Hitler vs. FDR

An Analysis

By Cameron Moseley

GTD

10/20/14

To lead a nation is no small feat, and only a very unique few have the ability

to do so. To lead a nation after years of turmoil, destruction, and one of the worst

economical downfalls known to man, well that is a whole different scenario all

together. Two of the greatest leaders of all time were essentially on opposite sides of

the moral spectrum; those two leaders were Adolf Hitler and Franklin Delano

Roosevelt. These two men could not of been more different, yet more alike; Hitler

was the epitome of evil during his regime in Germany while Franklin D. Roosevelt

was loved by essentially all of the people who populated the United States. The clear

and concise contrast between The Fuehrer and FDR can be seen in plain site, but

comparisons just as substantial as those disparities can be made as well. We will

take a brief look of how each of these king-like leaders came to power, remained in

power, and left a legacy that would shape their respective nations.

Adolf Hitler was actually quite embarrassed of his family and his childhood,

and historians often refer to it as the source of his hatred and demise. The former

was born on April 20, 1889 and grew up in the small Austrian village of Braunna Am

In, which was located just across the border from German Bavaria.1 Hitler grew up

in quite a hostile household due to his father retiring from his job in the civil service

industry. This is believed to attribute to Hitler’s rather inimical practices, policies,

and beliefs. He was often beaten when his older brother ran away at the age of seven

due to frequent paternal abuse; this would later cause Adolf to be one of the more

robust boys in his friend group (many of his friends referred to him as their ring

leader). Hitler began to attend a public school in a village near Linz at the age of 5,

1 "Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945)." Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945). N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.

though this did not last long because his family was always on the move due to his

father’s job. Later, when Hitler began to mature, he was rummaging through some of

his father’s belongings after the family had moved when he stumbled upon his

father’s book collection, which largely consisted of military novels. Hitler read

through these manuscripts avidly and later concluded that war was a wonderful

thing. His favorite book was a picture book that evaluated the War of 1870-1871;

this book would later become an obsession.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s childhood could not of been more different than

Adolf Hitler’s. He was born on January 30, 1882 in Hyde Park, New York on his

parent’s estate. FDR was born into a family that was a part of the New York

aristocracy whereas Hitler’s family was by no means anywhere as well of as the

Roosevelt family had been in that day in age.2 FDR’s father had earned his money

through the railroad and coal markets while his mother was a caring woman whose

main focus was on raising FDR and his siblings. For FDR, public school was not even

an option; FDR’s parents had private tutors brought to their home before he

attended an elitist private school, The Grotton School, in Massachusetts in the year

1896. It was at this school where FDR met headmaster Endicott Peabody, a man

who instilled a strong sense of civil responsibility in the young FDR.

I am going to pause here to analyze the various and obvious differences

between the childhoods of Adolf Hitler and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. What is so

mind-boggling is the fact that these two men, who came from opposite sides of the

societal structures in their respective countries, are now having comparisons drawn

2 Meier, David A. "Adolf." Hitler's Rise to Power. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.

between them. What is even more interesting is the fact that these men were the

epitomes of leaders, one for the sake of evil and despair and the other for the sake of

economical progression and national prosperity. The major differences between

these two men continue as I move on to their young adult years where they were

heavily influenced by their surroundings.

The book that Hitler found, stirred a strong sense of nationalism within

Hitler and he very quickly brewed a hatred for foreigners of any kind. He would

prove his great love for his beloved Bavaria by submitting a petition to enlist in the

Bavarian army as World War I began.3 Germany lost the war after surrendering, as

well as agreeing to take full blame and full financial responsibility of the reparations.

Hitler was outraged at how Germany handled this historical embarrassment, and

saw to it that it would never happen again. Hitler moved on to work in the German

intelligence office where he to adopt many of the anti-Semitic and anti-Marxist ideas

that were sweeping the nation of Germany. Anton Drexler, a member of the

German’s Work Party (DAP) was a man who greatly influenced Hitler and

introduced the idea of the Nazi party to him. Hitler would go on to join the DAP

where he would give vitriolic speeches that very often captured the emotions of

hundreds of thousands of Germans. Hitler was still “embittered” over the course of

events that had recently taken place, most importantly the surrender of Germany.4

Hitler even went as far as storming a public meeting of 3000 people in a large beer

hall in Munich in order to announce the beginning of the revolution and demanding

an overhaul of the German government; Hitler’s “Beer Hall Putsch” failed and

3 Ibid.4 Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.

ultimately caused the death of twenty people. He was arrested three days after this

debacle and was charged with high treason, which curtails a one-year sentence.

