PRESIDENTIAL GREATNESS—AMERICA’S INCALCULABLE BLESSING

By Edwin Cooney

At 3:35 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time today, it will be exactly sixty-five years since the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt -- America’s last “great president.” Scholars, regardless of political or ideological orientation, rank Roosevelt in the top three presidents in American history. As you can guess, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are the other two “great presidents.” Near great presidents include: Harry Truman, James K. Polk, Woodrow Wilson, Lyndon Johnson, Theodore Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan and Dwight Eisenhower. (The last two are my own rankings: I’ve placed Reagan and Eisenhower above Jackson and Cleveland).

“So,” you may well ask, “what constitutes presidential greatness?

Some insist that moral character is the key factor. Yet presidents who rank far below the top ten greats and near greats such as John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Jimmy Carter and Herbert Hoover each possessed moral and political integrity beyond question.

George Washington was permanently above politics, primarily because he was twice elected without political party affiliation. However, not even George Washington was immune from moral indiscretions. Even as he was courting Martha, his wife to be, he confessed his love for Sally Fairfax, the wife of his neighbor George William Fairfax. Like a future presidential successor named Jimmy Carter, George Washington definitely had “lust in his heart.”

Much of FDR’s political success came from his capacity for both deceit and misdirection. As numerous recent authors have noted, in both politics and matters of the heart, FDR often coldly exploited the feelings of those close to him for his immediate advantage. The two most prominent victims were Winston Churchill and Eleanor Roosevelt.

As author Jon Meacham describes in his book “Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship,” FDR openly ridiculed Churchill in wartime meetings he and Churchill held with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. FDR’s goal was to establish an effective relationship with the enigmatic Soviet dictator at Winston’s expense, if necessary. Thus, FDR openly poked fun at Winston’s old-fashioned ideas, his tendency to make speeches rather than conversation during negotiations, and even his beloved cigars. More dramatically, it was Lucy Mercer Rutherford -- not Eleanor Roosevelt -- who was by FDR’s side sixty-five years ago today during his final moments of awareness before he slipped into eternity. Still, FDR was a great president!

It’s hard to identify a character flaw in Abraham Lincoln except perhaps for his unwillingness to forgive his father Thomas Lincoln’s shortcomings, specifically, his denial of sufficient time and opportunity for young Abe to get an education.

You may well wonder, “if it isn’t character that makes great presidents, what is it?”

Presidential historians have tended to rank presidents as great or near great if they’ve been responsible for what scholars call “landmark legislation or decision-making.

George Washington’s greatness was rooted in his capacity to draw men of much greater intellect around him encouraging them to sacrifice their individual agendas for the greater good. In a span of eight months, between Thursday, April 30, 1789 and Friday, January 1, 1790, Washington put together the entire executive branch of our government. Washington, in addition to being a good general, was a great builder.

Abraham Lincoln’s greatness was centered in his capacity to persevere, to knit a broken nation back together without bitter rancor toward his political opponents and personal detractors. His Emancipation Proclamation wasn’t issued according to a moral time clock (after all, chattel slavery was eternally immoral), but to the existence of a practical military and political advantage over the South.

The root of FDR’s greatness stemmed from a sunny disposition and sense of self worth which enabled him to accomplish what often seemed impossible. As has been often observed: “This extraordinary man, from his wheelchair, lifted a financially crippled and socially depressed nation to its feet.” Despite the character flaw stated above, FDR’s golden virtue resided in his public awareness. Being the stellar citizen he was, Franklin Roosevelt demonstrated that America could more permanently prosper when we realized that the welfare of our own families depends upon the well being of our neighbor’s family. Herein then is the key.

The measurement of presidential greatness is accomplishment according to the legitimate needs of the nation. The accomplishments of great presidents change the practices and thus the course of society. Washington, Lincoln and FDR are great because, “we, the people,” thought and acted differently in the wake of their leadership.

George Washington, our first great president, left office in 1797. Sixty-four years later, Abraham Lincoln came along and became our second great president. Sixty-eight years after Lincoln’s 1865 assassination, FDR came along. Thus, I wonder: might it be time for another president, who demonstrates patience and tolerance in the face of political name-calling and personal ridicule, to prevail and become great? Even if it is time, will we, the people, allow it? Or, do those who are really and truly great become so because they compel our affection and eternal gratitude beyond our inclination to grant it?

What say you?

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY