The FDR Presidential Library and Museum and the Roosevelt Institute are pleased to announce “FDR’s 4 CAMPAIGNS,” a free public forum on October 21, 2012. The forum will consist of two afternoon panel discussions beginning at 1:30 p.m. in the Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home. Both panels will feature leading scholars and authors discussing Franklin Roosevelt’s historic four presidential campaigns.
In addition to house seating, these programs will be webcast live (linked from the Library’s website) with online viewer participation. Registration is required. Call (845) 486-7745 for information. For a printable agenda visit the Roosevelt Library website’s events page at: http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/publicprograms/calendar.html.
Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to the presidency four times in the midst of the two greatest crises of the 20th century. Each campaign was unique, reflecting Roosevelt’s evolving vision for the Nation and its place in the world.
The first panel discussion, beginning at 1:30 p.m., will focus on FDR’s first two elections. His First and Second campaigns took place during the Great Depression. In 1932, he campaigned to bring a New Deal to the American people. The 1936 election was a referendum on Roosevelt’s vision of a progressive government playing an active and positive role in the American economy. This first panel will be moderated by Mary E. Stuckey, Professor of Communication, Georgia State University and author of “Defining Americans: The Presidency and National Identity.” Panelists will include Donald A. Ritchie, Historian of the United States Senate and author of “Electing FDR: The New Deal Campaign of 1932;” and Gregory E. Geddes, Professor of History, State University of New York – Orange and specialist in the history and literature of labor and the American left.
The second panel, beginning at 3:15 p.m. will discuss FDR’s last two elections. During FDR’s Third and Fourth campaigns, the world was at war. In 1940, the major issues were Roosevelt’s run for a Third Term and whether America would remain isolationist. The 1944 campaign was the first wartime election since the Civil War, and a weary FDR ran for a Fourth Term in order to win the war and ensure the peace. This panel will be moderated by Richard Aldous, Eugene Meyer Professor of British History and Literature, Bard College and author and editor of nine books, including “Reagan and Thatcher.” Panelists will include Charles Peters, founder and former Editor-in-Chief, “The Washington Monthly” and author of “Five Days in Philadelphia: The Amazing ‘We Want Willkie!’ Convention of 1940 and How It Freed FDR to Save the Western World;” and Stanley Weintraub, Professor Emeritus of Arts and Humanities, Pennsylvania State University and author of Final Victory: “FDR’s Extraordinary World War II Presidential Campaign.”
I find it hard to understand how the FDR Library came to choose Richard Aldous and Mary E. Stuckey to be the moderators of panel discussions about President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
There are many, many historians who have written at length about FDR and are well acquainted with his life, his presidencies and his legacy ; yet you chose as panel moderators two people who have written no books about FDR or at least none that I can find trace of.
Indeed, I find books by Richard Aldous about mostly English politicians and two American Republican presidents (but no American Democratic presidents): Margaret Thatcher, Harold MacMillan, William Ewart Gladstone, Benjamin Disraeli, Malcolm Sargent (musician), President Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan.
But nothing about FDR;
Do you go out of your way to use panel moderators who either don’t know much about FDR or who have a pretty poor opinion of him?
I challenge you to identify one moderator of a panel discussion at the Reagan Library who has written biographies only of foreigners or only of Democratic presidents, but none about Reagan.
Is the FDR Library now in the hands of people whose goal it is to diminish the reputation of FDR so Ronald Reagan can rise in the polls?
The second moderator, Mary E. Stuckey, has written multiple books about Ronald Reagan’s communication skills, but none about FDR’s magnificent communication skills. Does she think FDR has not been worthy of her attention? Why is she the moderator of a program about FDR — and taking place at the FDR Library?
What you are planning to sponsor are two panel discussions ABOUT President Franklin Delano Roosevelt — taking place AT the FDR Presidential Library — but with two moderators who seem devoted to telling the story of President Reagan but not the story of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Why do you do this?
The Roosevelt Library unequivocally stands behind the moderators that we have selected for our 2012 Fall Form on FDR’s 4 Campaigns. The purpose of a forum discussion is to engage the participants and the audience in interesting analysis and discussion. Franklin Roosevelt selected the name “Library” for this institution because he believed that a library is a place of learning where people of all points of view can come together to share their ideas and learn from one another. We carry on this vision by including in our public programs people of many backgrounds and many points of view, not just like-thinkers “preaching to the choir.” Professors Stuckey and Aldous are well respected scholars in their fields of study, have researched in our research room, and have taught FDR-related subjects at their educational institutions. We look forward to the Fall Forum and have every expectation that, with Stuckey and Aldous as our moderators, it will be a great success.