Mei Man: I drew Superman during the Great Depression

Chapter 157 Roosevelt

"Good evening, Mr. LaGuardia."

West 52nd Street, inside the 21st restaurant.

Colin took off his hat and greeted LaGuardia in the restaurant.

Then his eyes turned slightly, and he landed on the wheelchair that looked a bit out of place with the surrounding environment, and nodded with a smile.

"Good evening, Mr. Franklin Roosevelt."

Because of being in a wheelchair all year round, Roosevelt looked paler than ordinary people. When he heard Colin's greeting, he looked up and looked at the young man, then smiled and nodded in response.

"Good evening, Mr. Colin Looper."

Although Roosevelt is currently running for the party's nomination as a Democratic candidate, in fact he has a deep relationship with the Republican Party, including Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the Republican Party, who is Roosevelt's uncle .Even when Roosevelt told President Roosevelt, who was a Republican, of his decision to enter politics as a Democrat, the other party scolded him: "You despicable little bastard! You traitor..."

Of course, even so, Roosevelt still did not give up the idea of ​​participating in politics.

Especially after being injured and disabled, Roosevelt had a deeper understanding and understanding of politics.

Although he could not move freely like other political figures, his life in a wheelchair also had a great impact on Roosevelt, allowing him more time to think about the nature of politics.

He'd been in the wheelchair long enough that it was time to do something about it.

This is why, after Roosevelt learned from LaGuardia that Colin wanted to meet him, he agreed after thinking about it.

Among the many presidential nominees of the Democratic Party, he is not a very outstanding figure. On the contrary, the vast majority of Democrats are more optimistic about Al Smith as the nominee. After all, Al Smith has already run for president with Hoover before. experience, and the identity of the other party's Catholic faith can effectively attract the votes of religious standpoints.

It was precisely because of the failure to win the party's nomination that Roosevelt had to make compromises. Internally, he worked hard to win the support of people in the party and convince them that he could lead the Democratic Party to victory this time.Externally, we frequently contact powerful people in society, intending to use their strength to gain the support of more social groups.

Originally, Roosevelt's series of efforts did not go well.

Under the impact of the Great Depression, not only did the people lose hope in the government, but even the Democratic Party did not see any possibility of winning.

However, the crackdown in Washington in July confirmed that Roosevelt saw an opportunity for change.

Although it is not clear why Hoover made such an absurd order, as a competitor, Roosevelt obviously would not let go of such an opportunity.

Through the crackdown, he has persuaded a faction of the Democratic Party to support his nomination campaign.

The meeting with Colin was also to prepare for his next election after he was nominated by the party.

As for LaGuardia, although he was a member of the Republican Party, he actually did not agree with many policies of the Hoover administration, especially alcohol prohibition and fiscal policies during the Great Depression.

In addition, he had shown his intention to run for the mayor of New York a long time ago, and Roosevelt, as the governor of New York State, has a very high reputation in New York. Campaigning helps a lot.

This is why LaGuardia is willing to help Colin meet Roosevelt.

As for Colin, look at future history.

Both Roosevelt and LaGuardia left a profound influence on American politics in the future.

And their rule lasted at least ten years, so establishing a relationship with the two of them was a sure-fire deal for Colin.

In Restaurant No. 21, the three of them had their own ideas in their hearts, but they didn't express anything on the surface.

"I have been subscribing regularly to your Courier, Mr. Colin Looper, all this time."

In the wheelchair, Roosevelt spoke first, looked at Colin in front of him and said something in a meaningful tone.

Obviously, the purpose of Roosevelt's subscription to the "Courier" is naturally impossible to watch the serialization of "Superman".

Even Roosevelt was affected by the bribery scandal of former New York mayor Jimmy Walker.

After all, this was a scandal in his state of New York, and Jimmy Walker was a fellow Democrat in Roosevelt's party.

Fortunately, however.

Roosevelt responded quickly and did not let the Jimmy Walker scandal spread to him to affect his nomination campaign in the Democratic Party.

"If Mr. Roosevelt reads forward, he will find that, in fact, the "Courier" has always been a voice for the people, and has even criticized the president more than once for this reason."

Hearing Roosevelt's words, Colin first nodded to the waiter in the restaurant to confirm the menu, and then looked back at the wheelchair. This person who will be considered the most popular president in American history in the future,
Although, the reason why the "Courier" held on to Hoover was purely to attract attention and sales.

Hearing this, Roosevelt nodded.

He did read some newspapers of the "Courier" before the serialization of "Superman", in which Colin expressed his dissatisfaction with President Hoover in bitter words.

In fact, this is one of the reasons why Roosevelt was willing to meet Colin.

Judging from the previous news reports of the "Courier", Colin Luper's position is not biased towards the Democratic Party, at least he does not like the Republican Party.

Reference was made to the Courier-Journal's past criticism of Hoover.

As the only Republican of the three, and a member of Congress, LaGuardia should have been somewhat embarrassed.

But he showed a mature attitude that a politician should have, pretending he didn't hear anything, and continued to taste the food on his plate.

He glanced at LaGuardia who was concentrating on cutting the steak and tasting the delicious food.

Colin continued talking to Roosevelt.

"As far as I know, Mr. Roosevelt's nomination in the Democratic Party is not going well?"

"It's no secret."

In this regard, Roosevelt did not hide anything.

"In fact, not only the party is not optimistic about me, but even the media don't think I can win this nomination campaign. Great chaos and troubles, but these people did not think that there is any greater trouble in the United States than the Great Depression right now."

During this period, no one would have expected Roosevelt's victory.

