Franklin D. Roosevelt Letter to the 1940 Democratic Convention Declining to be Nominated

[eridani]

Never actually delivered, as they gave in and let him change his VP.

Franklin D. Roosevelt Letter to the Democratic Conventionhttp://www.michaelmoore.com/words/must-read/franklin-d-roosevelt-letter-declining-1940-democratic-party-nomination

July 18, 1940

Members of the Convention:

In the century in which we live, the Democratic Party has received the support of the electorate only when the party, with absolute clarity, has been the champion of progressive and liberal policies and principles of government.

The party has failed consistently when through political trading and chicanery it has fallen into the control of those interests, personal and financial, which think in terms of dollars instead of in terms of human values.

The Republican Party has made its nominations this year at the dictation of those who, we all know, always place money ahead of human progress.

<snip>

wish to give the Democratic Party the opportunity to make its historic decision clearly and without equivocation. The party must go wholly one way or wholly the other. It cannot face in both directions at the same time.

By declining the honor of the nomination for the presidency, I can restore that opportunity to the convention. I so do.

[easychoice]

1. Republicans always place money ahead of human progress.

It never changes.

[graham4anything]

2. Damn shame though Wallace wasn't his last VP

[Smarmie Doofus]

3. +1. If only. n/t

[eridani]

4. Even so, threatining to drop out if he couldn't get rid of an excessively conservative VP

--is pretty impressive by modern standards.

[graham4anything]

5. you know what is a shame? LBJ did the same thing, but...

Last edited Wed Nov 14, 2012, 09:43 AM - Edit history (1)

LBJ did the same thing. He said he was not running because of the damn war (which IMHO would have been the same no matter who was in office), and they just let him go without pleading.

It is too damn bad the democrats didn't beg him 100 times to reconsider
(both before and after Bobby died in 1968).

Bobby would not have run had he run, and Bobby might just still be alive today, having served as President AFTER LBJ's 4 more years. (and LBJ would easily have defeated McCarthy and NIxon, though might have been a nasty race).

(but please forget the war here).

LBJ was as liberal and progressive as can be and also the single strongest democrat at that time(and probably any time since then.)

I firmly believe it would have been a brutal battle, but LBJ would have secured more votes than HHH ever did, and defeated Richard Nixon (or whomever the repubs threw at him.)

But it is hard to compare then and now, because of course, had we had the media now, would FDR ever have been allowed to run in the first place, with the 2012 vapid society we live in, the first thing he might not have overcome was his handicap.

(personal note-I was in DC a few weeks prior to election,(not having been there since the 1990s) and saw for the first time the second FDR memorial, and I couldn't believe and was so proud to see the family had added FDR in statue form in a wheelchair. Bravo to his family for having the real courage to
show FDR as he was. )

[eridani]

6. It was fear of what might happen to his domestic programs that kept him on the war track, IMO

He had the decency to at least consider that prolonging the war was a lousy idea, but he was afraid ot being done in by "soft on communism" attacks.