The idea that FDR didn't stop the depression stems from neocon attempts at rewriting history which are designed to change mainstream opinion so the left's one historical figure with mass appeal is smeared and they can go ahead with privatising social security and generally reversing the New Deal.
More often that not people point to unemployment figures as the sole reason why one should believe that the New Deal was ineffective. While it's true that the number of jobless stayed pretty much stagnant between 1933 and 1938, they a) didn't go up, which may have happened during a period without the New Deal, and b) do not take into consideration how many jobs were actually
created and other such figures; in other words the unemployment figures until '38, when taken out of context, look pretty bad, but within the context of the time and compared to other relevant statistical data actually suggest that FDR did a decent job ensuring the US economy was stabilised.
Anyway, [/rant]. Onto the topic:
Nixon + I used to let Watergate and his flawed personality solely influence my opinion of him, but I eventually came to realise that his foreign policy (China, approving Brandt's
Ostpolitik, etc) made a huge contribution to the end of the Cold War.
Hoover + PBrunsel converted me.
An average President, but a great man all round, and not the loser history books tend to portray him as.
If the Bush administration continues its conciliatory approach towards Europe I may add him to my + column soon as well.
