S2, Blog 8

Franklin D. Roosevelt vs. Barack Obama
They are very similar.
Both are Democratic, attended Harvard and were on the track to become lawyers.
Both have persuasive, powerful forms of speech.
The public's response to the president is different with the times. Mentioned in Roosevelt's grandson's memoir, while he lived in the white house, he described what power the Americans had given the president. He states, "...Wall Street types were perfectly willing to give FDR dictatorial powers if he would cope with the financial crisis. Nobody's mentioned that with Obama, and you won't see it." Because of America's desperation to come out of this financial crisis, they found hope in the president's determination to solve the nationwide crisis.
With Obama, people are more critical of the idea of him leading an impractical "dictatorship" in this recession. Regardless, the two are taking similar action upon the country they lead going through a financial crisis (depression/recession) by creating stimulus packages to help the economy. In Obama's case, a $7billion bailou was approved, while Roosevelt created Social Security, the FDIC, and an array of other aid programs.