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Aug. 3rd, 2012 05:45 pm"He was loved because, though patrician by birth, upbringing and style, he believed in and fought for plain people [. . .] He was loved because he radiated personal charm, joy in his work, optimism for the future.
But he was hated too — hated because he called for change, and the changes he proposed reduced the power, status, income and self-esteem of those who profited most from the old order. [. . .]
He was not a perfect man. In the service of his objectives, he could be devious, guileful, manipulative, underhanded, even ruthless. [. . .] He was a realist in means but an idealist in ends. Above all, [he] stood for humanity against ideology; against the totalitarians’ love of abstractions, he wanted to find practical ways to help decent men and women make a better world for themselves and their children. An optimist who fought his own brave way back from [disability], he brought confidence and hope to a frightened and stricken nation."
Which is to say, that was a character description... by Time of F.D.R..
But he was hated too — hated because he called for change, and the changes he proposed reduced the power, status, income and self-esteem of those who profited most from the old order. [. . .]
He was not a perfect man. In the service of his objectives, he could be devious, guileful, manipulative, underhanded, even ruthless. [. . .] He was a realist in means but an idealist in ends. Above all, [he] stood for humanity against ideology; against the totalitarians’ love of abstractions, he wanted to find practical ways to help decent men and women make a better world for themselves and their children. An optimist who fought his own brave way back from [disability], he brought confidence and hope to a frightened and stricken nation."
Which is to say, that was a character description... by Time of F.D.R..
