"Most of you covered me. All of you voted for me." Another pun for the Press Club dinner at the White House. Funny. Funny because that is the truth. The Press elected Obama. The Liberal establishment elected Obama. Already the Press is celebrating Obama as a great president, possibly the greatest president in US history.
But just because the Liberal establishment elected Obama, and have given him a cushioned ride in a palanquin, doesn't make him a great president. He has been grappling with a Great Depression-like economic crisis. The jury is still out on whether or not his policies will work. I, like most people, hope so. His, and Michelle's, charismatic characters, won lots of friends in Europe and Latin America. That's hopeful. Hopeful, but not tangible accomplishments.
Still, Obama and Michelle might be on the path of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. The Roosevelts are two of my he
roes. I live in the Hudson Valley of New York just a few miles from their presidential and first lady museums. There are remarkable similarities between the Roosevelts and the Obamas. Both inherited the White House with the nation in a great, or nearly great, depression. Both brought a charisma to the office that inspired confidence in the people during a time of uncertainty and fear. Both found the conservatives livid in opposition to bail out programs.It might be worth noting that Franklin Roosevelt did not bring the USA out of the Great Depression. Granted, his government sponsored work programs in the New Deal helped many restore their dignity and earn money to care for their families. But the USA only came out of the Great Depression when we entered World War II in 1941. From that time, the USA had full employment, including women taking on the jobs that men serving in the military left unfilled. It took a Hitler, Mussolini, and Emperor Hirohito to bring the USA out of the Great Depression.
That points to the one thing above all else that makes a president great. The great president leads the USA through a life and death struggle for existence. Franklin D. Roosevelt met that criteria. During the pre-war years, Roosevelt did what he could to prod a pacifist USA to help Great Britain, France, and the rest of Europe to defeat Hitler and Mussolini. After Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt led the USA to rally its full strength in three theaters of war; the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and the Pacific.
Not only did Roosevelt lead the USA to defeat Germany, Italy, and Japan along with the Allied Forces, his practical non-ideological form of leadership helped to lay the foundation for the successful defeat of communism. During the Great Depression, many Liberals touted the Soviet Union as the panacea for capitalism's ills. Roosevelt preserved both democracy and capitalism by just doing what needed to be done.
Will Obama, God forbid, be given the opportunity to lead the USA through a life and death struggle like Franklin Roosevelt did? That would be the full measure of test. If not, then regardless of how much the Liberal establishment touts Obama as God or Jesus Christ, he will be a second tier president, at best.
Eleanor Roosevelt emerged after her husband's death to take leadership in creating the United Nations, drafting the charter for the United Nations. Michelle has big shoes to fill. Eleanor lacked Michelle's beauty, yet they both have charm. And both of them possess impressive intellect. Will Michelle Obama be given the chance to draft a world government document on the level of the United Nations?
Who are the greatest presidents in American history? Here are my top ten:
- Abraham Lincoln (Civil War)
- George Washington (Revolutionary War)
- Ronald Reagan (Cold War)
- Franklin Roosevelt (World War II)
- Woodrow Wilson (World War I)
- James Polk (Mexican-American War)
- James Madison (War of 1812)
- George Bush (9/11 War)
- Harry Truman (World War II/Korean War)
- John Kennedy (Cold War)
