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Franklin D. Roosevelt, commonly known as "FDR", said this about the Bible in an address on October 6, 1935:  

Franklin D. Roosevelt, commonly known as "FDR", said this about the Bible in an address on October 6, 1935:  

:We cannot read the history of our rise and development as a nation, without reckoning with the place the Bible has occupied in shaping the advances of the Republic ...

*"We cannot read the history of our rise and development as a nation, without reckoning with the place the [[Bible]] has occupied in shaping the advances of the Republic."

:Where we have been the truest and most consistent in obeying its precepts, we have attained the greatest measure of contentment and prosperity.<ref>Quoted in DeMar, ''The Untold Story'', p. 60 and Gabrial Sivan, ''The Bible and Civilization'' (New York: Quadrangle/The New York Times Book Co., 1973), p. 178.</ref>

*"Where we have been the truest and most consistent in obeying its precepts, we have attained the greatest measure of contentment and prosperity."<ref>Quoted in DeMar, ''The Untold Story'', p. 60 and Gabrial Sivan, ''The Bible and Civilization'' (New York: Quadrangle/The New York Times Book Co., 1973), p. 178.</ref>

FDR became famous for delivering "fireside chats" over the new medium of radio, and on March 9, 1937 he declared:  

FDR became famous for delivering "fireside chats" over the new medium of [[radio]], and on March 9, 1937 he declared:  

:I hope that you have re-read the Constitution of the United States in these past few weeks. Like the Bible, it ought to be read again and again.

*"I hope that you have re-read the Constitution of the United States in these past few weeks. Like the Bible, it ought to be read again and again."

As [[World War II]] broke out in Europe, FDR warned:

As [[World War II]] broke out in Europe, FDR warned:

:Those forces hate democracy and Christianity as two phases of the same civilization.

*"Those forces hate [[Democracy]] and [[Christianity]] as two phases of the same civilization."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[[Image:Dcrosmor.jpg|right|thumb|330px]]

[[Image:Dcrosmor.jpg|right|thumb|330px]]

It is highly questionable whether FDR would have chosen to run for a third term had the [[Nazis]] not experienced such great success early in World War II, particularly in overrunning [[France]], which had been expected to hold out longer.  Historian [[Doris Kearns Goodwin]] has explored the implications of triumphant Naziism for FDR's decision in her book ''No Ordinary Time''.  While FDR had inaugurated the first system of peacetime [[conscription]] just after France fell, Congress had agreed to conscript men for one year only, and the frontrunner for the [[Republican]] Presidential nomination in 1940, [[Wendell Willkie]], was an isolationist.  It was therefore entirely possible that both conscription and the war would end in 1941 with the Nazis in control of all [[Western Europe]] except for [[Britain]], which would be dangerously isolated.  FDR's [[Democratic]] [[heir apparent]], [[Vice President]] [[John Nance Garner]] of [[Texas]], was at best lukewarm on both the war and the [[New Deal]].  To avoid this outcome, FDR probably decided to enter the war at the same time he decided to run again, although he was politically unable to do so until the [[Japanese]] attacked [[Pearl Harbor]] in December 1941.

It is highly questionable whether FDR would have chosen to run for a third term had the [[Nazis]] not experienced such great success early in World War II, particularly in overrunning [[France]], which had been expected to hold out longer.  Historian [[Doris Kearns Goodwin]] has explored the implications of triumphant Naziism for FDR's decision in her book ''No Ordinary Time''.  While FDR had inaugurated the first system of peacetime [[conscription]] just after France fell, Congress had agreed to conscript men for one year only, and the frontrunner for the [[Republican]] Presidential nomination in 1940, [[Wendell Willkie]], was an isolationist.  It was therefore entirely possible that both conscription and the war would end in 1941 with the Nazis in control of all [[Western Europe]] except for [[Britain]], which would be dangerously isolated.  FDR's [[Democratic]] [[heir apparent]], [[Vice President]] [[John Nance Garner]] of [[Texas]], was at best lukewarm on both the war and the [[New Deal]].  To avoid this outcome, FDR probably decided to enter the war at the same time he decided to run again, although he was politically unable to do so until the [[Japanese]] attacked [[Pearl Harbor]] in December 1941.

Had FDR chosen not to run in 1940, he would quite likely have lived longer (the impact of the presidency on its occupants' health is infamous, and FDR eventually confided at least to his wife [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] that he wished to live beyond his term).  The [[22nd Amendment]] to the [[U. S. Constitution]], if any, would have dealt with something besides term limitation of the President.  FDR's reputation would, however, have been determined by the same factors that determined it in real life:  the outcome of World War II, the ability of his party to cement its majority, and in the short term, the willingness of his successor to follow his policies.  One of these, the close alliance with the [[Soviet Union]], was repudiated almost immediately by Truman, and as a result, Roosevelt is remembered by [[conservatives]] as at best a qualified success.  A Republican 33rd President, however, would most likely have appointed anti-New Deal Justices to the [[U. S. Supreme Court]] (particularly had he been elected in 1940), with the result that Roosevelt today would be roundly condemned as a [[demagogue]], notwithstanding his decision to respect [[George Washington]]'s two-term precedent.  Since the Republicans did not actually retake the [[White House]] until the [[1952 Presidential election]] (and then through a candidate who was perceived as being above politics), the New Deal had time to be embraced by a new generation of politicians and constitutional scholars of both parties, although not universally (see [[Constitution in exile movement]]).  This may have been an equally important factor in Roosevelt's decision.

Had FDR chosen not to run in 1940, he would quite likely have lived longer (the impact of the presidency on its occupants' health is infamous, and FDR eventually confided at least to his wife [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] that he wished to live beyond his term).  The [[22nd Amendment]] to the [[U. S. Constitution]], if any, would have dealt with something besides term limitation of the President.  FDR's reputation would, however, have been determined by the same factors that determined it in real life:  the outcome of World War II, the ability of his party to cement its majority, and in the short term, the willingness of his successor to follow his policies.  One of these, the close alliance with the [[Soviet Union]], was repudiated almost immediately by Truman, and as a result, Roosevelt is remembered by [[conservatives]] as at best a qualified success.  A Republican 33rd President, however, would most likely have appointed anti-New Deal Justices to the [[U. S. Supreme Court]] (particularly had he been elected in 1940), with the result that Roosevelt today would be roundly condemned as a [[demagogue]], notwithstanding his decision to respect [[George Washington]]'s two-term precedent.  Since the Republicans did not actually retake the [[White House]] until the [[1952 Presidential election]] (and then through a candidate who was perceived as being above politics), the New Deal had time to be embraced by a new generation of politicians and constitutional scholars of both parties, although not universally (see [[Constitution in exile movement]]).  This may have been an equally important factor in Roosevelt's decision.