Last month, a clearer picture of Vice President Kamala Harris emerged.
At the Democratic National Convention, in debates with Donald Trump, and now at the Oprah Winfrey-hosted “Unite America Rally,” Harris draws on the greatness of America's history — a history defined by unity, core values, dogged determination, and, of course, freedom.
Realizing that there is little time before Election Day to make a lasting impression, she is drawing on the history of the most successful Democratic president of modern times, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and updating it for the current situation.
The “freedom” that Harris has been campaigning for throughout her election campaign, or as she put it in the debate, “the hopes and dreams of the American people,” or “Opportunity economy” all evoke President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal liberalism to appeal to voters concerned with traditional middle-class issues and social stability and hoping for a return to happier days.
The Harris campaign is using President Roosevelt's “Four Freedoms” rhetoric. In the midst of the Great Depression at home and World War II abroad, Roosevelt The Four Freedoms He made this remark in his State of the Union address in January 1941.
- Freedom of speech and expression.
- Freedom of religion.
- Freedom from want.
- Freedom from fear.
For many, Norman Rockwell Famous Paintings These images of promise come from the first two freedoms: freedom of expression and freedom of religion, familiar rights from the Bill of Rights and central to American democracy since the nation’s founding.
Freedom from want and fear was a novel expression of New Deal liberalism, and it helped Roosevelt further solidify support for the Democratic coalition by connecting directly with Americans on the issues that mattered most to them.
Those who lived through the hardships of the Great Depression had a keen understanding of what freedom from want meant – the ability to find work and provide for one's family.
Similarly, the threat of a new world war caused Americans to fear for their lives. Like President Franklin RooseveltThey called for “the exact opposite of the so-called new despotic order that dictators are trying to create with the explosion of bombs.”
Importantly, FDR’s freedom from poverty and fear meant an aggressive federal government helping Americans achieve economic stability and basic security at a time when life felt precarious.
The Harris campaign has focused on how the Four Freedoms have resonated across the country and is trying to reframe that debate in light of current challenges. Campaign Video The video, which aired at the Democratic National Convention, also includes footage of his mother during the Great Depression and the Normandy landings, with a narrator celebrating “freedom from domination, freedom from extremism and fear.”
Today, Harris' campaign is stressing the continuing importance of civil liberties, especially as she increasingly finds herself with conservative supporters. Christian Nationalism At the expense of religious freedom, and Censorship of books in school libraries It is becoming more and more popular.
Then, as now, freedom from want translates to “domestic issues.” Harris frequently speaks directly to freedom from want as a symbol of the American Dream. She preaches the importance of home ownership, small business opportunities, and tax cuts for the middle class.
So An event to unite and support AmericaHarris stressed the need to create opportunities for homeownership and touted her plan to provide down payment assistance. It was President Franklin Roosevelt's policies that made homeownership a middle-class reality by creating programs to federally guarantee mortgages and spur the construction of new homes.
On freedom from fear, Harris criticized the US's close ties to “strongmen,” including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his son. A well-known dislike NATO's.
“It is well known that he admires dictators and that, in his own mind, he would like to be one from day one,” Harris warned during the debate. On the eve of the United States' entry into World War II, President Roosevelt warned that dictators endangered the Four Freedoms, saying, “The dignity of human life.“
Trump has her Marxistand unfortunately Progressive LeftHarris's expression of freedom, like that of President Roosevelt, is no more radical than that of the White House. While envisioning the welfare of the future, Harris adheres closely to traditional values, which are linked to patriotism, global democracy, and traditional middle-class values.
It provides a roadmap for building strong societies by addressing food affordability, prescription drug costs, housing availability, health care and family planning, access to education, global stability, and safety from extremism at home and abroad.
Of course, FDR's message and Rockwell's painting portrayed it as a perfect version of the American life: a white, patriarchal nuclear family with food on the table and a roof over their heads. This mythologized middle class often excluded those who did not fit the archetype.
To present the promise of the Four Freedoms as more inclusive, Harris has consistently emphasized the diversity of her audiences and has made an effort to share her own personal connections and commitment to advancing civil rights and abortion rights.
For example, she support She called the bill “immoral” and called for the implementation of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, first introduced in 2021, and for women to have free access to abortion and fertility treatments. Anything less would be “immoral,” she suggested.
Still, Harris's opportunity economy is rooted in the same ideals that drove the Democratic Party in the mid-20th century, and she is touting the same ideology and trying to appeal to voters by reminding them that the freedoms of President Franklin Roosevelt are their historical legacy.
Juliana Perrone is an associate professor of history at the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Public Voice Fellow at the Opinion Project..
