Re: The Fuhrer Principle

On Tue, 24 Jan 2006 07:28:55 -0800, Scary wrote:

> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Sorry about the length of this but I enjoy reading history and beating
> dead horses!

Beat away. :-)


> As far as Lincoln goes he preserved the Union of the USA, the state of
> affairs that existed in before the Civil War just couldn't go on.
> Not just because the country was divided between slave and free states
> but also over the issue of states rights over the federal government.
> You're still living in a country were laws can differ from state to
> state! Before the Civil war it was even worse!
>
> With states almost being like autonomous countries that could ignore
> the US constitution if it was politically convenient.
> After John Browns raid on Harpers Ferry, there was no avoiding the
> Civil War!
> Public opinion wouldn't allow for any thing else and politicians were
> not going to go against public opinion.

Personally, I'm a much stronger State's Rights advocate than Federal
powers advocate.

I disagree that Civil War was inevitable but I agree that it's a
contentious subject.


> It's academic if Lincoln conducted the affairs surrounding of the
> Civil War to the best of he's abilities or not. However no one would
> say Lincoln was not a very intelligent man and a shrewd politician.

No doubt that he was a shrewd politician whatsoever. What I doubt is his
altruism, among other things.


> And leading into you're comments about FDR!
> Herbert Hoover presided over the 1929 stock market crash and he signed
> the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which raised tariffs on over 20,000
> dutiable items, and, later, the 1932 Revenue Act, which hiked taxes and
> fees (including postage rates) across the board. These acts deepened
> the depression.
> Also there was he's bungling over the Bonus Army when he called the
> army out on demonstrating WW1 veterans. This engendered the perception
> that he did not care about those suffering from the Depression.

Yes. I recall.

The handling of the WW1 vest demonstration was particularly stupid.


> As for what you said about FDR's New Deal several economists and
> historians believe that it did more to prolong the Great Depression
> than it did to end it because it ran up large deficits!
> It implemented the economic theories of John Maynard Keynes, who
> advocated an interventionist government policy using fiscal measures to
> mitigate the depression.
> The extent to which the large appropriations that Roosevelt extracted
> from Congress and spent on relief and assistance to industry provided a
> sufficient fiscal stimulus to revive the U.S. economy is also debated.
> The economy did recovered significantly during Roosevelt's first term.
> But the ultimate test of Roosevelts New deal is to try and put yourself
> in the place of an unemployed man in the Great Depression, the new deal
> gave people work and therefore a sense of self worth.

Yeah, I know that it made a lot of "the little guy" feel good. My
(departed) father-in-law's father thought that FDR was the second coming
(according to my father-in-law) because he got a job on a federal project.

But making the little guy feel like he's worthwhile isn't always the same
thing as doing what's best for the economic situation.


> Anyway it's FDR's war time conduct that I was referring to in my
> last posting.

One part of me says that "it needed doing." Another part of me says that
I wasn't very impressed with that either. I'm of two minds. :-)


> As for Teddy Roosevelt he was a colorful character and did an lot of
> interesting things in he's lifetime but he's presidency was
> unremarkable, noted mainly for he's feud with William Howard Taft
> with split the Republicans into two factions.

He was also a consummate diplomat. Though not well known, he persuaded
rival nations to back off or reconsider on several occasions - usually
without them having to lose face.

Peace favor your sword (IH),
Kirk
.

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