The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt

      

HYDE PARK, Sunday—Governor Adlai Stevenson in a recent interview voiced the hope that the Democratic party would be "a positive and intelligent opposition."

To play this role constructively is difficult. Yet if the leadership provides objective thinking and careful analysis of the party in power, I think the party out of power can do a very useful job. It is easy enough to sit on the sidelines and merely find fault with everything. In reality, however, it is important for the party out of power to vote in favor of such policies and propositions as are good. Then, when it actually does come out against something, the public will listen and look for the reasons that lie back of the opposition. It will take not only good leadership, but also good lieutenants to make the Democratic party useful in the coming four years.

I have heard some rejoicing that the Republican party will get rid of some of its professors. I would be glad to see some of these professors employed in the Democratic National Committee in Washington. We need good research work done on many national and international problems.

If there is to be, as has been promised, a real cut in taxes and a real effort to balance the budget, then it must be accomplished with great care and efficiency. Otherwise essential services which in the long run are of value to the citizens of this country will be cut off. In that case, instead of keeping our earnings at a high level, our incomes will grow less and our own standard of living will suffer. I am sure that one of the best services the Democratic party can render to the country is to be the watchdog—not to prevent economy, but to see that economies are made in the wisest way. This holds good in the international as well as the domestic field, for unwise economies in our foreign aid can do much to harm our campaign against Communism.

President Chaim Weizmann's death was a great loss and I want to extend to the people of Israel my sincere sympathy. Few men have lived to see a cherished lifelong dream come true. Dr. Weizmann saw his dream come true. Yet, though he saw a nation born, he was a great enough man to realize that with the achievement of his dream he had also acquired many problems that lay before his nation to be solved. It must have been hard for him to accept the fact that he could not actually have a hand in their final solution. The greatness of the man has left a heritage to Israel which will help this little nation face its problems successfully.

E.R.

(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1952, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.; REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART PROHIBITED.)


Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced

Persons
Geographic
  • Hyde Park (Dutchess County, N.Y., United States) [ index ]


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, November 17, 1952

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962
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Digital edition created by The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project The George Washington University 312 Academic Building 2100 Foxhall Road, NW Washington, DC 20007

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MEP edition publlished on June 30, 2008.

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Transcription created from a photocopy of a UFS wire copy of a My Day column instance archived at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.
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