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The Trouble With the Clinton/Obama Legacies
Success Divorced From the Working Class
It is by no means controversial to suggest that the Democratic Party faithful hold former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama in high regard. Both presided over periods of sustained economic growth, and their presidencies ended with the stock market reaching all-time highs. The legacies of their legislative agendas, however, tell a far different story, one that is antithetical to the Democratic tradition of FDR’s pro-labor populism, and as such, is anathema to the interests of working-class Americans.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s stewardship of the country through the Great Depression and World War II led to the most significant and impactful populist legislation in American history. The New Deal and the G.I. Bill were responsible for pulling the U.S. out of the Great Depression and for building the American middle class. The decidedly pro-labor economic agenda of Roosevelt’s presidency demonstrated the ability of the U.S. government to foster collective financial security and prosperity through public policy, the benefits of which were felt long after Roosevelt’s death.
More than 45 years after FDR’s passing, Clinton ushered in a new era of Democratic presidential governance. His chairmanship of the Democratic Leadership Council would prove…
