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James Bovard has reviewed a new biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt by David T. Beito, and considers it an antidote to the FDR cult, portraying Roosevelt as a scoundrel. He very much had his moral failings, and I believe that many of his policies were harmful (not quite the same thing). I am not sure that I would agree with Bovard’s and Beito’s criticisms of Roosevelt for getting us into World War Two. True, he was shifty, and true, American entry into the war cost hundreds of thousands of American lives. On the other hand, not entering the war on the Allied side could have resulted in a world dominated by Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, which might have caused major long-term problems for the United States, to say the least.
I do agree, though, that the New Deal failed to end the Great Depression, did considerable harm of its own, and contributed to a cultural and political shift in favor of activist government that was generally not beneficial, and set us on the road to the current situation of huge deficits and the prospective bankruptcy of Social Security and Medicare.
I do agree, though, that the New Deal failed to end the Great Depression, did considerable harm of its own, and contributed to a cultural and political shift in favor of activist government that was generally not beneficial, and set us on the road to the current situation of huge deficits and the prospective bankruptcy of Social Security and Medicare.
