![]() A president who doesn't divide us, but unites us.” A president who is not in it for himself, but for others. “Few words better describe the kind of president our nation needs right now. “The story's told that when Franklin Roosevelt's funeral procession went by, a man collapsed in grief and the neighbor asked him, did you know the president? His response was, ‘No,’ the man said, ‘but he knew me,'” Biden recalled. He drew a more explicit connection to Roosevelt in late October as he delivered a closing argument address in Warm Springs, Georgia - where Roosevelt had gone “looking for a cure” from polio, Biden recalled, but instead learned lessons “that he used to lift a nation: humility, empathy, courage, optimism.” Doing so was crucial toward trying to rebuild public confidence after a Trump presidency that only stoked distrust in Washington.īiden, in an interview with Brené Brown in October, said he was particularly struck by Alter’s description of how perilous the nation’s democratic experiment was as Roosevelt prepared to take office. While recent presidents had bristled at the 100-day timeline, Biden’s team would embrace it - setting goals for vaccinations and reopening schools that in retrospect seemed unambitious, but were hardly guaranteed at first. ![]() While FDR’s first inaugural is best known for his declaration that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” another line became a mantra for Biden’s team: “This nation is asking for action, and action now.” But other FDR analogies were employed as the planning ramped up, even the notion of the inauguration as a “D-Day” when planning would turn to execution. ![]() “He had the same approach, that he wanted to demonstrate quick, vigorous action that would have an impact.” “It was very important for Biden to do things early on that delivered direct benefits to voters, especially people that were struggling,” said Mark Gitenstein, a longtime Biden adviser who helped guide the transition from its earliest days and also closely studied the Roosevelt model.
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