Becoming a Leader
"Certainly his supporters, and to a degree some of his detractors, agree that the New Deal of Franklin Roosevelt was in many respects a fulfillment of the bold approach that he first outlined."
- Paul Stephen Hudson, 1994
"A Call for 'Bold Persistent Experimentation': FDR’s Oglethorpe University Commencement Address" geogianifo.edu 1933 3/28/15
- Paul Stephen Hudson, 1994
"A Call for 'Bold Persistent Experimentation': FDR’s Oglethorpe University Commencement Address" geogianifo.edu 1933 3/28/15
His experience with leadership began with the 1928 elections in NY. Suffering from polio, he decided to pursue his most vigorous race yet; hammering away at opponents, and ask the public to make their own judgment on the state of his health. He would serve terms as Governor of New York form 1928-1933 pursuing an activist agenda; enhancing the power of state agencies, expanding support for the social services, and increasing regulatory supervision of business. He faced wide-ranging political scandal in 1929 following the stock market crash. Roosevelt, being wary of his administration becoming ensnared, did not address the issue straightforwardly. Seeing the public's outrage, he stopped resisting investigation; most likely learning that direct openness with the public is the best course of action. Roosevelt used most of his time in office preparing for The New Deal. His ideas began surfacing in early campaign speeches;
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Atlanta, GA.
Oct. 24, 1932
".. I have already proposed its reorganization. I am going to insist that we get more service for the farmers for less money.
The first principle of my agricultural program I have already mentioned. It consists of lifting from the back of the farmer some of the crushing burden of taxation that he is carrying.
The second also I have already mentioned. It relates to the farmer’s burden of debt. One of the basic planks in my farm platform is that the situation with regards to farm mortgages be improved to the advantage of the farmer who is struggling to ward off foreclosure and ejectment from his home. I have made that clear in detail, not only at Topeka, but last week in Springfield. I have called attention to the necessity of constructive action in this connection; and in Springfield I said that the seven or more uncoordinated activities of the government with references to farm mortgages be brought into a complete harmonious plan, consistent with the general farm program that I have been discussing.."
"As we approach the end of the 20th century, the figure of Franklin Roosevelt looms ever more imposing in the minds of Americans. In the two centuries or so of our history, it has happened that a few of our leaders—a very few—became symbols of some powerful idea, one that left a permanent imprint on the life of our country."
-Ralph Raico
Raico, Ralph "FDR; The Man, The Leader, The Legacy" theindependent.org 4/1/01 4/13/15
"Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds."
- Franklin Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt "Pan American Day address", April 15, 1939