A new video from PragerU argues that a great commander-in-chief abroad does not always make a great president at home.
Focusing on the works of President Franklin Roosevelt, the video notes that the same president who led the U.S. to victory in World War II struggled to defeat an economic disaster within the nation.
As president, Roosevelt’s top task was to address the Great Depression. At the time, one in four Americans were unemployed. Roosevelt promised to help the “forgotten man” and put Americans back to work, popularizing his famous phrase that the only thing to fear is fear itself.
His plan was labeled the New Deal. The goal was to address the depression as an emergency, making Roosevelt commander-in-chief with strong power. Government managed industry, including new efforts that forced companies to raise prices and wages. Despite the focus on central power, Roosevelt simultaneously often blasted big cooperations and their leaders.
The president’s downfall may have been his belief that he was better at running the economy that the nation’s economic leaders. Roosevelt’s programs included subsidizing American workers, ranging from farmers to artists. He promised pensions for senior Americans and backed organized labor unions. An economic recovery was promised, but failed to quickly materialize.
“For an economy is not like a battleship. An economy is more like a human,” the video states. “It makes choices. You can’t command an economy to grow—the economy has to feel like growing. Under the New Deal, the economy instead felt like hiding below deck. What company would hire up if it couldn’t pay the wages? Today we consider six percent unemployment a crisis. The overall unemployment stayed above ten percent throughout the decade.”
The video also addresses how Roosevelt was elected to a second term despite his economic failures in the White House.
The president’s charisma played a large part in his success. He effectively harnessed the power of radio, the most popular medium of the time, granting him direct influence over millions of citizens at once.
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