Despite the great differences in the objectives of the two men, there are important similarities between them. The most obvious on...es are in the area of personality. Both presidents had a quick smile and a pleasant air about them. People liked Roosevelt, as they did Reagan, almost without regard for his policies.... Both men led charmed political lives, in which they were praised for everything people liked, while the blame for all problems fell on others. FDR was a "Teflon president" long before Teflon was invented. After Roosevelt had won re-election to a second term, he had the temerity to point out that "one-third of the nation" was "ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished." And in his re-election campaign in 1984, Reagan continued to run against the "gov-mint," as he disdainfully pronounced it, even after having been in charge of it for nearly four years. And Franklin Roosevelt was the first "media president," clearly deserving the title "Great Communicator." He charmed radio listeners much as Reagan did his television audiences.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Most liberals never lost sight of the potential for evil in big government. They have consistently opposed government power in mat...ters of personal and political belief. Liberals are not unconcerned with economic liberty, but they have come to believe that the common good requires that social justice be given a higher priority than absolute economic freedom. Conservatives are--and always have been--on the other side of both questions. They are much more prone than liberals to limiting personal and political liberties, but they place the freedom of an individual to do as he pleases in the economic realm at the top of their concerns. Social justice has held a lower priority for conservatives, from the days of Alexander Hamilton when they favored strong government as a means of protecting their economic privileges to the days of Ronald Reagan when they see government as an instrument of social justice and therefore a threat to their economic position.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »