Stan, You are spot-on. My parents were loyal Democrats , lower middle-class working people from generally rural/small city communities. They were the kind of people who supported labor unions and worked in the armaments plants during the war. Limited income and few connections to wealthy and powerful people. So who did they routinely vot…
Stan, You are spot-on. My parents were loyal Democrats , lower middle-class working people from generally rural/small city communities. They were the kind of people who supported labor unions and worked in the armaments plants during the war. Limited income and few connections to wealthy and powerful people. So who did they routinely vote for when it came to president of the US? Eisenhower and for the very reasons you suggest. But Eisenhower turned out to be somewhat more nuanced as a public servant, signing the law prohibiting segregation in the public schools (Brown vs the Board of Education in Supreme Court decision) and warning against the lethal link of the military/industrial complex to political and economic concerns. He proved to be a competent leader and he generally answered the public demands for peaceful and undisturbed growth. Of course, that growth served to hide many issues and problems that went unresolved during his term and into the 60s, issues that we are still tangling with now...and who knows when (if ever) they will be resolved?!
I’m not a scholar of the times, but I suspect that Ike was familiar with the major players of the time — Stalin, Mao, Adenauer, DeGaulle, et al — and knew how far he could go in consolidating USA power worldwide. Having the best-possible poker player in charge allowed our parents’ generation to give rise to the Woodstock generation of which I’m a member. To quote an old campaign button, “I Like Ike.” However, he didn’t do enough to reign in McCarthy — and we still have a McCarthy problem today.
Thank You...You and I share generations--we are contemporaries. Which means that I was a little kid when Eisenhower was president. I knew that he was An Important Person and I came to reflect the high regard my parents had for him. He apparently tried to move us in the direction of a public healthcare system, as did FDR and Truman before him but it took LBJ to carry through to Medicare. What I thought of Eisenhower at the time was that he was very old and may have been around forever but wanted us all to be happy and safe. (This was a little kid's view of the man.) Later, I came to appreciate him more and this seems to have been a commonly held view of him as I believe he is now considered one of our better presidents. He was the right man for the time which is a darn sight better than what we had before the current president. (Trump, The Man for no Season). Yes we do have McCarthy people and they may be attempting another coup, that is, taking over the entire Republican Party....this may lead to the death of that Party and the emergence of something else. I do think the only way we can get out of this hole or death spiral or whatever it is we are in is by focusing on programs, policies, and problems of a national importance...that means we need to resolve the case of Trump, remove him from public life (one way or another), insist that he be held responsible for his actions, and move on....
In 1969 at Woodstock, my group sat toward the top of the hill: no mud when it rained. Encountered a tent over the crest of the hill that had a banner: We Are All One. This has stuck in my mind ever since and informs my politics.
I am an old Bernie-supporter...which may suggest an approach close to your own. I was a bit concerned because I feared Biden might try to compromise with the right-wing members of Congress (read: the GOPers) and to date my fears have proven justified. However, I did vote for Biden without any hesitancy and I would do it again. I also think that Biden is playing the hand he was dealt, amid staunch opposition from those who would take us farther astray. At least he is competent which, seeing where we've come from, is a lot.
Yes, I agree with you. Joe is the right person to be in charge although I would have preferred Bernie, who presumably wouldn’t have wasted time appealing to Manchin & sinema.
Stan, You are spot-on. My parents were loyal Democrats , lower middle-class working people from generally rural/small city communities. They were the kind of people who supported labor unions and worked in the armaments plants during the war. Limited income and few connections to wealthy and powerful people. So who did they routinely vote for when it came to president of the US? Eisenhower and for the very reasons you suggest. But Eisenhower turned out to be somewhat more nuanced as a public servant, signing the law prohibiting segregation in the public schools (Brown vs the Board of Education in Supreme Court decision) and warning against the lethal link of the military/industrial complex to political and economic concerns. He proved to be a competent leader and he generally answered the public demands for peaceful and undisturbed growth. Of course, that growth served to hide many issues and problems that went unresolved during his term and into the 60s, issues that we are still tangling with now...and who knows when (if ever) they will be resolved?!
I’m not a scholar of the times, but I suspect that Ike was familiar with the major players of the time — Stalin, Mao, Adenauer, DeGaulle, et al — and knew how far he could go in consolidating USA power worldwide. Having the best-possible poker player in charge allowed our parents’ generation to give rise to the Woodstock generation of which I’m a member. To quote an old campaign button, “I Like Ike.” However, he didn’t do enough to reign in McCarthy — and we still have a McCarthy problem today.
Thank You...You and I share generations--we are contemporaries. Which means that I was a little kid when Eisenhower was president. I knew that he was An Important Person and I came to reflect the high regard my parents had for him. He apparently tried to move us in the direction of a public healthcare system, as did FDR and Truman before him but it took LBJ to carry through to Medicare. What I thought of Eisenhower at the time was that he was very old and may have been around forever but wanted us all to be happy and safe. (This was a little kid's view of the man.) Later, I came to appreciate him more and this seems to have been a commonly held view of him as I believe he is now considered one of our better presidents. He was the right man for the time which is a darn sight better than what we had before the current president. (Trump, The Man for no Season). Yes we do have McCarthy people and they may be attempting another coup, that is, taking over the entire Republican Party....this may lead to the death of that Party and the emergence of something else. I do think the only way we can get out of this hole or death spiral or whatever it is we are in is by focusing on programs, policies, and problems of a national importance...that means we need to resolve the case of Trump, remove him from public life (one way or another), insist that he be held responsible for his actions, and move on....
In 1969 at Woodstock, my group sat toward the top of the hill: no mud when it rained. Encountered a tent over the crest of the hill that had a banner: We Are All One. This has stuck in my mind ever since and informs my politics.
I am an old Bernie-supporter...which may suggest an approach close to your own. I was a bit concerned because I feared Biden might try to compromise with the right-wing members of Congress (read: the GOPers) and to date my fears have proven justified. However, I did vote for Biden without any hesitancy and I would do it again. I also think that Biden is playing the hand he was dealt, amid staunch opposition from those who would take us farther astray. At least he is competent which, seeing where we've come from, is a lot.
Yes, I agree with you. Joe is the right person to be in charge although I would have preferred Bernie, who presumably wouldn’t have wasted time appealing to Manchin & sinema.