Franklin Delano Roosevelt

He is my favourite president of all time, he is truly the leader of the Democrats like Reagan is to the Republicans. So I have to ask, what did FDR stand for on these issues? I know most of what he did except for in depth stuff like this...

Abortion
Affirmative Action(if he had the chance to vote on it, what would he think?)
Gay marriage
School Prayer
Death Penalty
'Three Strikes'
Gun ownership
Universal Healthcare
Social Security
Private Schools
Preserving Nature
Drug Use
Church welfare
Progressive Taxation
Immigration
Global Trade(Was he for Free Trade, Fair Trade, or Protectionism?)
Size of military
Political Campaign funding
Civil Liberties
And was he for or against war?

If you can answer as many of these questions as possible i would be very greatefull.

Also there is a rumor online that Pearl Harbor was staged so that we could enter WW2 is that true?

[edit on 2/16/10 by Misoir]

I can't answer all of these, but I'll try to hit a few.



Abortion: I don't know for sure but I don't even think this issue was ever even discussed politically in those days. As far as I know, there were no safe or accepted methods of doing abortion in a clinical setting. Women have used various herbs and other methods for hundreds of years to abort, but the issue was always cloaked in secrecy and taboo until the 1960s.

Affirmative Action: Racial segregation was still in effect during his administration and he did nothing to stop it. There were seperate water fountains, restrooms, and restaurant seatings for blacks and whites. Given this level of segregation, there is no way affirmative action was even considered by any politicians of that era.

Gay marriage: I think homosexuality itself was a highly taboo topic in those days and there were no serious political debates about gay marriage until the 1990s or so. The very idea was totally alien to the time and culture in which FDR was president.

School Prayer: School prayer took place in most public and private schools during FDR's administration.

Gun ownership: Very few people questioned gun ownership in those days and FDR certainly never made any moves to restrict it.

Social Security: FDR laid the foundations for the modern social security system.

Private Schools: He was a graduate of the exclusive Groton prep school and Harvard university.

Preserving Nature: Was not even an issue in those days.

Drug Use: FDR experimented with opium during his days at Harvard. There were no laws against narcotics whatsoever in the US until the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1927. FRD grew up in a time when this was essentially a non-issue, although he did nothing to challenge or repeal the Harrison act.

Immigration: There were no limits on immigration in those days and he was not among those who opposed it.

Size of military: He expanded the millitary and military spending by fighting World War II. The cynical might say this was a ploy to escape the Great Depression rather than an idealistic move, but regardless of the reasons, nobody disputes he massively expanded the military by fighting an enormous two-front war.

And was he for or against war?: See above. Since he fought WWII, I think it would be hard to claim he was "against war." In those days, the Republicans were the isolationist/anti-war party for the most part, although very few politicians on either side of the spectrum strongly opposed WWII.

Also there is a rumor online that Pearl Harbor was staged so that we could enter WW2 is that true?: No rational Japanese have ever claimed that they did not attack Pearl Harbor, or claimed that it was staged by the US, so it seems highly unlikely that it was "staged." It could be argued that the Western powers boxed Japan into a position where they were forced to fight by cutting off their oil supplies (Indonesia), but this is also a contentious point.


[edit on 2/16/10 by silent thunder]

reply to post by Misoir


Dear Misoir

From Misoir “Also there is a rumor online that Pearl Harbor was staged so that we could enter WW2 is that true?”

Sorry I am not American so I know nothing about the other subjects.

However yes the Pearl Harbor attack was part of a 7 point plan to ensure that the Japanese attacked something anything for that matter to enable the US to enter WW2.

There was a NG documentary on the subject that I saw not long ago.

FDR new that the US had to be in there after a meeting with Albert Einstein in 1938. You can see why here nuclearweaponarchive.org... this is one of the reasons why 9/11 is so obvious.

reply to post by silent thunder


Thank you very much, I love to learn more about FDR and you really helped.

reply to post by MAC269


Yeah I figured if this was the truth(which there is no facts to say it was) I would be pretty mad at FDR. He would be more like Bush than any other president and that would be unnacceptable. So unless anyone has 99% proof I will just keep it as a consideration. But you did make a compelling argument.

Originally posted by silent thunder
Preserving Nature: Was not even an issue in those days.

I disagree.

For one there was the Civilian Conservation Corps

The CCC became one of the more popular New Deal programs among the general public, providing economic relief, rehabilitation and training for a total of 3 million men. The CCC also provided a comprehensive work program that combined conservation, renewal, awareness and appreciation of the nation's natural resources.[3]

Besides, his "religion" does have respect for nature.

reply to post by Misoir


Dear Misoir

In my opinion you should not judge FDR badly on this unlike BUSH.

Because he in fact saved the people of the US from nuclear war in the short years to come by this action.

Britain hung on by the skin of is very teeth in the 3rd and 4th quarters of 1940. If it had been lost at that time there could have been no D day. It would have been totally impossible. Perhaps even today.

Hitler would have consolidated his power in Europe and proceeded to develop nuclear weapons. The V2 was already under development and the intercontinental ballistic missile would have been only a few years away.

