Amity Shlaes reminds us--and Democrats especially--why Barack Obama’s frequent invocations of Franklin Delano Roosevelt ought not to be looked upon with complete satisfaction. FDR’s successes as an electoral politician and war president notwithstanding, he left a good deal to be desired when it came to his approach to a faltering economy. Shlaes shows why FDR may be exactly the wrong guy to conjure up at this moment in our history and also why her book, The Forgotten Man, should be on all of our nightstands as we watch the first 100 days of an Obama administration.
It's the scope of FDR's ambition that attracts Obama. Again, as I've written on this site before, the proper comparison is found in Lincoln's Perpetuation Address.
Shlaes' description of FDR setting the price of gold is a great description of a modern, scientific tyrant. Obama will not be as cavalier.
Post-modern tyranny? Ooh, I smell a book.