Franklin D. Roosevelt

A Year After Joe Biden Election, Major Economic Advancements In Midst Of COVID 19 Pandemic!

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A year since Joe Biden was elected President, the nation has seen major economic advancements in the midst of the COVID 19 Pandemic.

We have seen 5.6 million jobs created, the greatest of any President in nine months in office.

We have seen 531,000 jobs created in October alone.

We have a 4.6 percent unemployment rate, similar to what Barack Obama left the nation when he finished his Presidency in January 2017.

The Stock Market is at an all time high as I write this!

We have seen major Pandemic relief legislation, and now a massive Physical Infrastructure bill ready to be signed by Joe Biden.

The Social Infrastructure legislation is making progress, at a lower rate than originally planned, but still in the range of $1.75 trillion.

We are seeing greater progress than was possible by Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and even Barack Obama in their first year.

Joe Biden is on the way to being the most successful domestic President since Lyndon B. Johnson and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

This is the time to promote and publicize the great advancements, and make the case for the Democrats to have expanded majorities in both houses of Congress in 2022 and beyond.

Theodore Roosevelt 163rd Anniversary Of His Birth At Time Of Destruction Of His Reform Efforts

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Theodore Roosevelt, the second greatest Republican President (after Abraham Lincoln), born on this day in 1858, represented progressive reform, the use of the federal government to promote and monitor political and economic reform.

He saw the danger of unbridled capitalism, and the need to recognize labor rights.

He saw the need for political reforms, bringing government closer to its citizens, through the utilization of direct primaries, initiatives, referendums, the recall method, women’s suffrage, and proposals to modify the powers of the Supreme Court and the life term of its membership.

He wanted limits on outside groups spending on political campaigns, which he saw as undermining American democracy.

He was the heroic promoter of the environment, regarded as the greatest President on conservation of natural resources, and the promotion of the expansion of national parks and monuments.

He was the first President to suggest the need for a national health care program, and so much of his agenda on social and economic reform came about with the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson, and now, Joe Biden wishes to extend what TR first promoted more than a century ago!

His 1912 Progressive (Bull Moose) Party had a platform that makes it seem more like 2012, and he still represents the Republican Party at its best since the time of Abraham Lincoln, and particularly as compared to now. The Republicans have become a Fascist authoritarian party that is undermining American democracy, and working to limit the right to vote despite the various constitutional amendments (15, 19, 23, 24, 26) to insure that right, along with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

TR was certainly imperfect, as he promoted white supremacy typical of his time, and was imperialistic in his treatment of Latin America, as well as his promotion of an expansion of the military, but it is clear he would repudiate the Republican Party of the 2020s.

And notice how the Republican Party glorifies Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, NOT Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt!

The Presidency And Native Americans

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A recent article on History News Network has rated Presidents on “Integrity and Humanity in Dealing with Native American Nations”, a significant analysis of how the “original” Americans have been treated by American government.

It is not a positive picture overall, and we have had Presidents who were particularly horrid in their treatment of native Americans, and others who had a more open minded and considerate reaction to the plight of native Americans.

The list of Presidents who are seen as villains includes:

Thomas Jefferson
Andrew Jackson
Martin Van Buren
Andrew Johnson
James Garfield
Theodore Roosevelt
Donald Trump

The list of Presidents who are seen as reformers includes:

John Quincy Adams
Calvin Coolidge
Herbert Hoover
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry Truman
Lyndon B. Johnson
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Bill Clinton
Barack Obama

Overall, sadly, native Americans were treated with violence, disrespect and paternalism, with their lands stolen, and forced out of their ancestral lands!

The Afghanistan Crisis Likely Insures A One Term Joe Biden Presidency

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Only about one of every three Presidents historically (14 of 44) through Inauguration Day 2021 has served two terms:

George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
James Monroe
Andrew Jackson
Ulysses S. Grant
Grover Cleveland
Woodrow Wilson
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Ronald Reagan
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush
Barack Obama

Additionally, 7 others served more than one term, but not two complete terms:

Abraham Lincoln
William McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt
Calvin Coolidge
Harry Truman
Lyndon B. Johnson
Richard Nixon

And only Lincoln, McKinley, and Nixon were actually elected to two terms, so a total of 17 Presidents elected twice, while TR, Coolidge, Truman, and Johnson succeeded after deaths of their predecessor, and were only elected once to the Presidency.

So a total of 21 Presidents served more than four years, although Lincoln and McKinley for just a few months more, and Coolidge, Johnson and Nixon only months more than a year. So only TR and Truman were very close to two complete terms. Ultimately, 16 out of 44 basically served two terms.

Now we can add Joe Biden to the list of those who will not serve two terms or even be elected a second time, as with the Afghanistan debacle, it seems certain that he will not run again in 2024!

56th Anniversary Of Medicare And Medicaid: A Salute To Lyndon B. Johnson And The Great Society!

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The nation is celebrating the 56th Anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid, a time to salute President Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society of the 1960s.

It is impossible to imagine how much worse off this nation would be if Johnson had not used his powers of “Wheeling and Dealing” to accomplish the health care legislation which has saved millions of American lives in the past half century, and made the lives of the elderly, the disabled, and the poor far better.

Government is not there just for the wealthy to get tax breaks, but also to serve the needs of the American people, and it is soothing to know how much Medicare and Medicaid have changed the lives of the American people.

