FDR, the three-part series on The History Channel, is a must see historical documentary with a wealth of archive illustrations. But it glosses over and mostly ignores many of FDR’s real motivations and actions to get the United States into war and to rule the world.
First off, the series quite rightly plays up the role of Eleanor Roosevelt whose historical importance is undervalued. Few Americans know how much she did for the country, for women, and for Blacks, as the first real ‘First Lady’ with a political role.
The series also underlines how important she was to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s success despite the fact they fell out in 1918 over his infidelity. Eleanor put God, country and family first.
It is undeniable FDR was a courageous and intelligent man who overcame severe handicaps to do what he thought was right; his true grit is clearly displayed in the documentary.
However, I take issue with many of the messages, and the omissions. Firstly, FDR was not “a traitor to his class.” FDR realised that if the rich were to stay rich and beautiful by exploiting labor, then more crumbs had to be thrown at those producing the wealth. FDR understood, unlike Hoover and his wealthy ilk, or those of the 10% today, that otherwise the US could go down the same road as Germany or the USSR.
FDR did what he did to save a system that made the rich richer, and at the same time, saved our form of democracy, which, as the series shows at times, was far from truly democratic or equal.
War & Power
Lend-Lease was a dirty trick to get us into the European war against Americans’ wishes. You really have to do the math yourself to understand that from the series. Like stones in a field, the facts are there. But you have to put them together to build the house of lies and deception.
I continue to oppose past US involvement in European ‘civil wars’ which were not in America’s interests, but that is a different topic for another time (my opinion on WWII not our war here).
The series points out the strong anti-semitism which reigned in the US. When Hitler said to the world, “take our Jews,” the world, including (especially?) the US, turned its back. The series clearly states, on several occasions, how rampant antisemitism was in the circles of power and particularly in the State Department.
The series underscores that State did not follow FDR’s demands the process of giving European Jews visas be accelerated.
It would have been hard to find greater racists and anti-semites than Prime Minister Churchill; or Vice-President Truman, who liberally used the word ‘Nigger’ when referring to Blacks and told racist-jokes in public.
To Make America Top Dog
Behind the conspiracy to replace the old world order with uncontested American rule were Hamilton Fish Armstrong’s Council on Foreign Relations, Raymond Leslie Buell’s Foreign Policy Association and the Institue of Pacific Relations as well as magnates like Henry Luce, owner of Time Inc. publications.
The series completely covers up FDR’s real intention of destroying the old imperialist orders to replace them with a Pax Americana under total US domination. Insisting on independence for UK, French and others’ colonies was a way of making room for the US to weasel its way in. The UN was designed by FDR’s New England Cabal as a way of protecting the facade. The plans were drawn up before Pearl Harbor.
The Monroe Doctrine was never questioned and FDR’s intent was to make it global.
The big, important point to be made here is simply that the complete opportunity for leadership is ours.
Henry Luce, February 17, 1941
On how FDR tricked America into WWII, including doing everything he could to provoke war with Japan, I recommend Tomorrow the World by Stephan Wertheim, Harvard U. Press, 2020 (you can read my book review here).
There was just one mis-leading scene where you could almost grasp FDR wanted war with Japan. Imposing a near total embargo on an Island nation expanding its Empire could only lead to confrontation. FDR knew this.
This was not about saving Asians from Japanese brutality. The US did exactly as the Japanese when it took over the countries that were under Japanese rule, from Indonesia (1 million dead in the 1965 CIA/Suharto coup according to the Jakarta government) to the Vietnam War.
One could say the US wanted to replace a ‘Hirohito Doctrine’ with a Global American Doctrine. It worked for 70 years.
Pax Americana is War, Death & Destruction
60% of America’s 500 military interventions since 1776 have occurred since 1950 : With 251 of them since 1991.
The USSR, and then Red China, were always a spanner in the works, as are Russia, China, and BRICS today.
Of course, you can’t put everything into a three-part series and they did put a lot in there. Everything concerning Hoovervilles, the Great Depression, the New Deal, and so forth, was excellent. But the lying-war-monger, Wildrow Wilson, got off much too easy.
I wonder how Ken Bruns would have done FDR? Of course, his production would have been a 12-part series with more visual effects.
KazoDaily 