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Edited on Mon Apr-20-09 01:04 AM by Drunken Irishman
He had more influence on a single political party than any politician in modern American history. It sounds like a hyperbole, but as I stated in another thread, prior to Roosevelt, the Democrats were not a national party. They rarely ever succeeded in presidential politics, only winning the White House four times between Lincoln and Roosevelt's victory over Hoover. It's even worse when you realize that in a span of 64 years, after Andrew Johnson finished out Lincoln's second term, only two Democrats would hold the presidency until Roosevelt's victory in 1932: Cleveland and Wilson. Cleveland had lost his reelection bid to Harrison, however, managed to defeat Harrison four years later, while Wilson was aided by Teddy Roosevelt running as a third party candidate, splitting the Republican vote. Even in his reelection bid, had Wilson lost California, he would have lost the presidency.
So in 64 years, the Democrats only served 16 of that. The rest were Republican and that carried over after Wilson left office, as the Republicans would win three straight presidential elections.
Then a governor from New York came along and won the presidency. Not only won, but manhandled his way to victory. He served three terms and a year, eventually dying in office in 1945, or 64 years ago this month. Then when Truman won his election in 1948, for the first time since James Buchanan's victory 90 years earlier, a Democrat successfully succeeded a Democrat. For almost 100 years, there was not a stretch where the Democrats had two candidates, let alone more, succeed one another.
Since Roosevelt's death 64 years ago, there have been six elected Democratic presidents (Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Clinton and Obama) compared to five for the Republicans (Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, Bush and Bush). You know who deserves most of the credit there? FDR. FDR was the first Democrat to really break through nationally. Not only did he win, he won convincingly in every election and did it four times. Roosevelt served 12 years as president and had he not died, would have served the exact amount of years as any Democrat combined had held the White House during the 64 years prior. That's amazing and what it brought was a fundamental shift in the national political scene.
Roosevelt took the Democratic Party from a solid and successful local and state run party and made it national. That's why the right hates him so much, because he was the first real great Democratic President in the modern times and it allowed the Democrats to find a footing on the national stage. It gave an opening to Truman and then Kennedy and Johnson, Carter, Clinton and finally, Pres. Obama.
Roosevelt's legacy as a president is great, but his legacy to the Democratic Party should be commended by any Democrat, because without it, it's very likely the party falters and never finds its footing on the national stage.
It took a great leader like Roosevelt to show the American people the Democrats could lead this country. Prior to him, Americans didn't vote for many Democratic presidents. They sure do now.
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