Newswise — "There are definite parallels between the Obama inauguration and the inauguration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933, " says David Cingranelli. "In both cases, the new president faced factors such as rising unemployment and poverty, and championed the cause of the underclass."
According to Cingranelli, both Obama and FDR inherited a foreign policy challenge: for FDR, the rising tensions that eventually led to World War II; for Obama, global warming, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, rampant anti-Americanism abroad, the rise of Russia and China as challengers, and loss of faith by European allies.
"The new president attained office after a period of substantial demographic change in the country and with the support of recent immigrants," Cingranelli says. Cingranelli also points out that the similarities between the two inaugurations include the fact that the new president inherited an economic crisis caused by unregulated capitalism.
This is highlighted in this quote from FDR's inaugural address, "Finally, in our progress toward a resumption of work we require two safeguards against a return of the evils of the old order; there must be a strict supervision of all banking and credits and investments; there must be an end to speculation with other people's money, and there must be provision for an adequate but sound currency."
"In both cases, the previous president had very low approval ratings, and his party was in disarray," Cingranelli says. "In addition, the new president proposed major new social welfare programs to help ease the domestic crisis."
According to Cingranelli, political scientists refer to the election of 1932 as a realigning election, partly because the election of FDR began a long period of Democratic Party control of the presidency, which lasted from 1933-1969, except for the 8-year presidency of Eisenhower.
"It may turn out that we will look back on the election of 2008 as another realigning election in American politics," Cingranelli says.
David Louis Cingranelli is a professor of political science at Binghamton University, State University of New York. He has general expertise on the American Constitution and maintains a longstanding research program focused on ethics and American public policies, with a particular interest in worker rights in America and globally.
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