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December 2, 2008 4:40:41 AM CST


FDR

FDR news stories

6 Stories

OPINION

 Can Obama Be the New FDR? 

Nation needs Roosevelt's action, inspiration

(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.” More »

ANALYSIS

Governing Will Make Campaign Look Easy

Prioritizing amid economic downturn will present enormous challenge

(Newser) - The challenges ahead for Barack Obama are perhaps the largest facing any new president since FDR, Dan Balz writes in the Washington Post . He'll have sizable congressional majorities, but with a redrawn electoral map—including a number of formerly GOP states in his column—he'll have to wrestle immediately with the nature of his mandate: FDR-style government activism, or Bill Clinton-style centrism. More »

More about:  Barack Obama Election 2008 President Obama transition FDR

OPINION

Mortgage Crisis? Blame George Bailey

It's A Wonderful Life hero helped poor buy unaffordable homes

(Newser) - The housing bubble that triggered the current economic crisis began with a post-Depression attitude toward owning a home presented in the classic Christmas flick It’s a Wonderful Life , writes Ross Douthat in the Washington Post . Hero banker George Bailey’s chief goal was to loan the poor enough money to buy homes they couldn’t really afford because owning a house would “make them better citizens.” More »

ANALYSIS

Smoking Makes Obama Human ... If a Bad Role Model

Some worried a victory by Dem could set anti-tobacco movement back years

(Newser) - If Barack Obama—an on-again, off-again smoker who says he's off again—fails in his attempt to quit, he could be the first president to enjoy a regular puff since FDR, who lit up long before the anti-smoking movement swept America. One watcher tells the Minneapolis Star Tribune the habit could make Obama “more human”—as it did for Martin Sheen’s president on The West Wing —but others aren’t so pleased. More »

More about:  Barack Obama FDR anti-smoking Nicorette

OPINION

Lieberman, Hagel Cross Aisles to Pound Candidates

Senators cross party lines with foreign policy criticism

(Newser) - Joe Lieberman and Chuck Hagel are fighting a duel of aisle-crossing foreign policy critiques, as the former Dem candidate takes aim at Obama and the GOP heavyweight scolds McCain. “How did the Democratic Party get here?” Joe asks in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, accusing Barack of kow-towing to extremists who have taken the party “further to the left” than at any point in two decades. More »

More about:  Barack Obama John McCain foreign policy Joe Lieberman Chuck Hagel appeasement FDR

Why the 'Rove Presidency' Failed

‘Architect’ tried to force dynasty, cowed Congress instead of winning it

(Newser) - With Karl Rove about to ankle the White House, the Atlantic's cover story on Rove as the principal architect of the Bush presidency becomes prescient. Joshua Green explores why the mastermind of W.'s two election victories—one of the best political minds of a generation—was unable to fulfill any of his considerable ambitions for the occupant of the Oval Office, despite having a Republican Congress for six years. More »

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