The Hubris of Politicians

Roosevelt deciding to Run in 1944 compared to Biden today.

Hello All,

Good politicians, even historically great ones, can make terrible, selfish decisions. We are actually witnessing now a repeat of one of the most dangerous of these—though my fear is that this could work out even worse.

The original decision that bears an eerie resemblance to President Biden’s decision to run for re-election at his age and in his mental condition is that of Franklin Roosevelt to run for re-election in 1944.

Why you ask?

Franklin Roosevelt and the Decision to Run in 1944

In 1944 Franklin Roosevelt, though he was only 62, was in terrible physical condition. In an era where blood pressure could not be controlled, decades of sedentary living (not his fault obviously) had combined with a love of tobacco and alcohol to bring on increasing heart failure.

He was growing weaker and weaker and his blood pressure regularly soared to dangerous levels. When he flew (which he did rarely) the plane was ordered to stay at low altitudes to put as little strain as possible on his heart.

He also could barely work for weeks at a time and his heart was failing. In April 1944, for instance, Roosevelt was forced to take a full month off and seemed incapable of almost all work. He headed down to the remote South Carolina estate, named Hobcaw Barony, of Bernard Baruch. There, Roosevelt slept twelve hours a day, worked for maybe an hour, and spent the rest of the time resting. All of this was hidden from the public view, as Roosevelt could be kept out of the sight of the Press, protected by Hobcaw’s thousands of remote acres.

Here is one of the last pictures of Roosevelt—taken at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. You get some idea of how thin and tired he was at that time. He also had big bags under his eyes constanly. One of the reasons you dont see many pictures of Roosevelt from 1944 and 1945 precisely because he often looked so haggard that few were released.