#8 Previous periods of apparently existential crisis in the US have certainly produced one-term disasters: James Buchanan in 1857, Herbert Hoover in 1929, Jimmy Carter in 1977 spring unpleasantly to mind. But the genius of America is that apocalyptic challenges have also, in time, produced the men to match them: Abraham Lincoln in 1861, Franklin Roosevelt in 1933, Ronald Reagan in 1981.
So much for the Euro view of our history. Would agree with the assertion about Carter. Buchannan reflected the times. The three Presidents that are considered men to match the times; Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Reagan were outstanding communicators with the people. Lincoln, during his term, was not much liked by many within his own party. Hoover had a lot of the ideas that Roosevelt later implemented. Many would disagree with the direction Roosevelt took the country towards socialism. Interestingly, Hoover also tried to deal with immigration from south of our border. In 1929, President Hoover authorized the Mexican Repatriation program. To combat rampant unemployment, the burden on municipal aid services, and remove people seen as usurpers of American jobs, the program was largely a forced migration of an estimated 500,000 Mexicans and Mexican Americans to Mexico. Some of the 500,000 people that were "voluntarily repatriated" were Mexican-Americans. Warren G. Harding ought to be added to the list of one term incompetents. His administration could be characterized by corruption and incompetence. He is listed as dying of a heart attack but it was rumored his wife poisoned him because of his skirt chasing and "affairs of state." |