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Thread: Dear Mr. Roosevelt. . .

  1. #1
    Member raoul duke's Avatar
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    Dear Mr. Roosevelt. . .


    Happy 126th Birthday!

    Dear Mrs. Roosevelt, don't hang your head and cry;
    His mortal clay is laid away, but his good work fills the sky;
    This world was lucky to see him born.

    He's born in a money family on that Hudson's rocky shore;
    Outrun every kid a-growin' up 'round Hyde Park just for fun;
    This world was lucky to see him born.

    He went away to grade school and wrote back to his folks;
    He drew such funny pictures and always pulling a joke;
    This world was lucky to see him born.

    He went on up towards Harvard, he read his books of law;
    He loved his trees and horses, loved everything he saw;
    This world was lucky to see him born.

    He got struck down by fever and it settled in his leg;
    He loved the folks that wished him well as everybody did;
    This world was lucky to see him born.

    He took his office on a crippled leg, he said to one and all:
    "You money changin' racket boys have sure 'nuff got to fall;"
    This world was lucky to see him born,

    In senate walls and congress halls he used his gift of tongue
    To get you thieves and liars told and put you on the run;
    This world was lucky to see him born,

    I voted for him for lots o' jobs, I'd vote his name again;
    He tried to find an honest job for every idle man;
    This world was lucky to see him born,

    He helped to build my union hall, he learned me how to talk;
    I could see he was a cripple but he learned my soul to walk;
    This world was lucky to see him born.

    You Nazis and you fascists tried to boss this world by hate;
    He fought my war the union way and the hate gang all got beat;
    This world was lucky to see him born.

    I sent him 'cross that ocean to Yalta and to Tehran;
    He didn't like Churchill very much and told him man to man;
    This world was lucky to see him born.

    He said he didn't like DeGaulle, nor no Chiang Kai Shek;
    Shook hands with Joseph Stalin, says: "There's a man I like!"
    This world was lucky to see him born.

    I was torpedoed on my merchant ship the day he took command;
    He was hated by my captain, but loved by all ships hands;
    This world was lucky to see him born.

    I was a Gl in my army camp that day he passed away,
    And over my shoulder talkin' I could hear some soldier say:
    "This world was lucky to see him born."

    I guess this world was lucky just to see him born;
    I know this world was lucky just to see him born;
    This world was lucky to see him born. - Woody Guthrie
    One beautiful thing about having a government of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations is that every disaster is measured in terms of economic loss. It's sort of like getting your arm sheared off in a car accident and thinking, "Damn, now it'll take longer to fold the laundry" as blood spurts from your arteries. - The Rude Pundit

  2. #2
    Member speaker's Avatar
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    Man, he started a lot of bold, good things.

  3. #3
    Member raoul duke's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by speaker
    Man, he started a lot of bold, good things.
    Like the middle-class.
    One beautiful thing about having a government of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations is that every disaster is measured in terms of economic loss. It's sort of like getting your arm sheared off in a car accident and thinking, "Damn, now it'll take longer to fold the laundry" as blood spurts from your arteries. - The Rude Pundit

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    Quote Originally Posted by raoul duke
    Like the middle-class.
    Not really, raoul.

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    Member raoul duke's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by speaker
    Not really, raoul.
    Oh? There was a substantial middle-class before the Depression and the labor reforms enabled by FDR? Because it seems there really wasn't. He didn't invent the middle-class, but he had a lot to do, more than probably anyone, with it becoming the largest economic demographic.
    One beautiful thing about having a government of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations is that every disaster is measured in terms of economic loss. It's sort of like getting your arm sheared off in a car accident and thinking, "Damn, now it'll take longer to fold the laundry" as blood spurts from your arteries. - The Rude Pundit

  6. #6
    "I sent him 'cross that ocean to Yalta and to Tehran;
    He didn't like Churchill very much and told him man to man;
    This world was lucky to see him born."

    I'm reading Churchill's history of WWII and, based on what I've read, Roosevelt and Churchill got along exceptionally well. They seemed to agree on most of the important issues. Either I'm misinterpreting this stanza or Guthrie got it wrong.

    "He said he didn't like DeGaulle, nor no Chiang Kai Shek;
    Shook hands with Joseph Stalin, says: "There's a man I like!"
    This world was lucky to see him born."

    Again, maybe I'm misinterpreting the stanza, but, based on my understanding, neither Roosevelt nor Churchill liked, or trusted Stalin.

    Also, the Russians, under Stalin, were allies with the Germans, before the Germans double-crossed them. The Russians condoned Nazi agression in Eastern Europe and joined them in the conquest of several Eastern European countries. (Belarus, Ukraine, etc.) (The Russians also invaded Finland as the Nazis were conquering Norway.)

    The Allied powers armed and supported DeGaulle. To them, he represented the antithesis of the quisling Vichy French government. (Quisling was the Norwegian officer who supported the Nazi's and headed the Norwegian government under the Nazi occupation. He was executed for treason after the war. His last name was converted into a verb, meaning one who collaborates with the enemy.)

    The Allies also armed and supported Chiang Kai Shek, not just against the Japanese, but against Mao.

    I respect Roosevelt, but I think Guthrie may have played with reality here.
    Last edited by gshowell; January 30th, 2008 at 02:36 PM.

  7. #7
    Member raoul duke's Avatar
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    Well. . . Guthrie was a minstrel and a story teller, not a historian. Sometimes you gotta twist the history to fit the rhyme. It's funny you mention that, though. I was perusing a book store a while ago and I came across a book that broke down folk music lyrics that contained real historic references and compared the message of the song with the actual event. If i had the money at the time I would have read it by now and could have told you the name of it. . . but alas, all I can remember is a plain brown cover.

