The point I was trying to make was that essentially in the eyes of his rich social contemporaries, FDR was a class traitor who sold them out, and not someone acting in their interests, short or long term.

Of course, we can see how it played out - which is why that comment about taking generations to roll back many of FDR's reforms is there. The rich didn't suddenly develop a social conscience following WWII - they faced Stalin, and then their nightmare of 'Communism' - only after that threat seemed safely over could they get back to work doing the one thing the rich can always be counted on - increasing their wealth without concern for any human being but themselves.

There were two factions (oversimplified) of the rich back then. The FDR faction and the "Dupont" faction for lack of a better term.

The Dupont faction wanted no reforms. Had they gained power (they attempted a coup in '34) there would have been no reforms. The country would have seen a meltdown and probably turned to communism once the dust had settled.

The FDR faction was the smarter faction in my opinion. They knew that if they didn't help out the poor people a little bit (with the New Deal) the whole thing would go down the tube.

Imagine two brothers who co-own a plantation. FDR was the brother who figured we better give the slaves better working conditions or there going to burn down the plantation and hang the master's family. Smart move, in my opinion.

Best,

Matt

P.S.

For those of you wondering about the attempted coup, yes it really did happend. History channel even did a documentary about it and their not exactly known for being a radicalist media outlet. For more info, read the original House documents confirming the whole damn thing:

http://www.claytoncramer.com/primary/other/HUAC1.pdf

http://www.claytoncramer.com/primary/other/HUAC2.pdf

http://www.claytoncramer.com/primary/other/HUAC3.pdf

A good summary here:

http://www.claytoncramer.com/amcoup.html