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Looking Forward
INTRODUCTION
This is essentially a compilation from many articles written and speeches made prior to March 1, 1933. I have added parts which bind the material together as a whole.
In the comments to follow I speak not of politics, but of government; not of parties, but of universal principles. They are not political except in that large sense in which a great American once expressed a definition of politics—that nothing in all human life is foreign to the science of politics.
The quality of national politics, viewed as a science which is capable of affecting for the better the lives of the average man and woman in America, is the concern of national leadership—particularly in such years as these, when the hand of discouragement has fallen upon us, when it seems that things are in a rut, fixed, settled, that the world has grown old and tired and very much out of joint. That is the mood of depression, of dire and weary depression which, if the quality of our political leadership is right, should vanish so utterly that it will be difficult to reconstruct the mood.
This is essentially a compilation from many articles written and speeches made prior to March 1, 1933. I have added parts which bind the material together as a whole.
In the comments to follow I speak not of politics, but of government; not of parties, but of universal principles. They are not political except in that large sense in which a great American once expressed a definition of politics—that nothing in all human life is foreign to the science of politics.
The quality of national politics, viewed as a science which is capable of affecting for the better the lives of the average man and woman in America, is the concern of national leadership—particularly in such years as these, when the hand of discouragement has fallen upon us, when it seems that things are in a rut, fixed, settled, that the world has grown old and tired and very much out of joint. That is the mood of depression, of dire and weary depression which, if the quality of our political leadership is right, should vanish so utterly that it will be difficult to reconstruct the mood.
209 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 1933
13 people are currently reading
246 people want to read
About the author
Franklin D. Roosevelt
415 books136 followersFranklin Delano Roosevelt, often referred to by his initials FDR, was the thirty-second President of the United States. Elected to four terms in office, he served from 1933 to 1945, and is the only U.S. president to have served more than two terms of office. He was a central figure of the 20th century during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war.
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Roosevelt created the New Deal to provide relief for the unemployed, recovery of the economy, and reform of the economic and banking systems. Although recovery of the economy was incomplete until almost 1940, many programs initiated continue to have instrumental roles in the nation's commerce, such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). One of his most important legacies is the Social Security system.
Roosevelt won four presidential elections in a row, causing a realignment political scientists call the Fifth Party System. His aggressive use of the federal government re-energized the Democratic Party, creating a New Deal Coalition which dominated American politics until the late 1960s. He and his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, remain touchstones for modern American liberalism. Conservatives vehemently fought back, but Roosevelt usually prevailed until he tried to pack the Supreme Court in 1937. Thereafter, the new Conservative coalition successfully ended New Deal expansion; during the war it closed most relief programs like the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps, arguing unemployment had disappeared.
After 1938, Roosevelt championed re-armament and led the nation away from isolationism as the world headed into World War II. He provided extensive support to Winston Churchill and the British war effort before the attack on Pearl Harbor pulled the U.S. into the fighting. During the war, Roosevelt, working closely with his aide Harry Hopkins, provided decisive leadership against Nazi Germany and made the United States the principal arms supplier and financier of the Allies who later, alongside the United States, defeated Germany, Italy and Japan. Roosevelt led the United States as it became the Arsenal of Democracy, putting sixteen million American men into uniform.
On the homefront his term saw the vast expansion of industry, the achievement of full employment, restoration of prosperity and new opportunities opened for African-Americans and women. With his term came new taxes that affected all income groups, price controls and rationing, and relocation camps for 120,000 Japanese and Japanese-Americans as well as thousands of Italian and German-Americans. As the Allies neared victory, Roosevelt played a critical role in shaping the post-war world, particularly through the Yalta Conference and the creation of the United Nations. Roosevelt's administration redefined American liberalism and realigned the Democratic Party based on his New Deal coalition of labor unions; farmers; ethnic, religious and racial minorities; intellectuals; the South; big city machines; and the poor and workers on relief.
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Roosevelt created the New Deal to provide relief for the unemployed, recovery of the economy, and reform of the economic and banking systems. Although recovery of the economy was incomplete until almost 1940, many programs initiated continue to have instrumental roles in the nation's commerce, such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). One of his most important legacies is the Social Security system.
Roosevelt won four presidential elections in a row, causing a realignment political scientists call the Fifth Party System. His aggressive use of the federal government re-energized the Democratic Party, creating a New Deal Coalition which dominated American politics until the late 1960s. He and his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, remain touchstones for modern American liberalism. Conservatives vehemently fought back, but Roosevelt usually prevailed until he tried to pack the Supreme Court in 1937. Thereafter, the new Conservative coalition successfully ended New Deal expansion; during the war it closed most relief programs like the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps, arguing unemployment had disappeared.
After 1938, Roosevelt championed re-armament and led the nation away from isolationism as the world headed into World War II. He provided extensive support to Winston Churchill and the British war effort before the attack on Pearl Harbor pulled the U.S. into the fighting. During the war, Roosevelt, working closely with his aide Harry Hopkins, provided decisive leadership against Nazi Germany and made the United States the principal arms supplier and financier of the Allies who later, alongside the United States, defeated Germany, Italy and Japan. Roosevelt led the United States as it became the Arsenal of Democracy, putting sixteen million American men into uniform.
