Episode 15: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Part I

Season 1

Jan 14

Show Notes

Overview:

Today’s episode is all about Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Actually, we have two episodes for you on FDR. He’s that important, and being the only person ever elected to the White House four times, he was also in office long enough to have created several legacies when issues of race arise. Just how important was he? Well, here’s one way to look at it: there have been three true existential crises in American history, moments not just of stress or strife, but perilous times when the very existence of the republic seemed threatened.

The first was when the nation formed; and when it was led by George Washington.

The Second was when it nearly perished in the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln was the man in charge then.

The third was the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt’s time. More than an economic crisis, the depth of the depression caused many in the United States to question if this democracy thing was really worth the effort—or even functional in a modern industrialized world. You don’t have to take our word for it, the people at the time let us know that democracy had one more chance to work. A quarter of Americans were out of work in March of 1933 when FDR took office. Millions were homeless; millions more hungry. And it had been this way for years.

Newly sworn in, Roosevelt told Americans they had nothing to fear but fear itself, but while that was the most-remembered line from his inauguration speech, rather it was his pledge to assume full executive authority if needed. And the crowd greeted this promise—to use full power—with a standing ovations and sustained cheers.

Why does this matter, especially for our story of race and the presidency? First, FDR’s speech shows the crisis nature of the moment, and helps explain how he sometimes felt that he had to trade racial equity for political expediency. Second, democracy was on the brink, and that ultimately, was a race issue. If democracy dies, who gets to participate in the democracy becomes an irrelevant question. You have to save democracy in order to expand it.

But it didn’t die. The Depression lasted throughout the thirties, and World War II followed soon after. The country eventually triumphing over each under FDR’s leadership.

So who was this guy? Born to wealth and privilege, educated at Harvard, married to another Roosevelt from an even more prominent branch of the family tree, FDR had everything. He was smart, good looking, and his political future seemed boundless. He was Assistant Secretary of the Navy during World War I—Uncle Teddy’s old job—and then the Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate in 1920. The Democrats lost his year, but everyone knew Roosevelt was the party’s future.

Then he was smacked by the hand of destiny. He fell ill after swimming with boy scouts at a park near his home in New York and never walked again. It was, most likely, polio, and I say most likely only because medical historians have of late suggested other sinister diseases were to blame, but no matter the diagnosis, the result was clear. He was paralyzed and, not surprisingly, devastated. Yet in time he rallied, drawing on reserves of inner strength he never before knew existed, retraining both his body and his mind, and re-entering the political arena in 1928 when he appeared at the Democratic National Convention. The crowd, we are told, gave him a standing ovation that lasted more than an hour.

Four years later he’d be president, presiding over some of the worst times in the nation’s history, and I would argue he never would have become the great leader the moment required, had he not gotten sick. Lying on his back, unable to move, he learned something invaluable…he learned empathy. He’d done nothing more wrong than go for a swim, and suffered the rest of his life for it. Thus when he looked out over the national landscape in 1933 and saw millions of Americans who’d done nothing wrong, who’d played by the rules, yet whose lives were utterly devastated, well he understood that this was the moment they needed their government most.

What followed changed American politics and society forever. His New Deal put millions to work, gave millions more health care, education, and the same social security system still in use today—granted, it’s been updated a little since then.

He also led the nation to victory in World War II—a global war to defend democracy and defeat fascism. And yet, while fighting the war abroad against fascism and the war against poverty and suffering at home, he often failed communities at home. His New Deal programs sometimes didn’t extend to people of color, he often failed to take a stand against Jim Crow laws in order to keep southern Democrats in his corner, and he ordered thousands of Japanese Americans (many of whom were born in the US) interned in concentration camps.

There’s so much to talk about that we’ve given him two episodes. On part one of the FDR episodes, we spoke with Dr. Eric Rauchway, a Distinguished Professor of History at the University of California, Davis and the author of several influential books on FDR, including his latest, Winter War. Professor Rauchway gave us a fantastic overview of FDR’s entire presidency from the New Deal to World War II, and offers a great introduction to the racial issues during this period. It’s such a long, important period, that we wanted to provide a comprehensive picture of FDR’s administration first.

Next week we’ll talk about the role of African Americans in FDR’s administration, racial and labor tensions on the U.S.-Mexico border, and Japanese Internment. You won’t want to miss those conversations.

Together our scholars pointed out a couple of things. Roosevelt’s complexity. The rising enthusiasm among African-Americans in particular for rights commensurate with their wartime service, and yet their unequal treatment during both the New Deal and World War II. They also pointed out that, as we’ve come to learn for sure, America’s history of race relations goes far beyond merely black and white.

Guests:

Dr. Eric Rauchway is an expert on on U.S. policy, social, and economic history from the Civil War through the Second World War. He has consulted for government and private agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice and a major Hollywood studio, and in addition to his books, has written about history for a variety of publications, including the Times Literary Supplement and the New York Times.

Professor Rauchway's recent research focuses on the New Deal and the Second World War. He has written several books on how federal policy affects the US economy, and how the economy—international and domestic—influences U.S. policy. His research has been featured in the New York Times and on National Public Radio. His newest book, Winter War: Hoover, Roosevelt, and the First Clash Over the New Deal, was published in 2018.

Selected Publications

Rauchway, E. (2018) Winter War: Hoover, Roosevelt, and the First Clash Over the New Deal. Basic Books.
Rauchway, E. (2015) The Money Makers: How Roosevelt and Keynes Ended the Depression, Defeated Fascism, and Secured a Prosperous Peace. Basic Books.
Rauchway, E. (2008) The Great Depression and the New Deal: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press.
Rauchway, E. (2006) Blessed Among Nations: How the World Made America. Hill & Wang.
Rauchway, E. (2003) Murdering McKinley: The Making of Theodore Roosevelt's America. Hill & Wang.
Rauchway, E. (2001) The Refuge of Affections: Family and American Reform Politics, 1900-1920. Columbia University Press.

Select Awards

Visiting Fellow, Corpus Christi College, Oxford, Trinity Term, 2011
Distinguished Lecturer, Organization of American Historians, 2010-2016
Distinguished Teaching Award, Academic Senate, UC Davis, 2010
Chancellor's Fellow, UC Davis, 2003-2008
M.A. by special resolution of congregation, Oxford University, 1998

Follow Dr. Rauchway on Twitter.

Dr. Rauchway’s website.

Episode 15: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Part I

Show Notes

Overview:

Guests:

Further Readings

Episode 16: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Part II

Episode 14: January 6, 2021 Insurrection