![]() Men of intense faith, the presidents portrayed themselves as messiahs sent by God to make America rise from the ashes. By way of speeches, Roosevelt and Reagan both depicted America as a land in the grip of blight, ruined by the avarice and duplicity of elites. Consequently, they bore striking parallels. The two presidents formulated their stories in the wake of economic crises that had left Americans with little faith in the status quo. According to him, Roosevelt and Reagan were “reconstructive presidents” – meaning presidents elected in volatile times who birthed a new political “regime,” and a new political philosophy underpinning this “regime.” 7 This article, then, aims to explore the narrative strategies with which these two “reconstructive” presidents opened their time in office.ĦThe argument is that – despite manifold political differences – the stories Roosevelt and Reagan told were similar, and advanced their ambition to transform American politics.
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