Photo of the Day: The Nation’s ‘Forgotten Men,’ at the FDR Memorial, DC

I already have written one post about the FDR Memorial, back in April. But, with the Ken Burns multi-part documentary bringing renewed attention this week to the nation’s 32^nd President (as well as wife Eleanor and fifth cousin Theodore), it seemed appropriate to revisit that site in the nation’s capital now.

The photo here, which I took last November on a visit to Washington,  is a portion of a statue in the open-air “Room 2” of the sprawling site. “The Breadline,” created by sculptor George Segal,  stands next to two of the more famous passages from Franklin Roosevelt's second inaugural address. His never-ending attention to the “forgotten man” is worth bearing in mind today, when such individuals are so conveniently—no, criminally—left by the wayside by those in power who are beholden to the special interests:

“I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished."

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."

I hope that the Burns specials lead more Americans--especially the young--down to this site, as well as to Roosevelt's home in Hyde Park. I can think of few places I'd rather be at the height of autumn than the latter beautiful upstate New York landmark.