Debunking FDR: The Man and The Myths

Summary

The myths about Franklin Delano Roosevelt live on. For the left, FDR was a champion of the working class and the oppressed, suffering abuse as a “traitor to his class.” He gave up the lifestyle of the Hudson River gentry to lead his country out of the Depression and to victory against fascism. For many on the right, FDR was out of his depth on economics but provided Americans with the optimism and confidence necessary to prevail during the Depression and gain victory in World War II.

Debunking FDR: The Man and the Myths exposes the suppressed and distorted facts about FDR’s life and the legends about him (many invented by FDR himself!) promoted by generations of historians.

Contrary to myth, FDR was not a reluctant candidate acceding to the desires of the “people,” but a scheming, self-promoting politician faithful to his class and vain about his lineage (as unroyal as in fact it was). He was contemptuous of Americans who refused to be his “subjects.” He was impulsive, frivolous, vindictive, eager for war with Japan, in thrall of Stalin, and welcoming to Communists.

The “dictator,” the “country squire in the White House” (as he was often known then), fundamentally changed the country and clung to power unto death.

FDR’s influence lives on in crony capitalism, government-dependent populations, racial and class division, and a mammoth administrative state run by a credentialed, America-hating elite.

Debunking FDR offers cautionary reminders to the FDR-admiring left—and a growing segment of the right.