In celebration of Kos's presence on NBC's Meet the Press this morning to debate Harold Ford and the DLC, I thought I would place the liberal vs. moderate vs. conservative debate within the Democratic Party into historical perspective. There was an American President, elected an unprecedented four times between 1932 and 1944, who frequently and proudly used the term "liberal" in his statements and speeches. I speak, of course, of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. There are some real gems in this collection of FDR statements using the term "liberal" that modern Democrats (and the few liberal Republicans that are left) might learn from today (note to Hillary -- "progressive" is a term for the timid unless it is used in conjunction -- and not in place of -- the term "liberal"). These words I share below spoken by FDR are as refreshingly important and applicable to our national dialogue today as when they were originally spoken by our greatest President. That is why I am pleased to share the following quotations from our unabashed liberal leader, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who went as far as to attempt to purge conservative elements of the Democratic Party in 1938.
The Franklin D. Roosevelt American Heritage Center Museum proudly presents FDR's own words on the tenets and significance of liberalism...
"Thus, the American people do not stand alone in the world in their desire for change. We seek it through tested liberal traditions, through processes which retain all of the deep essentials of that republican form of representative government first given to a troubled world by the United States." (FDR, Annual Message to Congress. January 4, 1935)
"The faith of a liberal is profound belief not only in the capacities of individual men and women, but also in the effectiveness of people helping one another." (FDR, Address at Los Angeles, California. October 1, 1935)
"New York State has a long record of almost a generation of liberal government, each succeeding Administration of State affairs building for the future upon the best which the past has given us." (FDR, Address at the Thomas Jefferson Dinner, New York City. April 25, 1936)
"The liberal tendencies of those, whom for nearly a century we have called our Western statesmen, have been sometimes too little understood in the older, more conservative East. It was the frontier and its spirit of self-reliance which ever kept alive the principles of democracy and countered the opposing tendency to set up a social caste, based upon wealth, or education, or family, or financial power." (FDR, Address at Little Rock, Arkansas. June 10, 1936)
"And today the great tradition of a liberal, progressive Democratic Party has been carried still further by your present Governor, Herbert H. Lehman. He has begun a program of insurance to remove 'the spectre of unemployment from the working people of the State. He has broadened our labor legislation. He has extended the supervision of public utility companies. He has proved himself an untiring seeker for the public good; a doer of social justice; a wise, conscientious, clear-headed and businesslike administrator of the executive branch of our Government. And be it noted that his opponents are led and backed by the same forces and, in many cases, by the same individuals who, for a quarter of a century, have tried to hamstring progress within our State. The overwhelming majority of our citizens, up-state and down-state, regardless of party, propose to return him and his Administration to Albany for another two years." (FDR, Address at the Democratic State Convention, Syracuse, N.Y. September 29, 1936)
"With labor's aid and backing we took the first great step for workers' security by the Social Security Act...That Act is a new Magna Carta for those who work. In its preparation and in its enactment, it was supported not only by organized labor but by those other liberal groups--workers, employers, churches, private charities, educators who for many years have believed that modern Government can make provision against the hardship of unemployment and the terrors of old age...We have been blessed with these great social reforms because we have had liberal Government." (FDR, Address at Brooklyn, N.Y. October 30, 1936)
"[Court Reform] will provide a reinvigorated, liberal-minded Judiciary necessary to furnish quicker and cheaper justice from bottom to top." (FDR, Fireside Chat. March 9, 1937)
"Because the South is learning, it is going to be a liberal democracy." (FDR, Press Conference with Members of the American Society of Newspaper Editors. Washington, D.C. April 21, 1938)
"Our government, happily, is a democracy. As part of the democratic process, your President is again taking an opportunity to report on the progress of national affairs to the real rulers of this country-the voting public. The Seventy-fifth Congress, elected in November, 1936, on a platform uncompromisingly liberal, has adjourned." (FDR, Fireside Chat. June 24, 1938)
