Presidential Advice Quotes
In recent years, presidents of both parties have refused to allow Congress in its oversight responsibility to question certain assistants or see certain documents that are not technically national secrets. The questionable legal principle, executive privilege, supposedly assures that the President can get honest confidential advice without the advice giver feeing intimidated that the advice will become public. However, Presidents have also used this principle to cover-up scandals, wrong doing, and incompetence. Since the President simply asserts the “privilege” there is no way of checking in any particular case to determine if it is an abuse or not.
Hopkins was a social worker with no military of political experience. But the President trusted him implicitly. Most American military officers and Ambassador to England Joseph P. Kennedy, a Nazi sympathizer & father of JFK, believed that England could not stand up to Hitler. Any military aid we gave England would fall into the hands of the Germans. Everyone was shocked when Roosevelt sent Hopkins to England to make a military recommendation. To impress Hopkins with something he thought Hopkins would be interested in, Churchill led a tour of workers cottages built by the government. Hopkins surprised Churchill and his aids who would never forget this statement & then asked to see the military facilities. Hopkins distressed the American military by recommending that Britain could hold out against invasion if they received military aid. Despite the contrary military advice, FDR accepted Hopkins’ recommendations, and the rest is history. He had been right and much of the military wrong.
The only soldier ever so honored. Marshall was then the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army. The President was meeting with the Army leadership to plan the nation’s preparedness to come with the Nazi menace. Army brass had wanted to build up large ground forces. However, conservatives (in those days opposed to military spending) accused the Roosevelt administration of fomenting war. FDR wanted to be less visible and opted for a program that would build 7 aircraft factories first and later build ground forces. He asked if all agreed and the army heads all bobbed except for Marshall, then a relatively junior general. FDR never forgot the one general who told him, No, and when War was eminent, he selected Marshall lead the military and promoted him over 34 more senior generals. Great leaders appreciate people who have the courage and integrity to say No to power and FDR had the confidence in himself that he could handle people who disagreed or were difficult. This was one of FDR’s many great appointments.
