Sad, isn’t it? How the corrupt, good old boys have forced the nomination of such a weak establishment candidate at a time when we need an uncompromising warrior for the people. If only we had the kind of president we once did…
Funny, though. Nobody really thought of him as a populist. A lot of people didn’t think much of him at all.
He was a straight up machine Democrat, who, aided by cynical political managers, had worked through just the right elected and appointed positions to acquire the credentials to run for president.
If you read the contemporary press, half the country thought he was a dangerous socialist out to destroy capitalism. The other half was convinced he was a puppet of big money interests he’d come from, someone who could never be trusted to put the regular working man first.
And the worst fears of both groups came to pass. This canny, callous pol used his knowledge of the system and the opportunity of crisis to fashion a welfare state that gave millions of people free stuff and make-work jobs, all the while not smashing the big banks and financial houses that had caused so many so much grief. He established an imperial presidency, illegally manipulating the courts to force his insitutionalized socialism on the American public.
There were a few prominent pols to his left, who felt his measures were too weak, that he’d sold out to the financiers with whom he was so cozy. Still, they never achieved anything like what he did, mostly being marginal, regional figures with big plans and no specifics who never really did more than give popular speeches.
On foreign policy, he was viewed just as schizophrenically. Half saw his as a weakling wonk who thought his brief stint in one job qualified him as an expert in military and diplomatic affairs. Others thought him a dangerous hawk who was too ready to go to war.
And they were all right. And all wrong. His willingness to compromise with all sides while insisting on real reform allowed the country to slowly emerge from a decade of economic crisis. His insistence on robust engagement in global affairs literally saved the dream of democracy throughout the world.
Yeah. That wild-eyed redistributionist bankers’ cat’s paw pantywaist warmonger weakling tyrant.
If only we had real Democrats like him today.