"In the coming primaries in all parties, there will be many clashes between two schools of thought, generally classified as liberal and conservative. Roughly speaking, the liberal school of thought recognizes that the new conditions throughout the world call for new remedies...When I use the word 'liberal,' I mean the believer in progressive principles of democratic, representative government and not the wild man who, in effect, leans in the direction of Communism, for that is just as dangerous as Fascism...As the head of the Democratic Party, however, charged with the responsibility of carrying out the definitely liberal declaration of principles set forth in the 1936 Democratic platform, I feel that I have every right to speak in those few instances where there may be a clear issue between candidates for a Democratic nomination involving these principles, or involving a clear misuse of my own name. Do not misunderstand me. I certainly would not indicate a preference in a State primary merely because a candidate, otherwise liberal in outlook, had conscientiously differed with me on any single issue. I should be far more concerned about the general attitude of a candidate toward present day problems and his own inward desire to get practical needs attended to in a practical way. We all know that progress may be blocked by outspoken reactionaries and also by those who say 'yes' to a progressive objective, but who always find some reason to oppose any specific proposal to gain that objective. I call that type of candidate a 'yes, but' fellow." (FDR, Fireside Chat. June 24, 1938)
"Two weeks ago, in speaking over a national hookup, I referred to that fact--to the fact that the Nation is living today, and has been since March 4, 1933, under a government which is essentially liberal and nationally thinking in its outlook-a government which is progressively bettering our economic and social conditions...America needs a government of constant progress along liberal lines. America requires that this progress be sane and that this progress be honest. America calls for government with a soul." (FDR, Address at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. July 9, 1938)
"I speak seriously and in the most friendly way in terms of liberal and conservative for the very simple fact that on my shoulders rests a responsibility to the people of the United States. In 1932 and again in 1936 I was chosen Chief Executive with the mandate to seek by definite action to correct many evils of the past and of the present; to work for a wider distribution of national income, to improve the conditions of life, especially among those who need it most and, above all, to use every honest effort to keep America in the van of social and economic progress." (FDR, Address at Barnesville, Georgia. August 11, 1938)
"A few days ago a brilliant newspaper writer came to the White House and asked me to illustrate the difference between a liberal and a conservative. I will condense for you what I told her. For example, I said, 'Mr. A' is a composite conservative. 'Mr. A' admitted that in 1933 interest rates charged by private banking to ordinary citizens who wanted to finance a farm or a home were altogether too high; he admitted that there were excesses, sharp practices and abuses in issuing securities and buying and selling stocks and bonds; he admitted that the hours of work in his factory and a great many other factories were too long; he admitted that old people, who became destitute through no fault of their own, were a problem; he admitted that national and international economic conditions and speculation had made farming and fishing extremely hazardous occupations; and he even admitted that the buying power of farmers and fishermen had not kept pace with the buying power of many other kinds of workers. But, 'Mr. A' not only declined to take any lead in solving these problems in cooperation with his Government, he even-found fault with and opposed, openly or secretly, almost every suggestion that was put forward by those who belonged to the liberal school of thought. 'Mr. B,' on the other hand, was the composite of a liberal. He not only agreed with 'Mr. A' on the needs and the problems, but 'Mr. B' put his shoulder under the load, he gave active study and active support to working out methods, in cooperation with his Government, for the solving of the problems and the filling of the needs. 'Mr. B' did not claim that the remedies were perfect but he knew that we had to start with something less than perfect in this imperfect world of ours. If we have a Government run by the 'Mr. A's' of this life, it is obvious that the Nation will slip behind once more in the march of civilization--bump along from one 1929 crisis to another. Yours is the choice of what kind of a Government you want." (FDR, Address at Denton, Maryland. September 5, 1938; JJP Note to author Amity Shlaes: put that in your pipe and smoke it!)