On the homefront his term saw the vast expansion of industry, the achievement of full employment, restoration of prosperity and new opportunities opened for African-Americans and women. With his term came new taxes that affected all income groups, price controls and rationing, and relocation camps for 120,000 Japanese and Japanese-Americans as well as thousands of Italian and German-Americans. As the Allies neared victory, Roosevelt played a critical role in shaping the post-war world, particularly through the Yalta Conference and the creation of the United Nations. Roosevelt's administration redefined American liberalism and realigned the Democratic Party based on his New Deal coalition of labor unions; farmers; ethnic, religious and racial minorities; intellectuals; the South; big city machines; and the poor and workers on relief.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 19, 2012
I absolutely loved this book and it is a surprisingly quick but informative read. It is a compilation of subjects that Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote upon that focused on government and economy during the beginning of the Great Depression. This is a great read because it allows readers to get inside the head of one of our most influential presidents. They get to read what he thought in his own words.
This book is not just about the past. It is relevant today because of the deep recession that America and some parts of the world are in. I would recommend this to everyone but especially to people who are particularly interested in Franklin D. Roosevelt and what his opinions really were on various aspects of government and economy.
This book is not just about the past. It is relevant today because of the deep recession that America and some parts of the world are in. I would recommend this to everyone but especially to people who are particularly interested in Franklin D. Roosevelt and what his opinions really were on various aspects of government and economy.
February 11, 2013
This is the most valuable $3 clearance item I have yet stumbled upon. I engaged FDR’s Looking Forward to accompany the news coverage of Obama's re-election campaign, intriguingly marked by the slogan "Forward." (Relax, that’s the last mention of Obama in this review.)
FDR's collection of speeches and writings is no mere New Deal manifesto, hardly historically isolated. Although tariffs and railroads may not be among the foremost concerns of Americans today, I was surprised to read about a variety of still-progressive issues, even after seventy years. I was surprised by FDR's support for reforesting agriculturally sub-marginal land, eradicating county government (today taboo here among Kentucky’s 120 counties), reducing total federal costs by 25%, decentralizing the “economic oligarchy,” and most importantly, a "reappraisal of values" akin to Bill McKibben's vision in Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future. However, I was not surprised by the call to “build toward the time when a major depression cannot occur again; and if this means sacrificing the easy profits of inflationist booms, then let them go – and good riddance.” In seventy subsequent years, we have apparently missed that memo.
Looking Forward becomes more relevant for each successive generation. Some say FDR was prophetic, but I say he simply spoke the truth, and, funny thing, truth is always true. In reading this book I learned the fundamental differences between policy and politics, between serving our neighbors and serving our government. I highly recommend Looking Forward to those aspiring to public office, to those who comment on people in public office, and to those with deep-felt hopes and fears – because, as FDR says, “all true culture comes down to an appreciation of just that.”
FDR's collection of speeches and writings is no mere New Deal manifesto, hardly historically isolated. Although tariffs and railroads may not be among the foremost concerns of Americans today, I was surprised to read about a variety of still-progressive issues, even after seventy years. I was surprised by FDR's support for reforesting agriculturally sub-marginal land, eradicating county government (today taboo here among Kentucky’s 120 counties), reducing total federal costs by 25%, decentralizing the “economic oligarchy,” and most importantly, a "reappraisal of values" akin to Bill McKibben's vision in Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future. However, I was not surprised by the call to “build toward the time when a major depression cannot occur again; and if this means sacrificing the easy profits of inflationist booms, then let them go – and good riddance.” In seventy subsequent years, we have apparently missed that memo.
Looking Forward becomes more relevant for each successive generation. Some say FDR was prophetic, but I say he simply spoke the truth, and, funny thing, truth is always true. In reading this book I learned the fundamental differences between policy and politics, between serving our neighbors and serving our government. I highly recommend Looking Forward to those aspiring to public office, to those who comment on people in public office, and to those with deep-felt hopes and fears – because, as FDR says, “all true culture comes down to an appreciation of just that.”
November 24, 2014
A great book to read especially during our time of recession. It's crazy how much he predicted. I also learned a lot about agricultural policies that I wouldn't have understood until this book.
March 25, 2008
Written soon after his election and during the depths of the depression, this book laid out FDR's vision for the New Deal and he remained surprisingly consistent with his stated purposes for the rest of the depression and right up until Pearl harbour.
FDR bluntly outlines what he sees as the faults that have led the United States to this cataclysm and is unafraid to flaunt old tabboos in order to get the economy moving again.
In particular, although FDR explicitly does not believe in a planned economy, he does not fear state involvement to regulate and manipulate the market -particularly to restart the moribund economy. He also believes that while state involvement is not good for the economy day-to-day, there must be rules for participation in the market and these rules must be developed at the same time as the restoration of economic activity.
FDR bluntly outlines what he sees as the faults that have led the United States to this cataclysm and is unafraid to flaunt old tabboos in order to get the economy moving again.
In particular, although FDR explicitly does not believe in a planned economy, he does not fear state involvement to regulate and manipulate the market -particularly to restart the moribund economy. He also believes that while state involvement is not good for the economy day-to-day, there must be rules for participation in the market and these rules must be developed at the same time as the restoration of economic activity.
March 28, 2021
His speeches from various points in his presidency. Since no context is given, the reader has no clue what dates the speeches were given, who the audience was, or any other relevant information.
April 8, 2024
Many valid points, still relevant today. Enjoyed it. Quick read.
December 22, 2010
Clear and concise treatment of what came to be called New Deal economics. Provides a nice overview of the various sectors exacerbating the Great Depression. Though there are interesting proposals for policy change, they are general at times...not very detailed overall. However, the analysis of structural weaknesses of the economy is excellent.
Want to read
January 7, 2009Of course I have the original 1933 first edition, third printing, but that is not on the list.
August 30, 2009
This is an eerily timely book. Never was the cliché, if you don’t learn from history you are doomed to repeat it, more obvious. Overall a very interesting read.
November 16, 2010
i love this book so much
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews