Where Have You Gone, Franklin Delano Roosevelt?

The Great Depression changed America forever. It changed it for the better thanks to Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

The Great Depression even changed Inauguration Day. George Washington was first installed as our first President on April 30, 1789. Thereafter, Inauguration Day would be March 4th.

The last President to be inaugurated on March 4th was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was inaugurated for the first time on March 4, 1933.

Because the economy suffered during the time of the election in 1932 through the winter of 1933, Congress changed the date of Inauguration Day to January 20th.

When FDR was inaugurated on March 4, 1933, he uttered those fateful words: “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is…fear itself…”.

We should remember these words and live our lives by them.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the increasing numbers of coronavirus victims and fatalities. How could you not after listening to the men and women of science detail the potential of this pandemic?

It’s easy to polarize into two extremes: those who doubt the evidence and believe this is no more than a common cold or flu and those who believe we are all doomed.

To me, it’s easier to remember Franklin Delano Roosevelt reassuring a terrified nation facing economic ruin by simply saying, “…the only thing we have to fear…is fear itself.”