"Yes, why should not we be frank with each other? The Democratic Party will live and continue to receive the support of the majority of Americans just so long as it remains a liberal party. If it reverts to the situation of thirty or forty years ago, which Lord Bryce described, it will fail. As the leader of that party, I propose to try to keep it liberal." (FDR, Address at Denton, Maryland. September 5, 1938)
"Working out those problems demands the closest cooperation of the State Government with the United States Government. It requires leadership with vision, patience and tolerance in meeting local conditions--the attributes of a liberal in the fullest sense of the word...Sheridan Downey should be judged not by his position on this exclusively State issue but on the temper of mind with which he will meet the really national issues of a totally different kind on which a Senator of the United States has to vote on an average of once a day. And what is important for the people of California, in choosing a Senator, is that the people of California be represented by a man whose fundamental principles lie along progressive and liberal lines rather than by a dyed-in-the-wool reactionary of the vintage of Mark Hanna. I hope, too, that Culbert Olsen and the other liberal candidates will be elected. As between Olsen and Merriam there can be no doubt as to who is the liberal. As Woodrow Wilson liked to point out, the reactionaries can always present a front because their program is wholly negative. They want to obstruct all action: they are not concerned with a constructive program of any sort." (FDR, Letter on the California Political Campaign. October 31, 1938)
"We all remember well known examples of what an ill-advised shift from liberal to conservative leadership can do to an incompleted liberal program. Theodore Roosevelt, for example, started a march of progress during his seven years in the Presidency but, after four years of President Taft, little was left of the progress that had been made. Think of the great liberal achievements of Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom and how quickly they were liquidated under President Harding. We have to have reasonable continuity in liberal government in order to get permanent results. The whole United States concedes that we in the State of New York have carried out a magnificent liberal program through our State government during the past sixteen years. If the continuity of that liberal government had been broken in this State during that time, we would be nowhere near the point we have reached today. The voters throughout the country should remember that need for continuous liberal government when they vote next Tuesday." (FDR, Radio Address on the Election of Liberals. November 4, 1938)
"You have read that as a result of the balloting last November, the liberal forces in the United States are on their way to the cemetery--yet I ask you to remember that liberal forces in the United States have often been killed and buried, with the inevitable result that in short order they have come to life again with more strength than they had before." (FDR, Address at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. December 5, 1938)
"The second effect of these [Republican] gains should be to bring us real Democrats together and to line up with us those from other parties, those who belong to no party at all, who also preach the liberal gospel, so that, firmly allied, we may continue a common constructive service to the people of the country. For if these independent voters have the conviction that the Democratic Party will remain a liberal party, they will be the first to perceive what I here and now prophesy: that the Republican leadership, conservative at heart, will still seek to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, talking of balanced budgets out of one side of its mouth and in favor of opportunist raids on the Treasury out of the other...We are handling complicated problems of administration with which no other party has ever had to wrestle. To do that, we are constantly recruiting lieutenants who will give intense and genuine devotion to the cause of liberal government." (FDR, Address at the Jackson Day Dinner. January 7, 1939)
"Attacks recently made on the Supreme Court itself by ultraconservative members of the bar indicate how fully our liberal ideas have already prevailed." (FDR, Statement on Court Reorganization. August 7, 1939)
"Liberals on the other hand are those who, unlike the radicals who want to tear up everything by the roots and plant new and untried seeds, desire to use the existing plants of civilization, to select the best of them, to water them and make them grow-not only for the present use of mankind, but also for the use of generations to come. That is why I call myself a liberal, and that is why, even if we go by the modern contraption of polls of public opinion, an overwhelming majority of younger men and women throughout the United States are on the liberal side of things." (FDR, Advice to the Convention of Young Democratic Clubs of America. August 8, 1939)
"A Radical is a man with both feet firmly planted-- in the air. A Conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned to walk forward. A Reactionary is a somnambulist walking backwards. A Liberal is a man who uses his legs and his hands at the behest-at the command--of his head." (FDR, Radio Address to the New York Herald Tribune Forum. October 26, 1939)