During his imprisonment, Hitler wrote his notorious Mein Kampf, a declaration in

which Hitler places the blame for Germany’s loss on the false notion that the Jews

tried to take complete leadership of the world and the notion that Marxist leaders

betrayed Germany. His main theses consisted of the “Jewish peril”, and it is here that

Hitler’s anti-Semitic nature began to grow out of control. He would go on to state in

Mein Kampf that Germany would need to embrace its “Historic destiny” as world

leaders.5 Hitler’s autobiographical manifesto would ultimately be the spark that

would send Hitler to the highest rankings of the German government. FDR though

had a much more serene rise to power and that was due in large part to his

upbringing.

FDR would go on to attend Harvard where he would become a social

butterfly. FDR spent much of his time maintaining his social life and participating in

as many extracurricular activities as possible. Another man greatly influenced FDR

at Harvard, that man being Theodore Roosevelt, his distant cousin who came to

Harvard to give a speech. FDR would go on to try and emulate his political career

after is trail-burning family member. It was also at Harvard that the future president

met his wife Eleanor Roosevelt who was also a distant cousin. After meeting her in

1902, he quickly fell in love and married her three years later on St. Patrick’s Day.6

After honeymooning in Europe, FDR began to attend the Columbia University Law

School in the fall of 1904 He never quite finished, but he still passed the bar exam

5 Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.6 Ibid.

after three years and started his on practice within New York City. FDR would then

go on to run for a seat in the New York State Senate and would win in 1910. After

two years there, he accepted the position of assistant secretary of the navy; he

would go on to hold this position for seven years. There he worked to ensure that

the United States navy was as prepared as possible when they entered World War I.

After “absorbing President Woodrow Wilson’s internationalist ideals” he would go

on to captivate on Wilson’s failure to include the United States in the League of

Nations with his creation of the United Nations years down the road.7 His keen

insight on the political world and drive to better the nation earned him a

nomination as the Democratic candidate for vice President on a ticket with James

Cox. Although the campaign was unsuccessful, FDR still built a rather large following

in the Democratic Party, which would ultimately lead to his future success and

appointment to the White House.

After a multitude of contrasts between Hitler and FDR, the real comparisons

can now be made starting with their respective climbs in their government

structures. The almost opposite childhoods and young adult years of the notorious

Hitler and the legendary FDR would ultimately cause them to be alike in more ways

in one during their corresponding times in office. The most important comparison

that I will make before I find the familiarities between the two is the state each of

their home countries were in. Germany was attempting to recover from WWI where

they were forced to pay $135 billion marks ($31.5 billion dollars) in war

reparations; this was done in order to stop the Germany economy from growing in

7 Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.

any way, shape, or form. In order to cope with this, Germany printed astronomical

amounts of money, causing inflation to reach almost unimaginable heights. This

would in turn lead to the German dollar being worth one millionth of its original

value. In the United States, the government was currently working through The

Great Depression, the “deepest and longest lasting economic downturn in the

history of the Western industrialized world.”8 Over four million Americans were

unable to find work in the year 1930, and by 1931 the number would rise to six

million. With both of their countries heading down roads of no return, both saw

their opportunity to turn their nation around, and ultimately would come to the

forefront of greatness.

Adolf Hitler was released from prison nine months after he was found guilty

of treason; he wasted no time in getting to work on his plan to bring Germany to the

brink of significance. He started down the path of destruction by speaking to large

masses of people and calling for the creation of a new empire that would shun the

Jews and communist believers of that time. In order to follow through though on his

word, Hitler needed to seek out Electoral Success, which would not come until 1924.

9 While Hitler was in prison, the German state of Bavaria had placed a ban on the

Nazi party; so, Hitler’s first order of business was to visit the Prime Minister of

Bavaria in order to have the ban lifted, and it was. On February 27th, 1925 after the

ban was lifted, Hitler held the first organized meeting since the failed “Beer Hall

8 "The Great Depression." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 26 Oct.

2014.9

Meier, David A. "Adolf." Hitler's Rise to Power. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.

