I wonder what my dad, a butcher and a die-hard union man, would think about the state of our country’s political affairs. Is it “Morning in America” as Ronald Reagan exclaimed? “American Carnage” as Donald Trump proclaimed? Or, do “we have nothing to fear but fear itself,” as Franklin D. Roosevelt put it?
Unions in the automotive, steel, rubber and other industries played a powerful role in FDR’s 1936 reelection. According to a poster made during his administration, Roosevelt said, “If I went to work in a factory, the first thing I’d do would be to join a union.” Whether he meant it or not, as a labor historian I’ve long observed that the Democratic Party and unions stuck together back then like peanut butter and jelly.
