Walter Lippmann Quotes
He has not a good enough grasp of issues nor the power of quick and firm decision to withstand the withering fire which the Republicans would subject him to.
Referring to Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt—then contesting for the Democratic presidential nomination:
Walter Lippmann, 1889-1974, Political Columnist, 1932
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Lippmann was the leading political pundit of the time. He, like many others, totally underestimated Roosevelt whose easy-going manner, and non ideological style tended to put off ideologues and some intellectuals. See {609696}.
Kennedy himself was a master trader and negotiator. This was a facet of FDR that most people at the time missed. FDR was always so jovial and friendly, and had staff do all his dirty work, that many people underestimated FDR in many ways. See {609696}. And {615600}.
In 1933 the incoming President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, personally took charge of the U. S. delegation at the World Disarmament Conference in Geneva, much to the disappointment of professional diplomats at the State Department:
Carlyle was of the opinion that legislators do not make good executives, managers, or leaders. Many in modern America agree.
This quotation illustrates an interesting phenomenon in American Presidential Politics. There have been Democratic Presidents (FDR and Obama are the most glaring examples) for whom there was vituperative hatred and derision from the conservative Republicans who would frequently refer to them as Socialists and would believe that they were trying to lead the country on the path to socialism. The Presidents always stated that they were opposed to socialism, but to little avail with their conservative haters. But the socialists of the times and even the left wing of the Democratic Party not only did not see them as socialists, but were not very supportive or complementary of their skills and capabilities. Roosevelt reveled in the situation and “welcomed: their hate. Obama was more of a public centrist who tried to avoid the president getting involved in the extreme partisanship of the day.
This was written by a French Journalist who had been assigned to America for 7 years when he wrote this in 1939. WWII was just breaking out in Europe. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was in his 3rd term of office (of 4) and since George Washington was the most popular American President, yet he had strong conservative critics and enemies.
Ford was outraged about the President’s administration making rules and regulations to cope with the worst economic crash in American History. Former President Hoover had been voted out of office because philosophically he believed like Ford that the Federal Government should not be actively involved with private business and the economy. Some view regulation as meddling and interference while others see it as fulfilling its responsibility for the majority of citizens. See {642381} for Ford’s view of the Great Depression.
- Born: September 23, 1889
- Died: December 14, 1974
- Nationality: American
- Profession: Writer, Journalist, Political Commentator
Walter Lippmann was an American writer, reporter and political commentator. With a career spanning 60 years he is famous for being among the first to introduce the concept of Cold War, coining the term "stereotype" in the modern psychological meaning, as well as critiquing media and democracy in his newspaper column and several books, most notably his 1922 book Public Opinion.
