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Putin Fond Of Legacy Left By FDR

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The Washington Post

Published: October 19, 2007

MOSCOW - The Kremlin, its political consultants and state-controlled news media have found an American to admire: Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

FDR, according to a consistent story here, tamed power-hungry tycoons to save his country from the Great Depression. He restored people's spirits while leading the United States for 12 years and spearheaded the struggle against 'outside enemies,' as the mass-circulation tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda put it.

Translation: President Vladimir Putin rescued an enfeebled Russia from the chaos of the 1990s, banished or imprisoned dangerous billionaires, and regained respect for his country on the world stage.

And Roosevelt ran for a third and fourth term because his country needed him. Translation: Putin, too, should stay.

Putin used the Roosevelt analogy Thursday when he spoke to reporters after a televised question-and-answer session with citizens. Asked about his vision for Russia, the president invoked the New Deal, saying 'Roosevelt laid out his plan for the country's development for decades in advance' and that he often battled the elites, according to Russian news agency translations of Putin's remarks.

'At the end of the day, it turned out that the implementation of that plan benefited ordinary citizens and the elites and eventually brought the United States to the position it is in today,' Putin said.

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