Robert Caro Quotes
There used to be this feeling under Eisenhower and Kennedy and Roosevelt and Truman that government was a solution. Trust in the presidency fell precipitously under Johnson - real lows. And it's never come back. It's a trend that, if you're liberal, is really discouraging.
Caro, Robert A. Interview by Terry Gross. Fresh Air, NPR, 1 May 2012.
He had been offered a Cabinet position in Washington. He had been a respected judge in Ohio and was only tangentially involved with politics. What he did see of it he did not like. However, others pressed upon him his duty to help the country and he took the position. But he was never comfortable or even very skilled and the political end of Cabinet service but he was extremely skilled at the administrative and policy making aspect. Theodore Roosevelt personally selected him to be his successor and Roosevelt get him elected. Even when he was President, he rarely enjoyed it and was not very good at the political end of things which caused Roosevelt to be disappointed and then campaign against Taft’s second term.
A minority of newly elected ultra conservative Tea Party Republicans intimidated most of the main line Republicans by threatening to run against them in their primary elections. The result was that almost no legislation was passed and there was a constant drumbeat of attacks against anything the government was doing or might do in the future. Public confidence in government was driven very low, with only the public confidence in Congress lower. The Democrats who could accomplish very little in that circumstance became very unpopular while the Republicans were even more so. However, many Tea Party Republicans viewed that as a victory as their major objective is to enfeeble government—especially the Federal government.
Lecture, FDR Presidential Library, Hyde Park, NY, June 24, 2006
At the time the Republican party was a minor, third party and Douglas was disparaging that. While Douglas' general point has held true, the Republicans supplanted the Whigs as the second major party shortly thereafter.
Because of conflicting information about the Watergate break-in and cover-up:
We live in a time where people are losing confidence in the ability of Government to solve problems.
The public confidence in government had hit an historical low during the administration of George W. Bush during which his administration was riddled with ideologues who had little competence and less inclination to solve problems. However even in those cases where the Bush administration wanted to succeed, they usually failed producing such fiascos as Hurricane Katrina, the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq, shipping nuclear weapons components my mistake to Taiwan, illegal disclosure of the identity of CIA covert agents, and others.
See {598081} for a similar idea expressed by his wife Hillary.
Robert Allan Caro is an American journalist and author known for his biographies of United States political figures Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson.
