{"id":584,"date":"2026-07-12T09:08:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T09:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=584"},"modified":"2026-07-12T09:08:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T09:08:13","slug":"today-is-fdrs-birthday-before-the-1932-election-the-nation-was-not-impressed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=584","title":{"rendered":"Today is FDR\u2019s Birthday: Before the 1932 Election, \u2018The Nation\u2019 Was Not Impressed"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<div>\n<article>\n<header>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>January 30, 2015<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1>Today is FDR\u2019s Birthday: Before the 1932 Election, \u2018The Nation\u2019 Was Not Impressed<\/h1>\n<h1>Today is FDR\u2019s Birthday: Before the 1932 Election, \u2018The Nation\u2019 Was Not Impressed<\/h1>\n<h2>\n<p>\u201cA new deal is needed in the world,\u201d <em>The Nation<\/em> said, but FDR was not the man to deliver it.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=582\">We Used to Convict American Torturers, So Why Not Today?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<section>\n<time>January 30, 2015<\/time><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>In the run-up to the 1932 presidential election, <em>The Nation<\/em> ran a series of profiles of the candidates called \u201cPresidential Possibilities.\u201d The ninth and final installment\u2014oddly mislabeled the eighth\u2014was of the sitting governor of New York, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, born on this date in 1882.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Henry Pringle, journalist and biographer of Theodore Roosevelt, wrote that FDR\u2019s last name itself was \u201cworth a vast number of votes.\u201d Like the name Clinton today, perhaps? \u201cWe talk a good deal about democracy,\u201d Pringle continued, \u201cbut we like Presidential candidates with a background, at least, of aristocracy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pringle\u2019s conclusions about the prospects for liberal revival under a Roosevelt presidency are amusing to read. Of particular interest today is Pringle\u2019s suggestion that \u201ca new deal is needed in the world,\u201d but that Roosevelt was not likely to introduce it:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The truth is that Franklin Roosevelt hauls down banners under which he has marched in the past and unfurls no new ones to the skies\u2026His candidacy for the Democratic nomination has strength because he is all things to many sections of the nation. In the East he is wet and not radical. In the West he is progressive. In the South he is not very wet, after all, and is\u2014thank God\u2014a Protestant. These are priceless assets to a candidate for a nomination. They are, perhaps, exactly the reverse if Franklin Roosevelt is to be judged on the basis of his worth as a possible President of the United States. If it is true that a new deal is needed in the world, there is small hope for better things in his candidacy. If it is true that foreign debts must be adjusted downward and reparations forgotten, there is nothing in Roosevelt\u2019s philosophy, as far as we know, which gives promise of a better day. He calls for palliatives in world affairs, not cures. His domestic program is hardly more stimulating. This may be the reason why, although Roosevelt wins respect for his ability, his candidacy arouses so little real enthusiasm. I see no evidence whatever that people are turning to him as a leader. They may vote for him\u2014I think they will\u2014because they are sick and tired of Hoover and weary of the depression.\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=580\">When Will Cancer Stop Being \u201cOur Fault\u201d?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>* * *<\/p>\n<p><em>Curious about how we covered something? E-mail me at rkreitner at thenation dot com. Subscribers to <\/em>The Nation<em> can access our fully searchable digital archive, which contains thousands of historic articles, essays and reviews, letters to the editor and editorials dating back to July 6, 1865.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<footer>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>                Submit a correction<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>                Send a letter to the editor<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>                Reprints &amp; permissions<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>\n<p><span> Richard Kreitner<svg>\n<\/svg><br \/>\n<\/span>Richard Kreitner is a contributing writer and the author of <em>Break It Up: Secession, Division, and the Secret History of America\u2019s Imperfect Union<\/em>. His writings are at richardkreitner.com.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=579\">When Will Cancer Stop Being \u201cOur Fault\u201d?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><span> Back Issues<\/span>Guided tours through the archive of America\u2019s oldest weekly.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<\/div>\n<p><input\/><br \/>\n<input\/><br \/>\n<\/footer>\n<\/article>\n<p>Ad Policy<br \/>\n<!-- <a class=\"inifiniteLoader\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/images\/new_infi_loader.gif\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a> -->\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Nation Magazine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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