What made FDR a great president?
He had charisma – what we could call pizzazz. People liked him and believed what he told them. That’s a good trick for a politician. He also was prepared to break the established rules of economic policy. After a conversation with Keynes and reading some of his earlier economic works, FDR did the unthinkable (at that time) – he spent a lot more money than the government had. Spending exceeded taxation income by two or three times, using money borrowed against Federal bonds. By this means, he was able to create employment during the great depression of the 1930s. Curiously, when Bush announced a similar procedure last week to save the financial system, few people believed he could make it work. That’s not the fault of the policy, but because Dubya has no charisma. In both cases, there is a massive pubic debt to be paid by later generations. When war broke out in Europe in 1939, and again after the raid on Pearl Harbour in 1941, the USA recovered miraculously and immediately. That was a
