Rate the Presidents, Installment #32: Franklin Delano Roosevelt

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

The best, five stars. If Arthur does better I will pull my hair out.

The people of Hiroshima would like to have a word with you.

We aren't talking about Truman.

[Clark Kent]

Terrible. Japanese internment, the Tuskegee trials, government overreach with the socialistic New Deal, knew about the Holocaust and did nothing, tried to stack the Supreme Court, worked closely with big businesses and established a system of crony capitalism that still affects us, and did not even improve the economy at all. That was World War II.

[SWE]

Terrible. Japanese internment, the Tuskegee trials, government overreach with the socialistic New Deal, knew about the Holocaust and did nothing, tried to stack the Supreme Court, worked closely with big businesses and established a system of crony capitalism that still affects us, and did not even improve the economy at all. That was World War II.

Wait, was he a crony capitalist or a socialist? You lost me.

[Gass3268]

Terrible. Japanese internment, the Tuskegee trials, government overreach with the socialistic New Deal, knew about the Holocaust and did nothing, tried to stack the Supreme Court, worked closely with big businesses and established a system of crony capitalism that still affects us, and did not even improve the economy at all. That was World War II.

Jao?

[Gass3268]

I guess the true question is: is he better than Chester Alan Arthur

If he ends up with a lower score, this series will officially be a failure.

As of now he's even bellow Calvin "My policies helped lead to the Great Depression" Coolidge and Grover "Online Libertarians Love Me" Cleveland.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

The best, five stars. If Arthur does better I will pull my hair out.

The people of Hiroshima would like to have a word with you.

We aren't talking about Truman.

I was assuming Sanchez was making a dark comedic reference to one of the symptoms of radiation poisoning.

[Clark Kent]

Terrible. Japanese internment, the Tuskegee trials, government overreach with the socialistic New Deal, knew about the Holocaust and did nothing, tried to stack the Supreme Court, worked closely with big businesses and established a system of crony capitalism that still affects us, and did not even improve the economy at all. That was World War II.

Wait, was he a crony capitalist or a socialist? You lost me.

Socialism and crony capitalism are not necessarily opposed to each other. Both are systems involving a strong intertwining and close relationship between business and government, and both are opposed to laissez-faire free market capitalism. The only real difference between crony capitalism and socialism is that the government runs the economy through its crony businesses in crony capitalism, while it runs it directly in socialism.

[SWE]

Terrible. Japanese internment, the Tuskegee trials, government overreach with the socialistic New Deal, knew about the Holocaust and did nothing, tried to stack the Supreme Court, worked closely with big businesses and established a system of crony capitalism that still affects us, and did not even improve the economy at all. That was World War II.

Wait, was he a crony capitalist or a socialist? You lost me.

Socialism and crony capitalism are not necessarily opposed to each other. Both are systems involving a strong intertwining and close relationship between business and government, and both are opposed to laissez-faire free market capitalism. The only real difference between crony capitalism and socialism is that the government runs the economy through its crony businesses in crony capitalism, while it runs it directly in socialism.

Stop embarrassing yourself

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

On one hand, I do have to give him credit for guiding the country through two major crisis, although Truman was the one who made the hardest calls in WW2.

However, I think there's a dramatic parallel to Andrew Jackson here, in that he was an effective President while a horrible person, and easily one of the worst Presidents for civil rights and separation of powers.

He attempted to stage a coup of the Supreme Court in the most dramatic overreach of executive power since John Adams.

He heartlessly sent back mass numbers of refugees to die in the Holocaust simply to please his anti-semitic supporters.

He imprisoned a whole ethnic group to pander to racists, while not taking significant action against the active german saboteurs.

On race issues, he was shockingly poor for a self-styled progressive.

Much like Jackson, two stars because his achievements can't be completely erased by his horrific actions.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Clark's increasingly reactionary editorialising had reached such distressing levels that editors at The Daily Planet were forced to let him go. Now he's back for revenge on Atlas Forum...!

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Should be like 20 stars compared to most of the clowns we've had as Presidents.

[ScottieF]

Chester Allen Arthur was a much better president so I don't see what would be so absurd about him getting a higher score.

How so? Provided you're not giving enormous weight to FDR's setbacks (Internment was probably worse than anything Arthur did) I find it hard to believe how anyone can compare the two and come to the conclusion that Arthur is really in the same ballpark.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

The best, five stars. If Arthur does better I will pull my hair out.

The people of Hiroshima would like to have a word with you.

We aren't talking about Truman.

I was assuming Sanchez was making a dark comedic reference to one of the symptoms of radiation poisoning.

I was. I feel now that it was in rather poor taste.

[RogueBeaver]

4 stars.  His leadership during World War II was phenomenal, and even though I think his programs went too far by the mid- to late '30s and may have actually stagnated recovery, it's pretty hard not to respect the poise he held during the Great Depression.  The internment of Japanese Americans, however, was inexcusable.

Also major deduction for court-packing - though in the end FDR did get the results he wanted.

[/]

Fascist=HP. One star

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YES

[JonathanSwift]

Final Result: 3.67 Stars

[Antonio the Sixth]

LOL. At least we beat Cleveland.

[sparkey]

Final Result: 3.67 Stars

FDR got Arthur'd

[SWE]

Chester Allen Arthur was a much better president so I don't see what would be so absurd about him getting a higher score.

How so? Provided you're not giving enormous weight to FDR's setbacks (Internment was probably worse than anything Arthur did) I find it hard to believe how anyone can compare the two and come to the conclusion that Arthur is really in the same ballpark.

Of course they aren't remotely in the same ballpark. Arthur was a top ten president.

[Gass3268]

LOL. At least we beat Cleveland.

LOLibertarians

[Blair]

doesn't this show how skewed Atlas is?

[Mechaman]

Interesting note:

Nobody gave FDR three stars.  This might have affected his overall rating. He's really a "love it or hate it" president.

[Comrade Funk]

Ron Paul got 0 stars

[Rockefeller GOP]

doesn't this show how skewed Atlas is?

Yep: it shows that a tiny minority (~30%) who are obviously going to disapprove of the most liberal President of the Twentieth Century are barely enough to drag FDR's rating below 4 stars.

Some of you whack jobs seem to honestly believe that if this forum isn't 80-90% far left, it's "far right."  Even if you don't like the reality of American politics (which most of our posters are), get some perspective....

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Atlas' skews towards contrarian. Sometimes it is contrarian, it turns contrarian on typical contrarian talking points (e.g. Glorification of failed presidents like LBJ/Nixon/Carter)