Unsurpassed: The Popular Appeal of Franklin Roosevelt
Helmut Norpoth
Abstract
Franklin Roosevelt’s popular appeal is traced to his actions as commander-in-chief, a shorthand for his handling of foreign policy. Norpoth has mined a treasure trove of polls conducted during the 1930’s and 1940’s that probed public opinion about Franklin Roosevelt, foreign and domestic politics, along with party loyalties and electoral choices. FDR won re-election to an unprecedented third term—and then a fourth—because of wartime conditions that highlighted his role as commander-in-chief. FDR’s fabled fireside chats about foreign perils paid off as the American people, in a historic opinion ... More
Franklin Roosevelt’s popular appeal is traced to his actions as commander-in-chief, a shorthand for his handling of foreign policy. Norpoth has mined a treasure trove of polls conducted during the 1930’s and 1940’s that probed public opinion about Franklin Roosevelt, foreign and domestic politics, along with party loyalties and electoral choices. FDR won re-election to an unprecedented third term—and then a fourth—because of wartime conditions that highlighted his role as commander-in-chief. FDR’s fabled fireside chats about foreign perils paid off as the American people, in a historic opinion swing, abandoned isolationism and embraced FDR’s policies of aiding France and England in the war with Germany. When it came to his proposals for a massive buildup of the armed forces, the commander in chief was able to count on broad popular support. Those outlays also happened to accomplish what the New Deal had failed to do: vanquish the Depression. FDR’s foreign policy actions in 1940–1941 elevated him to a rare height of popularity. This happened months before the Pearl Harbor attack, which triggered a brief rally. Unlike the experience of nearly all of his successors, FDR’s approval remained unscathed by war and, in particular, the heavy human toll. And finally, it is as a popular commander-in-chief that FDR left behind a G.I generation of loyal Democrats in postwar America, giving that party a commanding role in American politics for decades to come.
Keywords:
Franklin Roosevelt,
Presidential Approval,
Public Opinion,
Isolationism,
Foreign Policy,
World War II,
Presidential Elections,
Party Realignment,
New Deal
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2018 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780190882747 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: August 2018 |
DOI:10.1093/oso/9780190882747.001.0001 |
