Jonathan Alter has written The Defining Moment, a new book about Franklin Roosevelt’s first 100 days as president. Last night on The Colbert Report, he talked about Roosevelt and George W. Bush:
Alter: Before they were president, they actually had a lot in common. They both came from these aristocratic families, famous names, relatives who were president. They were both derided with the exact same epithet: lightweight. That’s what they called FDR: Feather Duster Roosevelt. But when they got to office, they responded very differently.
Colbert: Why’d they call him that? Why’d they call him the Feather Duster?
Alter: Because they thought that he didn’t have much upstairs, amazingly enough. We think of him as this marbleized…
Colbert: That’s the first thing I’ve liked about this guy. So you’re saying he didn’t overthink problems?
Alter: No. He absolutely did not overthink them.
Colbert: He went from the gut?
Alter: He went from a combination of the gut — he was very instinctive — but he also was like a vacuum cleaner of information. Unlike Bush, he really wanted to know a lot — he was extremely open-minded, and he was constantly picking people’s brains — that’s what they called the Brain Trust — and finding out whether they could help him make better decisions. The other thing is that, you know, FDR put performance ahead of loyalty, and I think one of President Bush’s problems is he puts loyalty ahead of performance.
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