Comment: FDR Got Away With Murder

Many people are at least aware of the controversy around Abraham Lincoln. Even if they ultimately side with Lincoln and the North, most are willing to concede that the War Between the States was a terrible tragedy, more of a misunderstanding than anything else, and that there were patriotic people on both sides - I am not one of those people, but that is better than nothing.

FDR, by contrast, is a veritable saint. Most people are not even aware that there is another side to the story. FDR's progressive vision defeated the Great Depression, paving the way for the modern social-democratic state prized by liberals and conservatives. FDR's heroic stand for freedom saved the world from the Axis, paving the way for the American superpower state which still polices the world. That FDR failed miserably to overcome the Great Depression, provoked the Japanese into firing the first shot at Pearl Harbor (like Lincoln tricked the Confederates into doing at Fort Sumter), and relied more on his deal with the devil (Stalin) and millions of sacrificed Soviet soldiers to win more than anything else is not part of the historical narrative. The origins of the 20th-century welfare/warfare state can be traced directly back to the reign of FDR (and Wilson, as well).