I think there's a whole lot to be said for Sullivan's arguments here, but I really couldn't pass over Roosevelt quite so easily. Roosevelt certainly did more wrong than Eisenhower, but what he did right was considerably more important than any particular thing Eisenhower did right. The stability that Eisenhower presided over and the sort of investments Eisenhower made in the country were possible because of what Roosevelt did. Warts and all, there's still a lot to recommend Roosevelt, and I'd present the stability of the early post-war period in the "
arguments for Roosevelt" column in addition to the "
arguments for Eisenhower" column.
I'll take a pass on either interpretation.
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