Putsch”, and it was at this meeting that he reclaimed his position as supreme leader

of the Nazi party. Hitler made the same mistake though during his speech as he did

when he was charged for treason; he once again began “spewing out the same old

threats” against the democratic republic, Marxist, and Jews.10 He was hit with a two-

year ban from speeches by the Bavarian government and at first Hitler saw this as a

major setback, but he then thought better of it and took this time to reorganize the

Nazi party with feverish effort. In order to do this though, he had to figure out how

to bring together the two divided subdivisions of the Nazi party. In 1924, Hitler

reestablished the NSDAP under the Führer principle, which means the party was

headed by the Führer, his deputy, and the national leadership with the Reichsleiter,

second only to the Führer, heading nationwide departments of the party. Once

Hitler reorganized the party, he went about securing votes by developing an

electoral strategy, which would get him the votes of the northern farmers and the

white-collar workers of small towns and villages.

FDR’s first failed campaign for an appointment to the White House would be

looked at in history as a stepping-stone towards what would be one of the greatest

Presidential tenures of all time. At the age of 38, FDR was already considered one of

the most influential leaders of the Democratic Party.11 In the year 1920, he became

the vice president of the Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland, and he would

eventually take charge of the New York City Office.12 Sadly though, in 1921, FDR

10 "The History Place - Rise of Hitler: A New Beginning." The History Place - Rise of

Hitler: A New Beginning. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.11 "Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945)." Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945). N.p.,

n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.12 "Franklin D. Roosevelt." Franklin D. Roosevelt. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.

found out that he had contracted Polio, an incurable disease, which paralyzed FDR

from the waist down. FDR then took some time off to renovate one of his lasting

legacies, a spa in Warm Springs, Georgia that was said to have waters that aided in

his recovery. FDR though did not waste too much time, and soon resumed his march

to political power with the assistance of his wife Eleanor and his trusted political

advisor and friend Louis Howe. Louis Howe worked almost day and night to keep

the level of FDR’s democratic fame to a respectable one. At this time, FDR was also

working to repair his relationship with his wife by helping her organize the

Women’s Division of the Democratic party, which also helped keep FDR’s name

alive. During this time, like Hitler, FDR was making speech after speech at venue

after venue rallying the troops, per says, in order to make another run at getting the

most desirable position the White House. He talked mostly about tax reliefs, which

was music to the ears of people in the United States. He also made promised to take

aggressive action in sorting out the mess that the American government had gotten

itself into, using the ingenuity and blue-collar work ethic that Americans prided

themselves on.

Now I will reconvene to analyze some of the comparisons that can be made

between the two. Both Adolf Hitler and Roosevelt both suffered from some major

setbacks before they began their respective provincial rises to power (Hitler and his

arrest; FDR and his failed vice presidency campaign); yet, both were able to find the

so called “silver lining” in each of their corresponding failures. Their candid abilities

to rally those around them using speeches were second to none; by word of mouth,

these two gentlemen were able to channel the anger and disappointment of a whole

generation. Each of them were able to rally enough support during their

unsuccessful challenge for positions of power and were able to kick start another

run for political power. It is here that they diverge on quite different paths; but,

although their reasons for seeking power differed, they still entertained similar

methods of remaining in control and creating legacies that would withstand the test

of time

Hitler entered a coalition government as self-imposed chancellor in January

of 1933. After the resignation of Hindenburg, the current figurehead of the German

government, Hitler became the immediate successor after the former chancellor had

suggested it to the German cabinet members. The economy was improving at the

time, and Hitler took one hundred percent of the credit to give off the impression

that Germany’s financial growth was his first order of business. He quickly

reinvigorated a sense of belief within the German people and gave them a feeling of

hope that they had not felt in years. Hitler appealed to lower classes, where he came

from, because that is where the most populated demographics were represented. He

saw to it that National Socialism caused a self-sufficient harvest boost, which would

bring Germany to become a more self-dependent nation in terms of goods. Hitler

was able to do all of this because he had such an influence over large groups of

people. Hitler “had a keen and sinister insight to mass psychology…and was a

master of intrigue and maneuver.”13 In a sense, Hitler brain washed a whole

generation into believing what he was doing at the time was right. Whilst in office,

Hitler was quite the paranoid leader; he often referred to his mission in regards to

13 Adolf Hitler." Infoplease. Infoplease, n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2014.

the rise of the Aryan race, also known as “the master race.” He slowly but surely

used his power to create a dictatorship, and anyone that opposed Hitler and those

he favored were often murdered or incarcerated without fair judgment in court.

Jews, Socialist, and other outspoken communist were hounded, arrested, or

assassinated on almost a daily basis.14 Hitler was not all scare tactics and forceful

persuasion though; Hitler was a mastermind of a manipulator with those in his

cabinet as well, often pitting his subordinates against one another to avoid conflict.

