President Obama Is The Second FDR, Not The Second Carter - Forbes

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhendrickson/2012/11/08/president-oba...

Mark Hendrickson, Contributor

I write about economics, politics, and human-interest stories.

O P / ED | 11/08/2012 @ 12:12PM | 4,297 views

President Obama Is The Second FDR, Not The Second Carter

Ive thought a lot over the last few years about the axiom, History doesnt repeat itself, but it rhymes (often attributed, though not definitively, to Mark Twain). The question to me was whether the presidency of Barack Franklin Delano Roosevelt, (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Obama would rhyme with that of Jimmy Carter or Franklin Roosevelt. Given Tuesdays election results, FDR is the more apt precedent.

Jimmy Carter (Image credit: AFP/Getty Images via @daylife)

For a while, it appeared that the 2012 presidential election would parallel the 1980 election between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. Like today, in 1980 the economyand particularly the job markethad been sluggish for years. Then, as now, there was an uneasy sense of American decline on the world stage. Under Carter, the Soviets seemed in the ascendancy; today, militant Islam poses the greatest challenge to our interests. In both cases, the first-term Democratic incumbent seemed tentative and constitutionally incapable of admitting that the other side was ruthlessly aggressive and expansionista true threat to individual rights and international peace. Carter pulled the rug out from under the Shah and in effect surrendered Iran to control of the mullahs; Obama did essentially the same to Mubarak and left Egypt to the tender mercies of the Muslim Brotherhood. Surely, I thought, Americans would reject this trajectory of decline and turn to a leader with a more positive visiona vision of economic vigor and a resolve to face up to a militant tyrannical ideology rather than appease it. Surely Americans would repudiate Obama as they did Carter, recognizing the need for a change for the better. I and many others were wrong. Weve changed over the last 32 years. The majority that prevailed then has gone. The demographics have shifted, primarily due to immigration, another generation has passed through our deficient educational system, and a lot more people are dependent on

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President Obama Is The Second FDR, Not The Second Carter - Forbes

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhendrickson/2012/11/08/president-oba...

government support and will vote for the party that will keep the spigot turned on. As it turned out, the 2012 election echoes the 1936 election rather than the 1980 election. In 1936, at the end of FDRs first term, the economy remained mired in the depression that Roosevelt had inherited from Hoover. As historian Burton Folsom showed in his masterful book, New Deal or Raw Deal?, many voters could see that the economy hadnt returned to a healthy state under the incumbent, but so many of them had been on the receiving end of FDRs massive New Deal spending binge that they voted for FDR to keep the handouts heading their way instead of risking change. Now that Obama has won re-election, the parallels that I have drawn in the past to him and FDR are stronger than ever. George W. Bushs second term can now be viewed as Herbert Hoover redux, and Obamas additional ramping up of the Bush spending explosion eerily mimics FDRs post-Hoover strategy. Perhaps the most breathtaking parallel between FDRs and Obamas Big Government agendas is this: In his first five years in office, FDR spent more than the previous 31 presidents combined had spent; in eight years as president, Obama will have doubled the national debt accumulated by all 43 of his predecessors (unless, of course, Uncle Sams farcical finances blow up before then). Obama adopted the cynical strategy of the opportunistic politicianhis campaign was directed to various special interest groups to line up their votes. Romney was more the statesman, campaigning primarily on the more idealistic theme of fixing a broken country. We can see which strategy prevailed. Perhaps the Curley strategy has now succeeded on a national level, with a majority of the American people willing to trade a thriving economy for government security. It seems possible that Romney was the Republicans last best hope for a long time to comethat Obamas victory will, like FDRs in 1936, represent the start of a long period of Democratic dominance. Think about it: If Romney couldnt win, who could? Romney had extraordinary qualifications to be presidenttelegenic, articulate, likable, knowledgeable, achievements in several fields on a large stage, as squeaky clean and admirable a personal life as one could imagine. He also had the drive, commitment, and executive vision to organize a multi-year campaign, and yet, it wasnt enough. The 2012 election was indeed pivotal. Like Roosevelts victory in 1936, it may indicate that Big Government will remain the regnant ideology for many more years. Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson is an adjunct faculty member, economist, and fellow for economic and social policy with The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. Mitt Romney Supporters React To President Obama's Reelection

This article is available online at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhendrickson/2012/11/08/president-obama-is-the-secondfdr-not-the-second-carter/

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President Obama Is The Second FDR, Not The Second Carter - Forbes

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhendrickson/2012/11/08/president-oba...

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