So in my opinion FDR saved the people of the USA from that, Bush however is an entirely a different story.

reply to post by EnlightenUp


Good point, I stand corrected. There were a bunch of CCC-planted trees near where I grew up. I always thought it was more of a "make-work" exercise, like the other FDR "alphabet soup" programs, than anything based in actual desire for conservation. Perhaps I'm wrong, though.

Originally posted by Misoir
He is my favourite president of all time, he is truly the leader of the Democrats like Reagan is to the Republicans. So I have to ask, what did FDR stand for on these issues? I know most of what he did except for in depth stuff like this...

Abortion
Affirmative Action(if he had the chance to vote on it, what would he think?)
Gay marriage
School Prayer
Death Penalty
'Three Strikes'
Gun ownership
Universal Healthcare
Social Security
Private Schools
Preserving Nature
Drug Use
Church welfare
Progressive Taxation
Immigration
Global Trade(Was he for Free Trade, Fair Trade, or Protectionism?)
Size of military
Political Campaign funding
Civil Liberties
And was he for or against war?

If you can answer as many of these questions as possible i would be very greatefull.

Also there is a rumor online that Pearl Harbor was staged so that we could enter WW2 is that true?

[edit on 2/16/10 by Misoir]

Regarding Pearl Harbor, if we would have connected the dots in time, he could have ordered all ships to sea save a few token vessals, and we might have been spared the terrible destruction and loss of life. We could have intercepted the attacking planes as they approached Pearl Harbor, and greatly reduced damage on the ground and in the harbor. My background includes cryptology and I know we were intercepting and decoding information left right and center. The VERY BIG problem was code breaking was not co-ordinated. You had navel intelligence, army G2, a rash of government diplomatic codes such as state department, white house FBI, even private corporate codes.

Every one was getting a piece of what was going on, but it was like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle with most of the parts there, we just diden't know how they fit. I have no doubt the president did not know about this attack ahead of time. Period. To address some of the issues you mentioned; Abortion, it was just not allowed any where. The little minds of that age made no exceptions even when the mothers life was at stake. I always love it when there are those more concerned about the unborn then the born. Affirmative action. No action there unless he listend to his wife. She was very pro civil rights. Gay marriage. You got to be kidding. No way.

School prayer; Most likely he would have taken no stance. It was commen in public schools at that time. Death penalty; Also was just accepted and not thought of as wrong. Three strikes; He may have liked the idea, but his thoughts on the law are pretty thin. Gun ownership; Also something he would not have thought that much about except in the 1930's cops were being mowed down because the crooks were better armed then the cops. This resulted in the laws that said you coulden't buy or have a machine gun.

Universal health care; Since he just was able to pass social security laws, he most likely would not want to push his luck. A little side note. Truman was working on such a health care plan when the Korean war broke out. If it had not, who knows. Mention private schools and I think he would have givin you a blank stare. Preserving nature; TR was a true environmentalist in every sense of the word. There is nothing published about FDR that I've read that ever gave a hint on FDR's views on this. Safe to say FDR was no Johny Appleseed.

Drug use; Drug use was thought of as a issue with minorities at that time. It was pure racisim. And god help us if our lilly white children get infected with this scum. Church welfare; most likely he would have thought if a church can provide services cheaper then the government, why not. Progressive taxation; In truth he never had the time to get that far. The largest tax increase in US history, accross the board in real dollars was put in place to fund WW-2. He diden't live to see the end of the war so we will never know. Immigration; In the 1930's due to the crash this was cut to the bone. Only people with rare and unique skills had a good chance of getting in. Like Fermi, Einstien, etc. In the fourties we needed farm labor very badly, so a lot of people from Mexico came in at that time. In this sense he was just very practicle.

Global trade; Thats a complicated question to answer because the depression was not caused by the crash of 1929. It was caused by nations closing themselves off from imports from other nations. It was a domino effect once one nation did it they all did. Even today some Republicans still have their head stuck up their 1929 ass. Military size; FDR knew we were faced with very nasty nations arrayed against us. To win WW-2, we would need every available man to ensure our nation had the best chance of defeating what was perhaps the greatest evil the world had ever known. I don't think FDR thought to much about what we would do after the war. First, he just wanted to win.

Campaign funding. It's safe to say in those days elections were won by the old boy network. The first time my Mom went to vote, (in Chicago of course), the campaign worker met my Mom at the polling center entrance, and as he shook her hand, he tried to slip her a ten dollar bill (a lot of money in 1950). Mom was polite as always but she gave the money back. Thats just the way things were done in those days as they were done when FDR was alive.

Civil liberties; FDR was up against a bunch of fricken screaming southern racists. His first goal was to get us out of the depression, and later win the war. Had he lived longer, who knows. For or against war; I have no doub't FDR was itching to get the US into the war as soon as he could get away with it. And for a very good reason. He knew if England fell we would be next.. It was anticipated (today we call it war gaming) that if that happend both Japan and Germany would be emboldend. We could expect landings of enemy troops on the east and west coast of the United States. Trying to dislodge that cancer could damn well kill the patient