This clip is from President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s First Inauguration in 1933. It contains the famous line that has been recited over and over in history. Roosevelt’s optimism in 1933 was hard to come by. The nation was in the midst of the Great Depression. The nation was looking for leadership in a time of despair.
What is your assessment of the United States right now? What is your impression of the nation’s policies regarding social issues/the economy/foreign policy?
Posted in General Political Science
Tagged 1933, Democrat, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Inauguration
Dr. Patrick Cox of the University of Texas at Austin had this to say about former Vice President John Nance Garner regarding the position of Vice President. “When it comes to commentary about the office of vice president of the United States, no statement is more repeated than John Nance Garner’s observation that the office “is not worth a bucket of warm spit.” Garner served Franklin D. Roosevelt as Vice President during Roosevelt’s first two terms. Garner never became President of the United States. Only 14 Vice Presidents have become President of the United States. The last being George HW Bush, who served as Vice President under Ronald Reagan (1981-1989). Bush became President in 1989 and served until 1993. He lost to Bill Clinton for re-election in 1992. Clinton’s Vice President, Al Gore, was the last Vice President to unsuccessfully run for President. Gore lost to then-Governor George W. Bush in 2000.
Why haven’t there been more Vice Presidents who have become President?
In 1944, Thomas Dewey, the Republican nominee for President, has this to say about a multi-term President:
“Four terms, or sixteen years, is the most dangerous threat to our freedom ever proposed.” (1)
Dewey was referring to Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt’s bid for a fourth term for President. FDR ended up winning in ’44, but he died early in the first year of that term. The support that Dewey and others gave to term limiting the President did not go unnoticed. Limiting the President to two terms passed both houses of Congress in 1947. In 1951, the 22nd Amendment was ratified by enough states for its official passage. Since FDR, no President (with the exception of Harry Truman who was exempt from the Amendment) has been able to serve for more than two terms.
What do you think? Should there be term limits on a President?
— (1) For more information about the Election of 1944, you can find it here.
Posted in General Political Science
Tagged 22nd Amendment, Congress, Democrat, FDR, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Republican, Thomas Dewey
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