And for the people who are still mired in the Great Depression, they no longer expect any president to rescue them from all this.

Roosevelt was chosen not because they had high expectations of him, but simply because the last president, Hoover, was so bad.

"Great Depression."

Roosevelt's words caused the three people present to fall into a brief silence, and even LaGuardia's steak-cutting action became a little heavier.

Although, later generations generally commented that Roosevelt was the president who led the United States out of the Great Depression.

But in fact, the entire Great Depression lasted for nearly a decade, and even during the New Deal period of Roosevelt, the unemployment rate never fell below 15%.If it hadn't been for the outbreak of World War II, the flames of war started in Europe, or whether the United States could really come out of the Great Depression is still two things to say.

Of course, history will only remember the result, so Roosevelt helped the United States out of the Great Depression and became the best president in American history.

"Perhaps, we should discuss some more practical matters, such as our views on the currently implemented No.18 amendment..."

Feeling the silence in the restaurant atmosphere, LaGuardia opened his mouth and directed the topic to the issue of Prohibition.

Now that the three of them have come to Restaurant 21, it is obvious that none of them are strong supporters of the Prohibition Law.

"The Eighteenth Amendment is a mistake!"

Roosevelt strongly advocated the abolition of Prohibition, which can be seen from the policy platform of his later presidential election.

In fact, the impact of "Prohibition" on American society far exceeded the original intention of the bill. Perhaps the original purpose of promulgating the "Prohibition" bill was to solve alcoholism, domestic violence, crime, prison overcrowding, and litigation. backlogs and poor public health.

However, during the 13 years of the implementation of the Prohibition, the bill not only failed to do this, but changed the face of society forever, and this influence has continued until now.

A lot of crime and corruption were born because of Prohibition, including Luciano and Capone, both mafia families who rose because of Prohibition.At the same time, the Tammany Association obtained a lot of money by covering up the bootlegging syndicate, and used the money obtained from the bootlegging to fund political campaigns. These bootlegging activities completely changed the American government system, and corruption spread from this open.

"Because of 'Jack' there have been thousands of victims with hand and foot disabilities, and most of them have irreversible paralysis."

On the side, Colin spoke in a timely manner, expressing his position on "Prohibition".

Jack, also known as Jamaican ginger.

It was a common medical remedy during the Great Depression. Because it contained a relatively high amount of alcohol, it was often drunk by some people who bypassed the Prohibition Law. It is not drinkable.But there are still some unscrupulous shopkeepers who are blinded by profit to mix industrial plastics into 'Jack' to deceive the government's test, and then sell it to the people who suffer from the "Prohibition".

And as a result, a large number of victims appeared.

Roosevelt was obviously very sensitive to the word paralyzed. Although he himself was not disabled because of "Jack", he also felt empathy for those victims.

"Perhaps, Mr. Roosevelt, you can campaign on Prohibition."

Of course, the reason why Colin used 'Jack' as an example obviously also had his own purpose. After arousing Roosevelt's empathy through the victim, he immediately made a proposal to Roosevelt.

"I believe that the vast majority of people will support this approach."

Facing the suggestion made by Colin, although Roosevelt's expression on his face was a little moved, he didn't show it immediately. On the contrary, he showed some restraint.

Although Roosevelt admired Colin's proposal in his heart, the election policy was not so easy to decide.

Once a wrong decision is made, the loss is not only a personal gain or loss, but also a large number of potential supporters.

Although the existence of the "Prohibition Law" has caused dissatisfaction among a large number of people, it also has many supporters.

Among them are a large number of women and Puritans who are staunch supporters of Prohibition. Once Roosevelt decides to take a stand on the bill, he will undoubtedly lose this part of the vote.

From Roosevelt's eyes, Colin saw the hesitation of the other party.

He was not surprised by this.

Every choice in politics is extremely important, and if you are not careful, you may fall into a situation that will never be restored.

For example, Hoover, his various practices in Washington, including the recent order to suppress the veterans.It has already laid the groundwork for his subsequent defeat.

Colin originally thought that it would take some time to persuade Roosevelt to make a decision to abolish Prohibition, or simply wait until the other party passed the nomination to run for election.

However, opportunities always appear inadvertently.

The weakened version of [Super Hearing] heard some noises outside the restaurant.

Immediately afterwards, a waiter dressed as a waiter appeared in the restaurant, reminding the dining guests in English with a unique Vienna Long Island accent.

"Don't be nervous, it's just a routine inspection by the Prohibition Detective."

As the waiter's voice fell, several anti-drinking agents in windbreakers and expressionless faces came to restaurant No. 21.

Although, the previous agents from the Federation failed to return to Restaurant 21 and did not find any business related to bootleg alcohol.However, it is clear that the Prohibition Detectives did not give up on the investigation of Restaurant 21, trying to find possible clues in the restaurant through raid-like operations.

Under the watchful eyes of Ke Lin and others, the prohibition agents launched a series of searches throughout the restaurant.

The results did not change anything. The location they investigated was the restaurant on the first floor of the restaurant, which itself was open to the public at 21 Restaurant, so it was naturally impossible to leave any obvious flaws.

Therefore, after the search, several Prohibition agents shook their heads at each other and left the restaurant with ugly expressions.

As these prohibition agents returned home again, a lot of cheers and applause suddenly erupted in the No. 21 restaurant.

"Perhaps you are right, Mr. Colin Luper."

Amidst these cheers, Roosevelt, who had witnessed everything in a wheelchair, suddenly had an idea.

"Prohibition was a terrible law and should be repealed."

(End of this chapter)