Along with Social Security, passed into law under Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal in 1935, Medicare and Medicaid have transformed lives over the decades, despite the naysayers, mostly conservatives and Republicans, who love to call these laws “Socialism”!

If these transformational legislative achievements are “Socialism”, so be it!

Six Month Anniversary Of President Joe Biden: A Positive Change And High Public Opinion Ratings!

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Today, July 20, marks the six month Anniversary of the Joe Biden Presidency!

What a vastly different six months these have been, and Joe Biden’s public opinion ratings rank in the high 50s to low 60s, depending on which assessment is examined.

Many problems have arisen, as with any President who comes into office, but Biden is pushing ahead on infrastructure legislation, and wants a large “human infrastructure” bill, based on “reconciliation”, 50 Democratic votes and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema continue to present problems in trying to overcome the filibuster, and may prevent progress on voting rights, very sad indeed.

Foreign policy issues are rearing their ugly head, including new ones on Cuba and Haiti in just the last few weeks.

This along with the usual foreign policy challenges, with Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.

Environmental progress has been outstanding, and while the unvaccinated remain a problem with the Delta Variant of COVID 19, and the unhelpful propaganda against vaccination by right wing media, it is still amazing how many Americans have already shown patriotism and common sense on this matter.

If only Joe Biden had the conditions of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933-1936 and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1964-1966, he would have been able to accomplish much more, but still there is optimism, and the hope is for greater progress in the next six months!

Joe Biden And The True Meaning Of Patriotism: Get Vaccinated!

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President Joe Biden gave a memorable Independence Day speech from the White House last evening.

It was truly inspiring, and showed that Joe Biden knows how to deliver a message of unity and patriotism in a manner which he will be remembered in the long run of history.

Joe Biden is a man of great compassion, empathy, decency, sincerity, and dignity, and exudes optimism about the American future, that democracy will survive, and that the threat of white supremacy and hatred will be overcome.

One gets the feeling that Joe Biden will go down history in the same way of uniting the nation at a difficult time that George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt at other times of threat to the American nation.

And Joe Biden gave us a closing message:

If one is truly patriotic, one would get the COVID 19 vaccinations to protect themselves, their family members, their friends, their neighbors, and even strangers, as vaccination is the way to preserve, protect and defend America and the world!

There is no justification, none, for being selfish, self centered, egotistical, and uncaring about others, and all such people need to be ostracized as disgraces to the human race!

Joe Biden Hits A Grand Slam Homerun, And Tim Scott Strikes Out!

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President Joe Biden hit a grand slam homerun last night in his speech before a joint session of Congress, but with only 200 members present due to the COVID 19 Pandemic.

Anyone who watched and listened knows he gave a sensational speech, and this author is disgusted with those critics who claim Biden is demented, and has early Alzheimers, when he gave his speech with a great delivery, and has never in office shown any signs of such a condition, other than an occasional stutter, a problem that he had as a young man, and can revive as one gets older.

Biden has grand plans that will be difficult to accomplish as compared to Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B, Johnson, as both Presidents had massive Democratic margins when they were President, and promoting the New Deal and Great Society.

The belief is that Biden will accomplish more than any President in domestic affairs in the last half century, however, and vast margins of public opinion in the 60s range supports such efforts.

Meanwhile, the Republican party opposition thought they would do well with the only African American Republican Senator, Tim Scott, giving the response to the President’s address. But clearly, Tim Scott struck out, and came across as totally pitiful in his response, making us realize how mediocre a Senator and a political leader that he is.

Scott may be needed for any kind of criminal justice reform, but he is not to be regarded as a serious person for national leadership, although there are rumors that he might seek the Presidency in 2024.

Based on last night’s mediocre, at best, response to President Biden, any possible plans to run for President, on Scott’s part, likely have been derailed!

Is Joe Biden Promoting A New “Progressive Era?” It Sure Seems So!

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There is a growing sentiment that President Joe Biden is promoting a new “Progressive Era”, and he has gained support from former skeptics, including Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and also, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez!

On Wednesday night, he will speak to a joint session of Congress, the equivalent of a State of the Union Address, although that does not occur in the first months of a Presidency, for no clear reason.

Joe Biden has had a great start, and has promoted activist government on a level not seen since Lyndon B. Johnson and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

And his popularity and support among the American people is high after almost one hundred days in office.

Whether this can be sustained over the long haul is of course the big mystery!

Mid April: The Loss Of America’s Two Greatest Presidents

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Mid April is every year a reminder of the loss of America’s two greatest Presidents, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

It has been 156 years since Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC, shot on the evening of April 14, 1865, and dying the next morning, April 15, 1865. No assassination in American history was more profound in its effect on the nation then and all of the years since. It affected the Reconstruction of the Southern States, and race relations for the long haul.

And then, 80 years later, Franklin D. Roosevelt died of natural causes on April 12, 1945, 76 years ago, with World War II nearing its end in Europe, but the danger of extended war in Asia, but prevented by Harry Truman’s decision to utilize the Atomic Bomb on Japan four months after FDR’s death.

The effects of FDR, his New Deal programs, and his foreign policy still affect all Americans today in 2021.

This is a time annually to commemorate the leadership and deeds of Lincoln and FDR in American history, and their impact on the present!