Daniel Klaidman?s editor?s note in the latest Newsweek tells readers:
We already know that [Barack Obama] has been studying FDR’s first months in office, when he laid the foundation for America’s economic revival.
FDR laid the foundation for America?s economic revival? Really? Let?s examine this theory.
FDR took office in March 1933, more than three years into a severe economic slump. It?s generally agreed that the United States emerged from the Depression because of World War II, which involved the United States in late 1941.
The timing is curious. If FDR laid the foundation for America?s economic revival, why did the Depression extend throughout his entire first two terms? If Obama?s administration mirrors that of this role model, does that mean he?ll leave office with the economy in worse shape than when he entered? Or that he’ll find some way to run for third and fourth terms?
Like other members of the media who display a public school-level understanding of the Great Depression, Klaidman would benefit from a close reading of Amity Shlaes.
