Jon Chait makes the argument that Joe Biden is trying to create an FDR-sized presidency that redefines the role government plays into our lives and heads off threats from radical outliers - like FDR did. Roosevelt was the bold reformer who staved off challenges from the Socialist Left and the Fascist Right and created a broad based prosperity that lasted for almost 40 years (and created an powerful Democratic majority).
Biden is doing all this without the benefit of large majorities in the House and Senate. However, FDR often had to negotiate within his fractious caucus, too. Southern Democrats would not countenance any expansion of social benefits to Blacks, for instance.
What strikes me about this comparison is the similarities between Roosevelt and Biden as men. Both were instinctive politicians - warm and optimistic - and neither were considered especially deep thinkers. If Biden lacks the cool brilliance of Obama, FDR lacked the scholarly insights of a Woodrow Wilson, yet both build off the intellectual underpinnings and failures of their predecessors.
Because Biden and FDR are not deep philosophical thinkers, they are freer to acknowledge the horse-trading politics of it all. They were comfortable with the "sausage making."
I don't know if Biden will be the next FDR, but today's news is encouraging.
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