The Inauguration

I wasn’t at all sure when exactly I had been to a Presidential Inauguration. So I went foraging through old files and low and behold here it is--the F.D.R. Inauguration of 1945. Here was the setting. I was New York State President of the Machinists Union (the IAM). The International President of the IAM had appointed me to the Democratic National Labor Committee of which Dan Tobin, President of the Teamsters, was the head man.




While World War II was still going on, it was becoming increasingly clear that fascism was going to be defeated. The Allies were going to win. (As I write this, I am looking for similarities and differences between that inauguration and the one coming up.) The ‘45 one was post WW II and the major issues before the country were the transition from wartime to peace time production. FDR’s concerns were how world peace could be assured. With Eleanor leading the charge, the United Nations would become the vehicle to insure that the world would never again see anything the likes of the war that had such a devastating effect on civilization. It was becoming increasingly clear that we were nearing the end of the FDR era. That made the country fearful of what might be lurking around the corner; similar, I think, to the present Inauguration mood. As a result of the economic meltdown, the country is suffering a severe fear of what might be coming. That is the commonality of these two inaugurations. I hasten to add however, the differences are enormous.


The 1945 Inauguration was a sad experience for me. After the ceremony Tobin took me on the greeting line to “meet the President.” FDR was in a large chair with his legs under a blanket. As we approached I became alarmed by the sight of a very tired, sick-looking old man. Tobin introduced me as “the young man who helped us win Pennsylvania.” The President shook my hand and said to Tobin, “What’s this kid with all that black hair doing with the rest of you gray heads.” Then, with that great FDR smile, he said to me, “Be careful of those old guys, boy.” There was a lot of prescience in that last remark. The next day I met Tobin at the Mayflower. He said the “Great White Father,” that’s how he referred to FDR, had given Tobin a number of jobs he could give to deserving friends. One of them was the Administrator of Yellowstone National Park. Tobin thought it would be great for me. I laughed and said, “Do you really want to send me to Siberia?”

I must tell you that there had been a most vigorous effort to dump me out of the IAM. And so Tobin said, “Bub,” thats what he called me, “your life in the Labor Movement would be short. They have tagged you as a commie trouble maker. So far you have been successful in beating them back. But remember, they have a lot more money than you and the country is headed for a very reactionary time.” Tobin said the employers have been furious with what they saw as the unions gaining enormous advantages through the Wagner Act and the New Deal during the war. They were now going to get even. Four months after his inauguration FDR died in his favorite home in Warm Springs, Georgia. The country was in deep mourning.

With FDR’s passing, Harry Truman became President. He was an old time political hack from Missouri. With the defeat of Wallace at the convention, it became clear that the age of the New Deal was about to come to a close, and it sure did. In the 1948 election between Truman and Dewey, Truman, to prove his bona fides as a conservative, issued a Presidential order requiring all Federal employees to sign a loyalty oath. That would be the start of one of the biggest witch hunts in our history. I believe that was the trigger that set off the McCarthy witch hunt and a wave of anti-labor legislation, resulting in the passage of the Taft Hartley Law. Together with the daily newspaper headlines about the Reds in Hollywood the country was gripped in fear.

As I contrast that ’48 Inauguration period with the upcoming Obama one, I am struck by the similarities and even more so the differences. The primary similarity in the two periods is dealing with fear, especially economic uncertainty. The primary difference is that once WW II was over, the economy began to roar. There was pent-up demand for everything--housing, automobiles, appliances, services, etc. All manufacturing had been devoted to materials necessary to win the war. The economy blossomed. Our current fate is as yet unknown, but no one suggests that our issues will be resolved quickly. What will get our economy going? How long will it take? Can we as individuals make it? We do not have pent-up demand.

Most unfortunate for Obama is the fact that we do not have a powerful labor movement or an organized left, like we had back in the thirties, that can take advantage of the economic crisis to advance the interests of the working masses (now called the middle class). I believe Obama would like to do that, but he needs the kind of political left backup that FDR had in the thirties. I hope I am wrong, but I see Obama underestimating the kind of fierce opposition he is about to encounter as he tries to fulfill his campaign promises. I do wish him the best of luck. But I would rather he had a powerful labor movement and left wing organizations to carry the banners of change in the streets. At any rate, as our first Black President I wish him well. But let us not underestimate what he will be up against.


Thank you Kate. N.H.W Y.