Word: rooseveltisms
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...year’s situation to 1992, when Clinton beat George H.W. Bush, and joked that “maybe no more Bush family is good for the Republican Party.” “Obama might have more of a chance than any Democrat...since [Franklin D. Roosevelt, Class of 1904] to really be a major transformative Democratic president,” he said. Galston, also a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, said that structural effects such as the condition of the economy and the unpopularity of the Iraq war prefigured the election results. He also offered...
Perhaps the most apt comparison for Obama's circumstances would be Franklin Delano Roosevelt's ascent to power, as he faced similarly daunting financial challenges at the dawn of the Great Depression. Roosevelt, however, did not benefit from a protracted campaign in which to prepare himself. Instead, FDR found himself forced to pick staffers and cabinet members largely from his extensive network of former colleagues and associates, and did so somewhat haphazardly, under pressure from demanding tasks - such as rescuing the country from utter economic failure. Roosevelt's planning-on-the fly led to the creation of ad hoc "agencies...
...last category are the charismatic youngsters: 42-year-old Teddy Roosevelt, 43-year-old John F. Kennedy, 46-year-old Bill Clinton. Of our many presidential rookies, they have been among the most ambitious, championing transformative programs for national change. They have also marked the presidency with their outsize personal traits: Roosevelt's masculine bluster, Kennedy's legendary charm, Clinton's much discussed indiscretions...
...years old, devoid of military or appointed-office experience, Obama seems to fall most easily into the last of these categories. But it's not a perfect fit. For one thing, Obama seems to have far more self-control than Roosevelt, Kennedy and Clinton. He also has less high-level political experience. Kennedy had already served 14 years in Washington (six as a Congressman, eight as a Senator) before ascending to Camelot. Obama, as pre-Palin Republicans once enjoyed pointing out, has yet to complete his first Senate term...
Obama's greatest talent may lie precisely in his ability to be many things to many constituents: a bit of Lincoln, a dash of Wilson, a touch of Roosevelt and Kennedy and Clinton too. In that sense, no single example can tell us much about how he will ultimately lead. Like the many rookies before him, President Obama will write his own chapter of American history...