    What Churchill book are you reading? Written by him or another author about him? I've been trying to find a few good books about him, Roosevelt and WWII. If you can recommend any, I'm all ears.
    Last edited by raoul duke; January 30th, 2008 at 03:21 PM.
    One beautiful thing about having a government of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations is that every disaster is measured in terms of economic loss. It's sort of like getting your arm sheared off in a car accident and thinking, "Damn, now it'll take longer to fold the laundry" as blood spurts from your arteries. - The Rude Pundit

  8. #8
    Member Linda_D's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by raoul duke
    Well. . . Guthrie was a minstrel and a story teller, not a historian. Sometimes you gotta twist the history to fit the rhyme. It's funny you mention that, though. I was perusing a book store a while ago and I came across a book that broke down folk music lyrics that contained real historic references and compared the message of the song with the actual event. If i had the money at the time I would have read it by now and could have told you the name of it. . . but alas, all I can remember is a plain brown cover.

    What Churchill book are you reading? Written by him or another author about him? I've been trying to find a few good books about him, Roosevelt and WWII. If you can recommend any, I'm all ears.
    I got through the first couple of verses and knew it was Woody Guthrie even before I saw his name, although I hadn't heard this song before! "Minstrel" is a great description of him!

  9. #9
    Member speaker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by raoul duke
    Oh? There was a substantial middle-class before the Depression and the labor reforms enabled by FDR? Because it seems there really wasn't. He didn't invent the middle-class, but he had a lot to do, more than probably anyone, with it becoming the largest economic demographic.
    I was wrong, raoul. Misunderstanding.

    Are we OK?

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by gshowell
    "I sent him 'cross that ocean to Yalta and to Tehran;
    He didn't like Churchill very much and told him man to man;
    This world was lucky to see him born."

    I'm reading Churchill's history of WWII and, based on what I've read, Roosevelt and Churchill got along exceptionally well. They seemed to agree on most of the important issues. Either I'm misinterpreting this stanza or Guthrie got it wrong.

    "He said he didn't like DeGaulle, nor no Chiang Kai Shek;
    Shook hands with Joseph Stalin, says: "There's a man I like!"
    This world was lucky to see him born."

    Again, maybe I'm misinterpreting the stanza, but, based on my understanding, neither Roosevelt nor Churchill liked, or trusted Stalin.

    Also, the Russians, under Stalin, were allies with the Germans, before the Germans double-crossed them. The Russians condoned Nazi agression in Eastern Europe and joined them in the conquest of several Eastern European countries. (Belarus, Ukraine, etc.) (The Russians also invaded Finland as the Nazis were conquering Norway.)

    The Allied powers armed and supported DeGaulle. To them, he represented the antithesis of the quisling Vichy French government. (Quisling was the Norwegian officer who supported the Nazi's and headed the Norwegian government under the Nazi occupation. He was executed for treason after the war. His last name was converted into a verb, meaning one who collaborates with the enemy.)

    The Allies also armed and supported Chiang Kai Shek, not just against the Japanese, but against Mao.

    I respect Roosevelt, but I think Guthrie may have played with reality here.
    The words had to fit in, howell. For sure, they did not like Stalin. Poetic license, I guess.

  11. #11
    I'm reading Churchill's history of WW2. At the moment I'm working through Volume Five, The Hinge of Fate. It's a good read. Churchill has a way of writing that makes events comprehensible.

    Yes, I agree. Guthrie was writing to fit words to music.

    However, Guthrie, though never a member of the Communist Party, associated with Communists. And, I think he was doing what a lot of us do, interpreting history through his eyes and viewpoint. Hence the positive reference to Stalin.

    But, wait, this thread is about Roosevelt. I've got some interesting pictures of Roosevelt that I'll post soon.

  12. #12
    Member Linda_D's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gshowell
    I'm reading Churchill's history of WW2. At the moment I'm working through Volume Five, The Hinge of Fate. It's a good read. Churchill has a way of writing that makes events comprehensible.

    Yes, I agree. Guthrie was writing to fit words to music.

    However, Guthrie, though never a member of the Communist Party, associated with Communists. And, I think he was doing what a lot of us do, interpreting history through his eyes and viewpoint. Hence the positive reference to Stalin.

    But, wait, this thread is about Roosevelt. I've got some interesting pictures of Roosevelt that I'll post soon.
    A lot of people in the 30s "associated with Communists" because of the long standing depression in agriculture (which started years before the 1929 stock market crash), the oppressive conditions for workers in many industries, and the trauma of the Great Depression caused a lot of them to lose faith in the American system. They also didn't know what we know today about Stalin and his dictatorship, so they romanticized the Russian Revolution.

  13. #13
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    True, the bad times brought about anarchy. I don't know what they thought of Stalin in the 30's, when Woody Guthrie wrote and sang his music, but I know there was a deep distrust of Josef Stalin all through WW2, and maybe before. He was the lesser of many evils at the time, and England and the US had to ally with him to win the war.
    Germany and Russia also hated each other. A lot of people thought it would be a good idea to let those two countries war with each other, as they would have brutally annihilated each other. Of course, this was an impossibility. But Russia had been so unstable since the termination of the Tsars, and Stalin had reunified his country. Brutally.

  14. #14
    A lot of people associated with Communists in the thirties. If my memory serves me well, folk singer, songwriter Pete Seeger belonged to the Communist Party for a short period of time. He quit after he learned what was really going on.

  15. #15
    Speaking of Communists...

    Roosevelt's critics labeled him a Communist because he started Social Security and created the WPA, etc.

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