Franklin D. Roosevelt Quotes
We are spending altogether too much money for government services which are neither practical nor necessary. In addition to this, we are attempting too many functions and we need a simplification of what the Federal government is giving the people.
Most people are surprised that this quotation was from Roosevelt who has for decades been castigated by the right wing as an advocate of large, complex government. He was an advocate for eliminating ineffective programs and trying others until there was success. See {631419}. Also, his most successful programs like Social Security were very simple and not complex. The public could understand them.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1882-194 32nd President of the United States (Democrat, NY), Presidential Campaign Speech, Sioux City, Iowa, September 29, 1932
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
This quotation shows FDR doing something that politicians rarely do. The country was in the midst of the Great Depression and he was running for the Presidency against Herbert Hoover who as President would do little to help the destitute part of the population or improve the economy. Roosevelt did not lay out specific programs which he claimed would fix the problem. He himself really didn’t know for certain what would and what would not. However he promised bold experimentation—trying new things. When he was elected, he was able to fail with one program and just shift to another until enough were successful. But the great contrast was to Hoover who would do little.
Two of the 20th centuries greatest political leaders were Mao Tse-Tung and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In most respects, these two were polar opposites. However, they had one characteristic in common. They were both willing to try things they were not certain of. If they succeeded, make it a part of the national program. If it failed, try something else. See Mao {642795}.
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.
