Tant: A president 'welcomes the hate' of opponents

An autumn chill blew through America as a national election promised to be a referendum on the policies of the president and his allies on Capitol Hill. Radio talk show hosts howled with hatred for the president and scurrilous rumor mills portrayed the commander in chief as a traitor, a socialist, a communist and a follower of a religion outside the pale of mainstream Christianity.

The president was Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the time was 1936. In the general election that year, Democrat Roosevelt ran for re-election against Republican standard-bearer Alf Landon. On the campaign trail, Landon lambasted Roosevelt, charging that the president proposed "to destroy the right to elect your own representatives, to talk politics on street corners, to march in political parades, to attend the church of your faith, to be tried by jury, and to own property."

On the nation's airwaves, radio talkers led by Father Charles Coughlin - the "radio priest" - commanded audiences of millions with diatribes against "that man in the White House." Father Coughlin showed no Christian charity as he stirred his listeners with the vow, "So help me God, I will be instrumental in taking a communist from the chair once occupied by Washington."

In America's newspapers, conservative syndicated columnists including Walter Lippman and Westbrook Pegler scorned Roosevelt's New Deal policies in columns that were read by millions from coast to coast. Pegler even commented that it was "regrettable" that a would-be assassin "hit the wrong man when he shot at Roosevelt" a few weeks before Roosevelt began his first term in 1933.

Out in the hidebound hinterlands of America - and especially in the redoubts of the rich - the wealthy Roosevelt was excoriated as "a traitor to his class" who was secretly Jewish. "His real name is Rosenfeld," the rumormongers whispered about the Episcopalian presi

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Tant: A president 'welcomes the hate' of opponents An autumn chill blew through America as a national election promised to be a referendum on the policies of the president and his allies on Capitol Hill. Radio talk show hosts howled with hatred for the president and scurrilous rumor mills portrayed the commander in chief as a traitor, a socialist, a communist and a follower of a religion outside the pale of mainstream Christianity. The president was Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the time was 1936. In the general election that year, Democrat Roosevelt ran for re-election against Republican standard-bearer Alf Landon. On the campaign trail, Landon lambasted Roosevelt, charging that the president proposed "to destroy the right to elect your own representatives, to talk politics on street corners, to march in political parades, to attend the church of your faith, to be tried by jury, and to own property." On the nation's airwaves, radio talkers led by Father Charles Coughlin - the "radio priest" - commanded audiences of millions with diatribes against "that man in the White House." Father Coughlin showed no Christian charity as he stirred his listeners with the vow, "So help me God, I will be instrumental in taking a communist from the chair once occupied by Washington." In America's newspapers, conservative syndicated columnists including Walter Lippman and Westbrook Pegler scorned Roosevelt's New Deal policies in columns that were read by millions from coast to coast. Pegler even commented that it was "regrettable" that a would-be assassin "hit the wrong man when he shot at Roosevelt" a few weeks before Roosevelt began his first term in 1933. Out in the hidebound hinterlands of America - and especially in the redoubts of the rich - the wealthy Roosevelt was excoriated as "a traitor to his class" who was secretly Jewish. "His real name is Rosenfeld," the rumormongers whispered about the Episcopalian presi Continue reading the rest of "Tant: A president 'welcomes the hate' of opponents" by Athens Banner-Herald © 2009 http://onlineathens.com - Athens Banner-Herald - All rights reserved. Rate This Article: Comment on "Tant: A president 'welcomes the hate' of opponents" Your Name Your Comments Verification Code: ERV5M7 Enter Code:	Subscribe to our Monthly Email Newsletter