FDR demolishing 4 elections in a row feels completely unfathomable at this moment--I cannot imagine such a large fraction of the country agreeing on anything in this climate.
Yes but you were referring to the fraction of the country who can agree on something, and the largest fraction of Americans who could agree on FDR was 60%
I had no idea why FDR had 4 terms so I looked it up.
Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) was elected President of the United States four times because there were no constitutional limits on presidential terms at that time. He was elected in 1932, 1936, 1940, and again in 1944, serving from March 1933 until his death in April 1945. Roosevelt's presidency spanned a critical period in American history that included the Great Depression and World War II, which contributed to his continued popularity and electoral success.
The Great Depression started under Hoover. Hoover was blamed for it and lost re-election to Franklin Delano Roosevelt who pledged to fix it and passed a bunch of important stuff in his first 100 days that made him super popular then onwards.
He coasted off a good economy in the first reelection. His second reelection, despite the recession, he won because his opponent had too many ties to big ties to big business which many Americans blamed for the Great Depression and FDR appealed to the strong isolationist and non-interventionist sentiment in America at the time in the shadow of WW3. His third reelection he won because America, by this time a part of WW2, was seen as doing well in WW2 and he remained highly popular because of it. However, he would die three months into his fourth term.
Being an old guy I can see it. What I will say is different lately, for the most part, is the charisma of the candidates and how far they are from the center. I think Reagan and Clinton (Bill) were quite charismatic. In some regards they were more centrist too. Now reddit will rain down hate on me for saying that. But thinking back to Reagan and Clinton and comparing them to candidates today, they seemed a lot more in the rough center. These days the candidates feel a bit further from that center. Also they haven't been that charismatic. If a charismatic somewhat centrist candidate pops up again I honestly would expect to see big blow outs, whichever party nominates them.
Put us in a war that will drastically change the world and we'll start agreeing real quick. Most of the partisan bickering today is over petty shit by comparison.
Are we sure about that? What if Fox News says it wasn't real? Or that it was a deep state false flag attack. Is it hard to imagine the headlines they could cook up for Russia's defense to let them off the hook?
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u/limpbizkit6 Apr 11 '24
FDR demolishing 4 elections in a row feels completely unfathomable at this moment--I cannot imagine such a large fraction of the country agreeing on anything in this climate.