Page 14 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • August 27, 2014 The Last Word on FDR People who enjoy a challenge will want to remember Sept. 14. This is the day Ken Burns and his best writer, Geoffrey C. Ward, will unveil a 14-hour series called “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History,” which covers the careers of Theodore Roosevelt and his distant relative, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Ward was the editor of “American Heritage” when the magazine published an excerpt of mine from the Eddie Mat- thews letters with original art. He is a superb historian and a man of real courage. Ward found the papers of Franklin Roosevelt’s relatives who were opium traders in China. Ward is decidedly a Roosevelt admirer, but he published an account of their opium trading that revealed a deeply contemptuous and racist view of the Chinese -- contrasted with Franklin Roosevelt, who may have been influenced to oppose Japan in an effort to help China, though FDR’s real love was “The Mother Country” -- Britain. He probably con- cocted the fantasy that he was Dutch to keep the Irish vote in New York politics. His actual Dutch ancestry is usually calculated at about three percent. FDR’s Delano ancestors on his mother’s side sold the Chinese dope and made money doing so. His mother was proud of them and kept Chinese artifacts around the house to remember. Theodore Roosevelt’s home artifacts were Japanese. He loved all things Japanese with a passion, so much so that he gave his friends copies of the book “Bushido” by Inazo Nitobe and gave Korea to Japan in return for a free hand in the Philippines. He later gave them economic rights in Man- churia, too. Will we hear of this? The PBS preview pointed out that Ward developed his extreme identification with FDR because Ward was afflicted with infantile paralysis at nine and struggled to walk. FDR was afflicted with polio at 38, almost died, and spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair. Burns told “American History” that FDR was the most consequential U.S. President except for Lincoln: “Let’s just put FDR and Lincoln in a tie, because nothing is more impor- tant than the Civil War.” Calling FDR “greatest” would have an outrage -- even some liberals and all conservatives admit that Roosevelt’s last term was a howling disaster as his devi- ous underlings, clustered around a sick and dying president, gave away eastern Europe to Stalin and almost handed over Germany, too. “Consequential” would have worked except for George Washington: Napoleon and the Prussian profes- sionals who never lost a war before World War I regarded Washington as one of the greatest soldiers of history. The fact that Washington passed up a chance to be declared King of America by his angry, unpaid soldiers made Washington “great” and “consequential.” Had Washington become king and failed, the British might have been invited back and we might be one big British colony. Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt have been featured a lot on PBS, but Ward inherited the intimate letters of FDR to his distant cousin, Daisy Suckley, which are said to offer a previously unseen glimpse into a fascinating and endlessly convoluted character. The preview revealed many never- before-seen photographs of the expanded Roosevelt family. Edward Herrman, the official Roosevelt impersonator, will provide voiceovers in selections where no sound recordings are available. Meryl Streep will be the voice of Eleanor Roosevelt. Patricia Clarkson will read Daisy Suckley’s previously unpublished letters. Now brace for the controversy. People who love FDR remember how his alphabet-soup list of worker relief pro- grams, also including things we take for granted today such as unemployment insurance and Social Security, helped their families survive the Great Depression. Men who could not support their wives and kids disappeared more often than anyone wants to remember. Young guys who got jobs with the Civilian Conserva- tion Corps sent money home and studied academic sub- jects in their spare time. Those who understand economic history know that once the majority of the people slip away from agriculture, and the skilled trades are made redun- dant by cheaper factory goods, some form of socialism in inevitable unless you want a Russian-style communist revolution. Social Security was originally intended to help intact households take in a widow or widower parent. FDIC got people back in the habit of keeping their money in banks. Rural electrification and the minimum wage were not charity. They were counter-revolutionary measures by a rich Harvard guy who never had to wait for a paycheck because his mother paid his bills until she died. These moves worked. Even the U.S. communists knew FDR was not a communist, but saw him as a placeholder until they could knock him over and bring in a “Stalin” once things got worse. Roosevelt, for all his Depression-era concern and compassion for the temporary poor, remained com- mitted to public Christianity and investment capitalism. In domestic economic terms, he really was “the necessary man.” He may have saved us from fascism and commu- nism. FDR was not a racial liberal as was Eleanor, a woman of genuine compassion. He was a WASP supremacist. He once told his Catholic friend Leo Crowley and his Jewish best friend Henry Morgenthau Jr. that America was a Protestant nation and that Catholics and Jews