Opinion: FDR warned us about Donald Trump

To the editor: Why President Trump? My observations over the past 82 years may provide some insight. (“From wise and thoughtful Obama to thin-skinned and mean-spirited Trump,” Opinion, Jan. 20)

In 1944, Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed “a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all regardless of station, race or creed.” Our country went on to build a strong economy around a growing middle class, and a social safety net offered help when needed.

Since that time, FDR’s opponents have worked to undo his legacy. They had their first major successes in the 1980s when they began to marginalize labor unions and to shift wealth to the top of the pyramid. Their tactics hit a new low in 2008, when Republicans started refusing to do anything that might benefit the middle class.

Now, the one-percenters are back and in control. Voters are feeling the effect of those tactics, but unfortunately, too many do not know the cause.

FDR explained in 1944 that “people who are hungry, people who are out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.” That observation was confirmed on Friday.

Al Nault, Irvine

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To the editor: I wish Sandy Banks would have analyzed Trump’s electoral success more fairly.

Yes, it’s true that his campaign attracted a lot of racists, but implying that the 63 million people who voted for him are racists is absurd. She claims that the real agenda of Trump’s most ardent supporters is to keep minorities down, something she admits Trump has never actually said.

For her to dismiss serious issues like the millions of people who have lost their jobs to outsourcing or the millions here illegally is a big mistake. I did not vote for Trump, but to demonize million of voters who did is to ignore the real issues that mattered in this election.

Robert Newman, West Hills

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To the editor: Although I have never been a supporter of Trump, I found it somewhat disconcerting that all of The Times’ commentary and opinion on the day of the inauguration was so contemptuous of him.

There was not only the vitriol expressed by Banks, also a piece on the immediate campaign seeking to undermine the president. And while I am not overly optimistic that Trump’s initial term in office will be a successful one, for the sake of the country, I am hopeful that it will be.

Jim Redhead, San Diego

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