Hitler was also very good about bringing the youth under his influence, through the

use of his Hitler Youth groups and the Bdm (The German League of Girls). Hitler was

not a great economist, but he was very skilled at “exploiting the current crisis for his

own needs.”15 Hitler was a leader in almost every aspect; it was just a sad fact that

his leadership skills lead to the demise of over 6 million innocent people.16

Once FDR was elected President in November of 1932, he, like Hitler, took no

time in getting to work. FDR began his Presidency by following through on his

promise of taking vigorous action, which was embodied by his quote “The only thing

we have to fear is fear itself.”17 He brought the United States through World War II

and The Great Depression to a future of prosperity. The positivity that oozed out of

FDR made it very easy for those of the public to like him. FDR found himself even

more liked by the public when he entertained them with his “fireside chats”, a set of

evening radio addressed given by FDR to the American people. These served to give

14 Ibid.15 Chesson, Michael. "Franklin and Adolph." American History News Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.16

17 "Franklin D. Roosevelt." The White House. The White House, n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.

the public the sense that FDR was one of them. FDR was not only viewed as a

likeable character in the public eye but also in the government sector as well. FDR

also saw to it that government programs expanded and promoted the advocacy of

social programs in order to redefine liberalism for the coming generations. The

policies he enforced during World War II supported everyone (yes even the

Republicans), and his financing was nothing short of genius. FDR was also a hero for

civil rights, giving African-Americans and Native Americans numerous benefits with

his New Deal, which were a series of domestic programs in response to the Great

Depression. FDR may have been suffering from a terrible disease that had plagued a

generation, but he “lifted himself from a wheelchair to lift this nation from its

knees.”18 FDR’s legacy is one that American’s look back on with great pride, and he

has still remained to this day one of the most likable Presidents in American history

by general consensus.19

As I come to the end of this discussion, I draw my final comparisons between

these two men. Both FDR and Hitler took full control of their individual countries

around the same time in 1933, almost a month apart. Both men were able to

captivate and galvanize men and women from all social classes and walks of life,

even if their homelands were in current states of havoc. They both found power in

their nation’s times of weakness, and went to work as quickly as possible in order to

bring their governments and economies back to respectable levels of decency,

regardless of the means. Both were avid users of technology and often used

speeches and rallies to rattle the emotions of those that supported them. Neither of

18 Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.19 Ibid.

these men was economically oriented; yet, they recognized the internal anger of

those who were unemployed and sought to remedy it. Both of these men exerted

almost superhuman-like control over their cabinet, and rarely anyone dared to cross

these men, whether it was due to fear or not. To ignore the obvious comparisons

between Adolf Hitler and Franklin Delano Roosevelt would be quite easy, due to the

fact that each of these men exemplify completely contrasting characteristics; yet, the

associations between these two are present, one only needs to look hard enough to

see that.

Summary

Leaders can be found all over the world, but whether or not a leader is considered great is due to the judgment of the people living in the duration of that leader’s reign. It is probably a fact that Adolf Hitler was a man most, if not all, Germans would die for during the World War II time period. He was a man who embodied intensity and was the epitome of a tyrant. Another leader, during that same time period, was rather known for his jocular demeanor and his ability to familiarize himself with the people of his homeland. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a trailblazer in terms of fixing the economic crisis that was the Great Depression. He brought a nation from its knees and gave the American people the belief that circumstances would improve. Hitler was alike to Roosevelt in this way, regarding

the financial breakdown Germany was going through at the time; he took a country that was billions of dollars in debt and improved its economy to the point where Germany was a nation to be feared. These two giants among men though had polar opposite childhoods and environments in which they grew up, and yet major comparisons are being made between these two in regards to their actions and policies during their regimes. These men will go down in history as two of the most influential and groundbreaking leaders in history, and their legacies will either be a source of despair, or a foundation of hope in which people can look back upon.

Bibliography

“Adolf Hitler." Infoplease. Infoplease, n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2014.

Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.

Chesson, Michael. "Franklin and Adolph." American History News Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.

"Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945)." Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945). N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.

"Franklin D. Roosevelt." Franklin D. Roosevelt. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.

"Franklin D. Roosevelt." The White House. The White House, n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.

Meier, David A. "Adolf." Hitler's Rise to Power. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.

"The Great Depression." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.

"The History Place - Rise of Hitler: A New Beginning." The History Place - Rise of Hitler: A New Beginning. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.

Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.