the FDR library
My friend Julia and I went to see FDR library after I finished working in NYC, even though we had both seen it before. I wouldn’t normally visit a presidential library twice (there are so many more). However, when I was up in Dutchess County last year for work, the librarians at the two libraries I visited said that the museum was new and improved, with a brand new visitor’s center, etc. Plus we had never seen the Eleanor historical site, Val Kill. Did you know Eleanor is the only former first lady with her own historical site? Whenever people ask me that, I respond that yes, and she is the only first lady who didn’t live with her husband. I think the two are connected.
So, I dragged Julia to the FDR library again, but it certainly wasn’t as new and improved as I had hoped. They had a large new exhibit on World War II, with displays about the times (what was going on culturally then), decisions, major conferences/meetings with world leaders, and decisions. It seems to me (it being almost a month since I was there) that they mentioned at least four times something about conspirists. As in, “Conspiracy theorists thought FDR made a bad decision” or something along those lines. At least four times, if not more. I think they thought they were trying to show multiple opinions on the presidency, but ended up disparaging any negative opinions about him with phrases such as these.
I think FDR made a number of bad decisions, and when you look in the bookstore at the biographies available about him, it seems to me that more of them are critical than are positive. Much more so than other presidents. Maybe it’s just that he was president during such an important time that people tend to look more closely at his decisions. However, the more I read about him, the more it seems apparent that he tried hard to not make decisions, and let decisions be made for him. If there is anything that annoys me the most in other people is an inability to make decisions and (consequently) take risks. Once you have made a decision, you have to defend it, and that is a risk. If you don’t actually make a decision and let one be made for you, it is not necessary to defend it; you can simply say “I had to,” or “That’s the way things worked out.”
Posted by Marie on March 16th, 2006 under Uncategorized
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