Letters
The Roosevelt myth
Sir: I read with interest Nicholas von Hoff- man's article about 'That damned Roosevelt' (23 January). As a person who was born after Franklin Roosevelt's death, I find it hard to form an objective opinion about the man since there seems to be no agreement about what he did or what he stood for, In a book called The Roosevelt Myth written by John T. Flynn and first published in 1948 which I recently read, it is stated continually that Franklin Roosevelt increased the public debt year after year. Despite winning his first election against Hoover in 1932 on a platform advocating a reduction in the Federal deficit, Roosevelt managed to increase the public debt from $22 billion when he took office to $37 billion in 1938. Despite this, unemployment in 1938 was higher in the United States than when Roosevelt first took office.
How is it therefore that Mr von Hoffman can say Roosevelt 'disliked deficit spending'? If Mr Flynn is to be believed, the reason Roosevelt managed to be elected for four consecutive terms was by 'buying' votes through massive and increasing Federal deficits.
The purpose of this letter is not to denigrate the good Roosevelt did for the poorer people in the United States, but to suggest that the reason he is not universally praised is that he was initially elected on a platform of reduced spending and then practised the opposite. And having won his first election he continued to win his subse- quent elections by handing out more and more money.
Geoffrey Kelly
17 Cambridge Street, London SW1
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