Victor Davis Hanson: Presidents Aren't What They Used to Be
From 1933 to 1960, America had nearly three decades of fairly successful presidencies -- through the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, and the threat of nuclear Armageddon.
Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower were all re-elected. While contemporaries were critical of all three, they proved successful, stable executives.
In Roman times, the equivalent would have been the period of the "Five Good Emperors." The 18th-century historian Edward Gibbon famously remarked of the reigns of Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius, between 96 A.D. and 180 A.D., that theirs was a time when "the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous." This was lost with the succession of the erratic and unstable Emperor Commodus.
In contrast, there has been no such stability during the last 50 years in this country, even as we have become ever more wealthy.
John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Lyndon Johnson was destroyed by Vietnam and did not seek re-election in 1968. An impeached Richard Nixon resigned. Gerald Ford was neither elected nor re-elected. Jimmy Carter was gone after one term -- leaving office with a world abroad more dangerous and this country less affluent.
Twice-elected Ronald Reagan sought a renaissance of American order and stability, but by 1986 was caught up in the Iran-Contra scandal. George Bush Sr. was a one-term president who could not galvanize the country.
Bill Clinton was impeached and mired in scandal. The younger George Bush, like Clinton, served two terms but ended his presidency unpopular amid record deficits and incriminations over Iraq.
Now, the once-messianic Obama after six months is already experiencing sinking approval ratings -- perhaps because his first budget is $2 trillion in the red, with trillions more in debt to come.
Is the problem with recent administrations that our presidents do not measure up to a FDR, Truman or Eisenhower? Or have we the voters ourselves become more unstable than our grandfathers? Or is it that the world itself has radically changed what we look for -- or need -- in our presidents?
By 1960, the United States had become more urban and affluent. Voters began to assume that someone owed us the good life. In contrast, Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower had struggled to offer only an equality of opportunity to all: the beginning of civil rights, fair labor laws, overtime pay, disability and unemployment insurance.
But in the next half-century, that limited agenda morphed into one of a promised equality of result. Government grew to meet always-greater demands....
Read entire article at Real Clear Politics
Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower were all re-elected. While contemporaries were critical of all three, they proved successful, stable executives.
In Roman times, the equivalent would have been the period of the "Five Good Emperors." The 18th-century historian Edward Gibbon famously remarked of the reigns of Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius, between 96 A.D. and 180 A.D., that theirs was a time when "the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous." This was lost with the succession of the erratic and unstable Emperor Commodus.
In contrast, there has been no such stability during the last 50 years in this country, even as we have become ever more wealthy.
John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Lyndon Johnson was destroyed by Vietnam and did not seek re-election in 1968. An impeached Richard Nixon resigned. Gerald Ford was neither elected nor re-elected. Jimmy Carter was gone after one term -- leaving office with a world abroad more dangerous and this country less affluent.
Twice-elected Ronald Reagan sought a renaissance of American order and stability, but by 1986 was caught up in the Iran-Contra scandal. George Bush Sr. was a one-term president who could not galvanize the country.
Bill Clinton was impeached and mired in scandal. The younger George Bush, like Clinton, served two terms but ended his presidency unpopular amid record deficits and incriminations over Iraq.
Now, the once-messianic Obama after six months is already experiencing sinking approval ratings -- perhaps because his first budget is $2 trillion in the red, with trillions more in debt to come.
Is the problem with recent administrations that our presidents do not measure up to a FDR, Truman or Eisenhower? Or have we the voters ourselves become more unstable than our grandfathers? Or is it that the world itself has radically changed what we look for -- or need -- in our presidents?
By 1960, the United States had become more urban and affluent. Voters began to assume that someone owed us the good life. In contrast, Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower had struggled to offer only an equality of opportunity to all: the beginning of civil rights, fair labor laws, overtime pay, disability and unemployment insurance.
But in the next half-century, that limited agenda morphed into one of a promised equality of result. Government grew to meet always-greater demands....