The Country Needs And Unless I

Spoken at the Oglethorpe University commencement address on May 22, 1932, while Roosevelt was still Governor of New York and actively campaigning for the presidency. With the Depression deepening and Hoover's government largely passive, FDR outlined his governing philosophy: try things, admit failures, and try again — a pragmatism that presaged the New Deal's sweeping experimental programs. The full sentence continues: "It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something." The speech was later cited by Barack Obama as a precedent for the government response to the 2008 financial crisis.