Franklin D. Roosevelt Quotes


A radical is a man with both feet firmly planted-in the air.


Citations

Roosevelt, Franklin D. "Radio Address to the New York Herald Tribune Forum." 26 Oct. 1939. The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt, vol. 8, Macmillan, 1941, p. 556.

Related Quotes

This is not only attributed by reliable sources but apparently Roosevelt had said this on several occasions. The word “radical” has had different shades of meaning at different periods of American History. The origin of the word from the Latin means someone who wishes to change things very rapidly and not gradually. In the time of the Civil War, the majority of the Republicans proudly referred to themselves as “radicals” or “radical Republicans” because they wanted to abolish slavery immediately. In the late 19th century the word “radical” referred to anarchists. From the Russian Revolution onward “radicals” were communists who presumably wanted to change governments throughout the work through revolution—very rapid change. However, in the early 20th century, radicals were people who wanted to reform and regulate businesses and monopolies rapidly and it is this sense he was a radical. But by style, he was a radical in most things in that he wanted to change things and change them rapidly.


He was referring to the public unrest and dissatisfaction when an middle, poor or impoverished class is ground down by rigid interpretation and contract laws so that people in debt can rarely get out. He argues that this was a stark reality before most revolutions and a primary cause.


The leaders and their members were organizing Civil Rights protests and demonstrations in keys Southern communities. The Southern segregationists commonly referred to the protesters with these three terms. Hoover hated the Civil Rights organizations and many of their leaders and would not allow FBI agents to assure the safety of the demonstrators when they were beaten and brutalized by the Southern law enforcement officers and KKK members—often one and the same as Hoover knew ({637608}). He used the same terms describing the demonstrators as the Southerners did reflecting his biases and sympathies.


Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
  • Born: January 30, 1882
  • Died: April 12, 1945
  • Nationality: American
  • Profession: President

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. A member of the Democratic Party, he won a record four presidential elections and became a central figure in world events during the first half of the 20th century. Roosevelt directed the federal government during most of the Great Depression, implementing his New Deal domestic agenda in response to the worst economic crisis in U.S. history. As a dominant leader of his party, he built the New Deal Coalition, which defined modern liberalism in the United States throughout the middle third of the 20th century. His third and fourth terms were dominated by World War II, which ended shortly after he died in office.