POLITICIANS TODAY COULD LEARN A LOT FROM FDR

…When this president passed away in office, many young Americans had never known another US president.

What made FDR the most capable of politicians could also work for politicians today.

I was recently reading a book on past presidents and came across a section on the election of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  This particular section wasn’t just focused on FDR winning 4 terms as the US president, it was on his abilities as a capable politician and it used his second term election in 1936 as an example for showing those outstanding abilities.

As I continued to read, what struck me was that other than updating for the use of today’s latest communiation technologies, the foundation of how FDR dealt with his campaign electioneering could be used today if candidates really want to be successful.

In showing how the people back then reacted to FDR’s approach, while he campaigned in the Northeast in the October before the ’36 election, the campaign trip showed FDR’s tidal wave of support.  Crowds lined the streets wherever he went and the normally critical reporters that followed the president were amazed at the enthusiasm of the crowds.  For mile after mile, people lined the roads.  This was occurring not only in the cities, but also in the city’s outskirts as well. 

While campaigning through Boston, the Boston Common area was literally overrun by a mass of over 150,000 Americans.  In the Connecticut cities and in New York City, the entourage, which then included Eleanor Roosevelt, could hardly get through the crowded streets.  The papers later reported that the open Roosevelt car “had traveled over 30 miles without passing a single block whose sidewalks were not Jammed”.

So, looking back at this kind of public reaction, what was it with this man, a man crippled by Polio and unable to even walk through these public crowds, what made him receive this kind of public praise?

I believe that it all comes down to how this particular politician dealt with and regarded those that he swore to represent and how he handled himself as their politician.

Oh, and just to show how FDR did that election year, here were his election results.

FDR’s re-election was called the “Blizzard of ‘36”.  He won every state but Maine and Vermont.  He won 27,752,309 votes over the Republican, Alf Landon’s, 16,682,524.  This was the biggest plurality win in US history.  His electoral vote was at a ratio of 523 to 8, the largest since 1820. 

FDR’s political coattails were also very large as the Congressional Democrats also did well.  They went to 334 vs 89 in the House, and in the Senate, 75 Democrats to 17 Republicans.

So, again, just what was it that made Roosevelt such a master politician?

First, FDR had a pure grasp of the real public opinion and many believed that he had some kind of sixth sense in this area.  But, as it was with Barack Obama’s election in 2008, FDR was always rooted in accumulating the facts on what the people were actually thinking. 

 

FDR’s lack of personal mobility had also made him a voracious reader of the national news.  He read between 5 and 10 papers every day.  He was also a serious communicator via memos and letters.  FDR would have loved the idea of e-mail, Facebook and Twitter.  But even without that technology in 1936, he wrote many personal communications every day.  Tens of thousands of letters came and left the White House every week, many offering people’s views and their problems.  FDR was one of the first to have a dedicated staff just for the function of dealing with that level of regular correspondence.

FDR was also an observer of the crowds and reporters he came across in his travels.  He had favorite reporters that he used for testing public reactions and for conducting special voter polls.  He used his party’s regional and state administrators for sending in his requested information as he did of the Democratic state and regional leaders.

This president became very well respected for his intuitive political timing.  Many times he would be criticized for not going after his opposition at an early stage of an issues mobilization.  But it would be seen that he would later on move hard and move fast and he usually won the day.  He would many times also wait until the Congress had adjourned before he would go on the offensive for a cause.  Or he would go hard and fast before the opposition could even mobilize.  He once said about his political moves, “I am like a cat, I make a quick stroke and then I relax.”

As an example, in 1936, he was under pressure to attack Alf Landon early on when the Republican tide was running strong, but he continued to refuse.  When he later saw what he thought was a change in the public’s mood, he struck hard and his approach was obviously correct.  This approach was years later tested and proven in separate political opinion and voting studies.

Details, details, details.  Attention to detail was pure FDR.

Roosevelt had infinite patience in dealing with day-to-day details and routines.  Perhaps, being tied to a wheel chair for most of his later adult life, it made him that way. 

 

Many times FDR would have his aides make him aware if someone in his party needed a pat on the back from the “head man”.  Or perhaps he would have them join him at the White House for lunch or on a political trip.  (Kind of like today when someone in Congress or the Senate gets asked to join the president on Air Force One.)  An aide might also send a not to FDR saying, “It was suggested that perhaps Rep. XXXX should accompany you to New England since he’s an old Massachusetts man.  We heard his nose was getting a bit out of joint.”

FDR always acknowledged his Democratic leaders and aides with signed autographed pictures, and letters and notes of thanks.  One famous one was when a typed congratulations letter was sent to an aide from the president, but FDR crossed out the “Dear Mr. Smith” at the top of the page and hand-wrote, “Dear Dave”.

Roosevelt was also always aware of the politics that occurred within different organizations and groups, whether it was a pure political group or ethnic gatherings such as the Jews, Negros, Labor Groups, or even bankers, veterans or Teacher Associations.

Splitting an opposition’s leaders from their followers is a political tactic that is as old as the hills.  But FDR was a genius at never going after the groups themselves, he always focused just on the leaders.  When dealing with the Republicans, he never went after the party’s members, only those running the organization.  He always referred to the “Republican spokesperson”, never the “Republicans” or the “Republican Party”.  That way, any average Republican who would hear FDR speaking could say to themselves. “Well, he doesn’t mean me personally….”

Picking his fights and battlegrounds was another of FDR’s intuitive abilities.  He was always able to fight off and answer his opposition’s most extreme attacks.  He continually could instinctively convert the opponent’s extreme offensive efforts into having them go on the defensive, especially when he was defending his own “New Deal” program.

Finally, it was FDR’s personal charm and political craftsmanship that would seal his ability to be elected as the US president, 4 straight times.  Mitt Romney proved without a doubt that no political technique is effective unless it is employed with total skill and in any given situation.  One of Roosevelt’s tactics was the calculated flattery that he could use in winning over his critics.  Also, it was the way he could out maneuver his rival leaders.  It was a natural ability that could not be taught.  It had to just come naturally, which it obviously did for FDR.

When you look back all of this, you will notice that not much has changed in regards to what it takes be a successful and accomplished politician.  Individuals that have the desire and ambition to be the President of the United States, and that can corral these same FDR attributes, could become a winner.  But it still only works if you are offering programs that sincerely support the average working American and when you are offering a truthful campaign.

It’s too bad there aren’t a lot of people running for office today that can fulfill that requirement.

Copyright G.Ater  2015