lived there under sufferance. They were both dismayed. They had been arguing over who got to control enemy property at the time war was declared. During the Roosevelt years, Tejanos, ethnic Mexicans whose ancestors the U.S. acquired after the Mexican War, were handed bus tickets and told to go back to Mexico, even if their grandparents had been born in Texas. Filipinos had become eligible for citizenship when the U.S. annexed the Philippines. They were deprived of this right. Japanese- Americans went to concentration camps because the attack on Pearl Harbor was worse than anyone expected and the administration desperately needed scapegoats, rather in the way that Hitler absurdly blamed the Jews for starting and then losing World War I. African-Americans got a lot of promises from FDR, but it was Harry Truman who inte- grated the armed forces. Statistics now show that 17 percent of Americans are Hispanic, 13 percent are black, and Asians and American Indians bring the non-white total to more than a third of the population. By 2050, the number of minorities among people of child-bearing and working age will be 50/50. A white man named Finis K. Farr split the difference. A Princeton honors graduate and former NBC newsman, Farr, winner of the Bronze Star, was part of an OSS con- tingent of Americans and Chinese Nationalists leading native Shan mercenaries behind Japanese lines in Burma. One morning, Farr woke up to find that the Shan merce- naries had defected. The 12 or so Americans and Chinese Nationalists were no longer the hunters, but the hunted, by Roosevelt-hating men who did not take prisoners, but their heads -- as we sometimes took theirs. Farr also learned by shortwave radio that FDR had died. Keeping his head was more relevant to Farr at the time. In retrospect, Farr said FDR was a nice, often gracious, but sometimes malicious man with inept or leftist advisers. Farr said the first two Roosevelt terms had been humane and constructive, but that the last two terms -- Lend Lease, the peacetime draft, the provocation of Pearl Harbor -- had been catastrophic to young Americans. Enjoy the Burns-Ward series, and then read Farr’s short biography, “FDR” for a rare sense of balance. Burns and Ward are much nicer men than the late Farr was -- but they were never trapped behind Japanese lines in Burma. Letters to the Editor Concerns aired Dear Editor: Within six years of a poor Aztec Indian named Juan Diego encountering “a beautiful woman surrounded by a ball of light as bright as the sun,” six million Aztecs had converted to Catholicism. The apparition was Mary, the mother of Jesus. This Aztec civilization had been sacrific- ing their young to false gods; but they were pagans. The same course of events is taking place today. Mil- lions who claim to be Christian practice abortion, a sacri- fice of God-given life to the false god of “free will.” With every abortion, the abyss between the heart of God and the heart of the world yawns wider. How can one presume that any type of union or government that sup- ports this violation of life could prosper? The welfare of the world depends upon the unity of wills between God and man. God still governs and reigns over the world. You must please Him, not yourself. The world is racing toward many problems of its own design. If you continue to disobey God’s commandments, the commandments do not change, but your relationship with God does change. We can only warn you, and try to redirect you upon the path of truth. It is what you choose in the present that will dictate your future. We invite you to be a positive witness in the world around you. Visit HolyLove.org. Maureen Sweeney-Kyle Mark Farnese Midland Park Why the rush? Dear Editor: I would like to share my observations and concerns regarding how the Franklin Lakes Board of Education plans to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Tony Zolfo. Based on my attendance at the Aug. 11 meeting, there appeared to be several trustees who wanted to move the process along rather quickly. Although the board has 65 days to make its selection, the discussion regarding a date to interview, spearheaded by Susan McGowan, kept returning to Aug. 27. As a member of the audience, it was clear to see that McGowan and several other trustees were quite comfortable giving the community (realistically) less than one week -- at a time many families are on vacation -- to respond to the advertisement. It should also be noted that they did not discuss any deadline for applications. Fortunately, three board members were present to argue that families and the community need more notice during this busy vacation and back-to-school time. The best date the board could agree upon was Sept. 9, which is still a very short timeline. Unfortunately, the board also decided the date prior to public comment, maintaining their pattern of disinterest toward public input. It’s hard to witness discussions like this and not think that there is some sort of hidden agenda. Why the rush? Does the majority already have someone in mind? What happened to putting the “public back into public education” and listening to public input before making decisions? In my opinion, the board should hold interviews in mid- September, giving our community time to respond and families time to properly settle into the school year. Personally, I am excited to run for the board in Novem- ber and have my community decide my fate. Vicki Holst Franklin Lakes