The last time we had a Democratic Socialist as president...

[Fast Walker 52]

Any questions?

[peacebird]

1. Love it!

[brooklynite]

2. UNREC

First - FDR wasn't a "Democratic Socialist". He was a liberal Democrat. He never called himself a Socialist, Democrat or otherwise

Second - The 22nd Amendment wasn't proposed and passed until after FDR was dead

Third - While he was certainly popular, voters were also reluctant to change leadership in the middle of a war.

[Fast Walker 52]

3. He was essentially a democratic socialist, even if that name wasn't used back then

also I think he was elected to a 3rd term in 1940, before we were in WWII.

[uponit7771]

4. Then Obama is a democratic socialist too right? tia

[Betty Karlson]

9. He was certainly called a socialist by his political opponents. eom

[brooklynite]

10. And by that definition, Obama is as well...

[Betty Karlson]

11. Except that Obama is well to the right of Roosevelt on many issues...

But then: the GOP still had some pockets of sanity left in the 1940-ies.

[book_worm]

5. I'd argue that Lyndon Johnson from roughly 1963-1966 was even more liberal

than FDR.

[Fast Walker 52]

7. True-- and if it weren't for the damned Vietnam war, he would have had a pretty great legacy

and a chance at winning re-election in 1968.

[AZ Progressive]

6. "I am the best friend the profit system ever had" - FDR, 1937

Doesn't sound like a Democratic Socialist.

Source: http://newdeal.feri.org/court/fdr01.htm

[reformist2]

13. What FDR meant is that a mixed economy actually works better than the much-vaunted capitalism.

As Will Rogers said, what harm does it do to give money to the poor - it all ends up in the hands of the rich anyway.

And so it does.

[jwirr]

16. From what I understand a Democratic Socialist does not

believe in government co-opting private business as a socialist did. In 1932 Socialists that did believe in getting rid of private businesses were very powerful. It was feared that after Hoover's mess that capitalism would be overthrown.

FDR introduced Democratic Socialism or mixed government to regulate capitalism. It has been argued that he saved capitalism from themselves. Thus he was their best friend.

They have forgotten that.

[Starry Messenger]

8. Then the Civil Rights Act passed and pissed off whites moved right.

The end.

[Fast Walker 52]

12. true dat

[99Forever]

14. Precisely.

[One of the 99]

15. Expect FDR wasn't a socialist

In many ways he was the savior of capitalism.