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FDR administration is deeply corrupt
Looking Back reviews opinions published in The Spokesman-Review during this week in history.
Corrupt FDR, Oct. 13, 1936
The S-R editorial board whacked President Franklin Delano Roosevelt after a campaign speech.
“In his opening sentence at Omaha, Mr. Roosevelt appealed to ‘those who are devoted to good government, clean government, representative government.’ … But it is a long stretch of the imagination to call the new deal ‘clean government.’ Under (James) Farley and the other spoilsmen, this country has the most corrupting government in history, with the possible exception of the administration of President Grant.”
Roosevelt went on to crush Republican Alf Landon, winning every state except Maine and Vermont.
Campaign dignity, Oct. 13, 1976
An S-R editorial worried about decorum in the race between President Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.
“Mr. Ford has been urged by his advisers to get tougher on his opponent. Mr. Carter’s spokesmen have already given notice that their candidate is planning more slashing attacks. Somehow this kind of talk detracts from the essential dignity of the campaign and the office of the presidency.”
It went on to say: “If one or both of the candidates this year adopts gutter tactics, it is a good guess that those tactics will be counterproductive. This is particularly true if it appears that nastiness is being employed by either man as a contrived tactic rather than as an expression of conviction.
“The presidency is our most honored institution in government and it will seem out of keeping if it is sought by maneuvers more suited to street squabbles.”
Dole for president, Oct. 13, 1996
The S-R editorial board ended up regretting its 1992 presidential endorsement.
“Four years ago, this newspaper endorsed Bill Clinton for president. We’re not going to do so again. We’re opting for substance over style this time.
“We’re opting for a candidate who will sign legislation cutting spending, taxes and regulations, instead of one who says with a wink and a nod that he’s for reform and then fights it. We’re opting for a veteran lawmaker who earned bipartisan respect within the U.S. Senate and who keeps his word. We’re opting for a Republican who will end four years of embarrassing White House scandals, corruption and cover-up.
“We’re supporting Bob Dole.
“Incredibly, we have a better idea how Dole would govern in a first term than how Clinton would rule in a second term. No one really knows: Will Clinton II give us the social engineer who began his presidency by supporting socialized medicine and the nation’s largest tax increase? Or, will Clinton II resemble the ‘New Democrat’ of the past two years who, under the constraint of a Republican Congress and the polls, claimed the era of big government is over?
“In Dole, however, we know we’ll have a conservative president with common sense, compassion and the ability to resolve complex problems through cooperation.”