"The other day I saw an old friend, born, if you like, with a silver spoon in his mouth...And he went on to say: 'I am past fifty but I recognize full well that those days, thank God, will never come again and furthermore, that a great majority of the people today who want to see a liberal administration of Government turned out and replaced by a conservative administration are really wishing deep down in their hearts for a return of the old social and economic philosophy of 1910.'...The things you and I represent are essentially the same, and it will be your task, when I am gone from the scene, to carry on the fight for a continuance of liberal Government, an improvement of its methods and the effective. ness of its work. Above all, we must help those who have proved that they will try everlastingly to make things a little better for the people of our Nation with each succeeding year. So I say to you, keep your ideals high, keep both feet on the ground and keep everlastingly at it." (FDR, Address to the Delegates of the American Youth Congress. Washington, D.C. February 10, 1940)
"When our party system began, the party of Thomas Jefferson was without question the liberal party and his opponents, the Federalists, represented conservative thought. In more recent times since the Civil War it is equally true that when the Democratic Party has been victorious it has represented a more liberal position on public affairs than the Republican Party...During the whole of the Spring and early Summer of that year you were told by many people that the result of the election was in the lap of the gods; that the Republicans had a chance to win--that people were tired of liberal Government. You remember the Literary Digest and other polls--but most greatly you remember that only two States out of forty-eight voted to return to 'do nothing conservatism.'...This year the nation faces very much the same kind of an electoral campaign as it did in 1932 and in 1936. It seems to me very obvious that if the Democratic Party is to defeat the Republican Party next November we must nominate a liberal pair of candidates, running on a liberal and forward-looking Platform...The next Administration will have to devise ways and means, in a liberal and progressive spirit, to meet difficulties which we are only just beginning to appreciate and to analyze. I say to you, therefore, that the young people of the United States -- young Democrats and all the others have another magnificent opportunity to support a Government of proven liberal action rather than to switch over and take a long chance with a Party historically founded on conservatism no matter what the glitter of their studied generalities trumpeted forth in an election year." (FDR, Radio Address to the Young Democratic Clubs of America. April 20, 1940)
"This amazing and splendid outpouring does my heart good because it proves, first of all, that there is tremendous enthusiasm for a continuation of liberal democratic Government in the United States, and also because it shows an honest wish to gain further knowledge of Government." (FDR, Address to the National Institute of Government of the Women's Division of the Democratic National Committee. May 3, 1940)
"There have been occasions, as we remember, when reactions in the march of democracy have set in, and forward-looking progress has seemed to stop. But such periods have been followed by liberal and progressive times which have enabled the nation to catch up with new developments in fulfilling new human needs. Such a time has been the past seven years. Because we had seemed to lag in previous years, we have had to develop, speedily and efficiently, the answers to aspirations which had come from every State and every family in the land." (FDR, Radio Address to the Democratic National Convention Accepting the Nomination. July 19, 1940)
"As a citizen and voter of New York, I express the sincere hope that you and not Mr. Dewey will be our next Governor. Under you there will be no danger that the long series of enactments of liberal legislation for the benefit of the average citizen during the past three Governorships will be repealed or emasculated." (FDR, Letter to John J. Bennett, Jr., Endorsing Him for Governor of New York. October 23, 1942)
"Speaking as a liberal, and very simply, I think the time has come to recognize the practical exposition of the Good Neighbor Policy." (FDR, Toast at the State Dinner for the President of Cuba. December 8, 1942)
"Of course, it is perfectly true that there are enlightened, liberal elements in the Republican Party, and they have fought hard and honorably to bring the Party up to date and to get it in step with the forward march of American progress. But these liberal elements were not able to drive the Old Guard Republicans from their entrenched positions. Can the Old Guard pass itself off as the New Deal? I think not." (FDR, Address at a Union Dinner. Washington, D.C. September 23, 1944)
QUESTION to FDR from Mr. Godwin: "Mr. President...you have noticed in your life that many a progressive or liberal stays where he is and becomes hopelessly conservative as time goes on."
THE PRESIDENT: "And you are exactly the same age as I am."
MR. GODWIN: "Yes."
THE PRESIDENT: "Now, do you feel that you are getting more conservative?"
MR. GODWIN: "I think I am."
THE PRESIDENT: "Well, that's bad." (FDR, Excerpts from the Press Conference. December 19, 1944)
Cordially,
Joe Plaud
President and Founder
Franklin D. Roosevelt American Heritage Center Museum
plaud@fdrheritage.org
www.fdrheritage.org