I always harbored a tinge of sadness that I didn't live in FDR's time...

[Dennis Donovan]

I've always possessed a sense of history, even as a child. I've felt a connection to the events that I've personally lived through, as well as those events, as told to me by my mother, that she herself lived through. I sat there in rapt attention as she told me how frightening the Great Depression was to poor folk like her and her family. She watched her father work 12 hours a day for vegetables and a little meat to feed his family. She watched her mother clean the house of the local doctor, so her children could have some sort of health care. In the dark, early days of the Great Depression, hope was a luxury.

Then she spoke of a man who, by the mere sound of his voice over the radio, exuded confidence and offered a way out of despair. Never mind that he hadn't actually had a chance to change anything at that point, he was believable and seemed sincere. For my mother, that was the beginning of the end of the Depression. Of course, that man was Franklin D. Roosevelt...

Tonight, I'm sitting in front of my television. Numb after almost eight years of feeling utter distrust and disgust towards my government - all of it warranted - underneath a portrait of Franklin Roosevelt I bought years ago at an antique store, I'm thinking of FDR again. It's not the first time I've thought of him in the last eight years. Every time I'd feel sadness that our government was shaming us by its reckless, thoughtless actions (and inactions, like during Hurricane Katrina), I'd look at my portrait of FDR and hoped another man of his strength and character would come along... and soon!

Well, it appears my hopes have been addressed. I watched Senator Barack Obama's special tonight, and I now know how my mother felt nearly 70 years ago. I am filled with pride and happiness that I am lucky enough to be living in Obama's time.

[BlooInBloo]

1. It always looks sexier in books.

[Dennis Donovan]

4. I always was a little jealous of my mother that she lived in FDR's time...

I certainly don't wish to live during the Depression or to have to had fought in WW2, but to have LIVED in the same era as Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt must have been exhilarating. I feel we're on the cusp of history right now. Someday, our grandkids will probably visit the Obama Memorial. It chokes me up...

[RollWithIt]

2. While I understand the attraction to FDR's greatness, you DONT WANT TO LIVE IN THOSE TIMES......

Massive poverty. Massive war. Massive Death. Misery, sadness and loss on a grand scale. FDR helped our country out of that mess. That mess made these difficult times look like fun.

[Dennis Donovan]

8. It's not the times I wish to experience, it's living under such a great man...

I suppose our descendents will wonder how we survived the last eight years...;)

[Condem]

3. Lincoln, Dennis.

When I walk the Gettysburg battlefield, I feel that I saw it once before. Many years ago. Now I'm witnessing history, once again.

[Dennis Donovan]

7. Lincoln, too... Another hero of mine.

:thumbsup: Unfortunately, I never met anyone who lived during his time.;)

[Condem]

9. Saw a story on the Kos.

109 year old woman voting absentee for Obama. Old enough to connect to the survivors of that war. Man, what a story she has. Amazing!

[Dennis Donovan]

11. I saw that too - it put a lump in my throat.

[JustAnotherGen]

5. Funny

I wouldn't want to live in those times - but at another board I frequent . . . I just posted my thoughts like I just 'watched' my first Fireside Chat. ;-) Many more to come these next few years! :pals:

[Lint Head]

6. I remember JFK. The country does have hope and a chance to

change if Barack is elected. I wish I could go to sleep and wake up on 11/04/08. :dem:

[Dennis Donovan]

10. I missed JFK by a few years...

We're on the cusp of a great American era, as long as we prevail on Tuesday.:thumbsup:

[Lint Head]

13. We are so lucky to be alive and witness this. We will be envied

by people in the future. :dem:

[THUNDER HANDS]

12. a lot of remarkable history has been made the last 8 years

The 2000 election.

911.

Hurricane Katrina.

The economic collapse.

Obama's rise.

We're living in interesting times again, after a decade (90s) of relative boredom.

[Jennicut]

14. I always wonder how people got through it. Anyone who ever puts

down FDR and says he increased the government too much or his programs didn't really work I always say that he gave people hope and optimism. He told them they had a future. Obama is a lot like this in that he offers calm and reassurance when people need it most.