Can Obama Be the New FDR?

Nation needs Roosevelt's action, inspiration

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 8, 2008 1:08 PM CST

(Newser) – Barack Obama’s call yesterday to “act swiftly” to address the economic crisis clearly echoed Franklin Roosevelt’s inaugural address during the Depression: “action, and action now.” But while Obama's “crisp competence” was welcome, he wasn't particularly inspirational, and, Joe Nocera writes in the New York Times, filling the shoes of FDR means not just pushing through piles of legislation but moving Americans to “draw out our best selves.”

As when FDR followed Herbert Hoover, Obama is taking the reins from an administration whose handling of the crisis has been misguided, willing to extend help to banks but reluctant to rescue foundering citizens. The minute FDR took office, he not only rushed through aggressive programs, he began his fireside chats to convince Americans of a “patriotic duty” to sacrifice and work together. During the campaign, he showed he had the capacity to bring Americans together. "Now he has to put it to good use."

[Images (2)]

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In this Oct. 29, 1932 file photo, Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York is shown in his car in Albany as he starts out for his campaign speaking tour. (AP Photo)

Barack Obama talks about the troubled mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during a news conference Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

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Mr. Obama’s task, like Roosevelt’s, is to persuade everyone that we are better served by helping our neighbors than by watching them drown in a sea of debt. - Joe Nocera

The Bush administration's unwillingness to help ordinary citizens is appalling—not just because it is so callous but because the crisis won’t end until housing prices stabilize and foreclosures decline. - Joe Nocera

Yes, times are not as tough as they were in the 1930s, but they’re still pretty tough, and there is a tendency, in this atomized culture, for people to fend for themselves, even at the expense of their neighbors. - Joe Nocera

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Can Obama Be the New FDR?