ON THIS DATE – AT 12:46 P.M. ET:  It is April 12th.  For some of us of a certain age the date is significant.  President Roosevelt died on this day in 1945.

I was thinking about that last night, and took down a book my parents got for me when I was ten, when we were visiting the Roosevelt home and library in Hyde Park, New York.  It's called "My Friends," a book of Roosevelt's speeches.

Whether you like FDR or don't, or have mixed feelings, he was one of the most important presidents in our history, the only one to be elected for more than two terms.  (That was before the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution established the current two-term limit.) 

I grew up in a fairly typical pro-Roosevelt New York household.  My paternal grandfather had a picture of the president on his office wall.  I still recall the reaction of my mother when a telephone call informed her that FDR had died:  "I feel my fingers just fell off."  He had that much impact.

But why?  It wasn't simply the four terms, or even the perilous times in which FDR served.  It was that Roosevelt had a magic in the way he spoke to the American people.  Of all the presidents since, only Reagan equaled that magic.  Obama had it as a campaigner, but lost it as president, in part because he couldn't rise to the office. 

I received a question last night from a distinguished reader, Charles Morgan.  He asked, "Do you have any ideas as to how the conservative message can be better explained and propagated?"  I think the answer is clear, but the execution is extremely difficult.  To address Americans effectively, and convincingly, a leader has to be honest and direct about conditions in the country – you can't tell people they don't see what they actually see – and yet must be optimistic about the future of the nation.  (Thus Reagan's campaign theme, "It's morning in America."  He didn't invent it, but used it effectively.)  Americans are an idealistic people, not an ideological people.  They want to hear practical solutions and direct descriptions, not doses of ideology.  And that's what they've been getting from both parties.

Roosevelt understood.  In his fireside chats he referred to his audience as "My friends," the first time an American president had spoken so personally.  And in his first inaugural he confronted the national tragedy of the Depression bluntly, yet with hope for the future:

I AM certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our Nation impels. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.

COMMENT:  Those are the words of a serious president, agree with him or not.  He addressed Americans both as friends and as mature adults.

That is what our side must do today.  Tell people the actual condition of their country.  Propose immediate and easily understood solutions.  Yet, inspire the nation's confidence in itself.  And treat citizens as both friends and adults.

Perhaps most important of all, a great message requires a great messenger.  Roosevelt and Reagan were the best.  And Roosevelt was Reagan's political idol.  For good reason.

April 12, 2014