One of those days.

[gurdymonkey]

"When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed. He said, 'Look, here's what happened,'" - Joe Biden.

Joe, baby,  I realize you were only a toddler when President Roosevelt died, but you need a fact checker! (Wanna hire me?)

When the stock market crashed in 1929, FDR was serving as governor of New York. FDR wasn't elected President until 1932. His famous "Fireside Chats" were aired on the radio. Read the text of the first one from March 1933, on the nation's bank crisis here: http://www.mhric.org/fdr/chat1.html

Comments

[ppfuf.livejournal.com]

You'd think Biden would want to be loudly talking about how the republican Hoover dealt with the crash and depression, rather than what FDR might have done.
Just curious, was this part of a scriped speech, or was Biden just talking?

[momstable.livejournal.com]

I like the angel picture.

[shalmestere.livejournal.com]

Not to mention--television? Technically possible in 1929--just--but it wouldn't have reached more than a couple people :-)

(ObSheesh: Sheesh! This election year is giving me the fantods....)

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

It does not appear to have been. More likely a case of cerebral flatulence.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iKt7T_eadSVgSxmWdgfqN0QnmdTQD93CNN680

[firehauke.livejournal.com]

oh wow, even though I can't remember when certain presidents served when, I can at least recall that TVs weren't around much in the 20s!