaymann]

Threads like this are created to fail.

Indeed. What kind of name is Robinette?

[hepcat]

No doubt. But we need more threads and fewer mega-threads, damn it. That way someone can necro this in 10 years.

Screw it. I'm putting Godzilla vs. Kong reviews in here!

[LordMortis]

I am more concerned the Biden will be mislabeled our next Jimmy Carter, that continuing and increasing the spending related to COVID relief after years of QE and Don't Call it QE, that inflation is going to spike to level to reflect the increases in the stock market and Joe will be saddled with being the guy in charge when it happened, whether it is reasonable to blame him for all of decisions made between 2011 and 2020 as well as the decisions made under his watch.

At the same time FDR is hated by reputation among our oldest population for being the the man behind government over-reach and is maligned by conspiracy theory more than any one except Hillary. Biden's reputation could rise to that occasion and the Internet is here to help.

, Mr. Roosevelt attended retired Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes’s 92nd birthday party

That is crazy to think about. My father was alive during FDR's tenure (though not old enough to remember it) and Oliver Wendell Holmes (whom I only knew of growing up because he was on the stamp and because of Green Acres reruns) and FDR, as president, spent time with folks who fought in the Civil War.

[Little Raven]

Screw it. I'm putting Godzilla vs. Kong reviews in here!

Ok, now I'm confused. Are you saying that I should have put this into, say, the Biden mega-thread, or that the topic is wholly inappropriate in R&P?

I mean, it's an editorial from the Grey Lady herself. This isn't exactly the fringes of political discourse.

[hepcat]

Sorry, that was a callback to the hbo max thread which resulted in a new thread for similar reasons. I thought you were referring to that and made a joking reference to it.

[Little Raven]

Sorry, that was a callback to the hbo max thread which resulted in a new thread for similar reasons. I thought you were referring to that and made a joking reference to it.

Oh. No worries, man.

[El Guapo]

What does Biden think of Godzilla vs. Kong, though?

[hepcat]

Starting a new thread now. Hold on.

[Kraken]

To address the topic question: Biden is off to a very impressive start. His motives are pure and he has experience and skill. He also has a razor-thin margin in Congress and a hostile SCOTUS, so he's limited to the presidency's dictatorial powers plus what he can do with the Senate's reconciliation rule. In his favor, as long as Florida Man keeps working to divide and cripple the GOP, Biden has a shot at four years of Dem control -- maybe even consolidated. Republicans are going to bring a wave of crazy in '22 that isn't going to favor them.

Short answer...yes, Biden is already changing the trajectory of government for the better. Some pundits believe that he's already banished the ghost of Ronald Reagan. Whether that lasts past his term depends on passing the For the People Act, as well as on the unexpected corporate resistance to voter suppression laws. If Republicans can cheat their way back to power, Biden is a blip.

[Jaymann]

Andrew deGrandpre
@adegrandpre
Scoop —> Biden will withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021 Via ⁦@missy_ryan
⁩ & ⁦@karendeyoung1
⁩
About effing time!

[Zaxxon]

Short answer...yes, Biden is already changing the trajectory of government for the better. Some pundits believe that he's already banished the ghost of Ronald Reagan. Whether that lasts past his term depends on passing the For the People Act, as well as on the unexpected corporate resistance to voter suppression laws. If Republicans can cheat their way back to power, Biden is a blip.

I endorse this post.

[Carpet_pissr]

What does Biden think of Godzilla vs. Kong, though?

Totally irrelevant. Readers demand to know what Godzilla thinks of King Biden!

[YellowKing]

I think a combination of factors - the mass destruction left in the wake of the Trump presidency, the multiple urgent crises, and yes, even Biden's age have culminated in a sense of presidential urgency I can't recall seeing in my lifetime. Sure, all presidents typically want to rack up accomplishments in the first 100 days, but Biden's pushes seem to carry some real weight behind them. These are not small asks, and I get the feeling that this is how he plans to lead well beyond the first 3 months.

Even if he backs off the gas pedal a bit as time goes on, it's just an overwhelming relief to have someone at the helm that has some compassion and knows how to surround himself with the right people.

[Pyperkub]

Side note WRT to FDR.

It is quite possible to make the argument that FDR was a conservative defender of the US. Think about the times and what was happening in the US and other countries.

Massive Economic Depression *everywhere*
Fascist revolutions in Germany, Italy, Spain etc.
Communist revolutions in Russia and China etc.

One can definitely make the argument that FDR's agenda was a conservative response/experiment in keeping America as America as conservatively as possible to rather extremely revolutionary times and that FDR's reforms were conservative methods of preventing more radical changes.

[Zarathud]

Competency matters.

Biden realizes Republicans aren’t well organized at the moment, so he’s trying to force them to negotiate with big asks and the threat of reconciliation plus corporate tax hikes.

[El Guapo]

Yeah, to address the main question here - Biden has a shot to reach FDR-levels, but it's pretty unlikely. If he can win reelection, and if Democrats can maintain control of Congress for more than 2 years, then he should be able to do a lot of good, and he's more likely than not to be remembered as a good president. In terms of reaching the "great president" tier, I think he would need to either: (1) "fix" our politics, even if that just consisted of holding the line against Republican autocracy until enough Rush / Trump voters die; and/or (2) come up with some enduring solution on climate change issues.

[Holman]

Side note WRT to FDR.

It is quite possible to make the argument that FDR was a conservative defender of the US. Think about the times and what was happening in the US and other countries.

Massive Economic Depression *everywhere*
Fascist revolutions in Germany, Italy, Spain etc.
Communist revolutions in Russia and China etc.

One can definitely make the argument that FDR's agenda was a conservative response/experiment in keeping America as America as conservatively as possible to rather extremely revolutionary times and that FDR's reforms were conservative methods of preventing more radical changes.

I always wonder why conservatives don't revere FDR as the world leader who single-handedly saved capitalism domestically and did more than any other to save it internationally.

[Pyperkub]

Side note WRT to FDR.

It is quite possible to make the argument that FDR was a conservative defender of the US. Think about the times and what was happening in the US and other countries.

Massive Economic Depression *everywhere*
Fascist revolutions in Germany, Italy, Spain etc.
Communist revolutions in Russia and China etc.

One can definitely make the argument that FDR's agenda was a conservative response/experiment in keeping America as America as conservatively as possible to rather extremely revolutionary times and that FDR's reforms were conservative methods of preventing more radical changes.

I always wonder why conservatives don't revere FDR as the world leader who single-handedly saved capitalism domestically and did more than any other to save it internationally.

Mostly because they weren't there and weren't really paying attention, IMHO. Laissez Faire government fantasy of it working with everything going to shit to justify doing nothing, kind of like today, IMHO.

[LordMortis]

Get these mutts away from me
You know, I don't find this stuff amusing anymore


If you'll be my FDR
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Biden
And Biden, when you call me, you can call me Al


A man walks down the street
He says, "Why am I short of attention?
Got a short little span of attention
And, whoa, my nights are so long
Where's my wife and family?
What if I die here?
Who'll be my role model
Now that my role model is gone, gone?"
He ducked back down the alley
With some roly-poly little bat-faced girl
All along, along
There were incidents and accidents
There were hints and allegations

[Zarathud]

Biden certainly drives the right car for it.

[Drazzil]

No.

[hepcat]

No.

Why, what’s wrong with that car?