The Führer versusFree Enterprise 189Christian.For in thesespheresthe people’s communityof NationalSocialistGermanyhas
accomplishedprodigiouswork.”^83
Despitewhathe knowsto be Hitler’s evil,JohnTolandadmitsthatthesemeasures
evincea “spiritof socialdemocracy” andstates,“In practice,this conceptglorifiedthe
workerwhileunderliningHitler’s theoryof socialequality.” NotdenyingHitler’s evil,
Tolandremarksthatamongall economicclassesof gentileGermans,“the nationwas
gainingin equality.. .”
In spiteof theirbeingat warwithoneanother,Hitlerfelt somekinshipwithJosef
Stalinfor philosophicreasons.As Tolanddiscerns,theyboth“operatedunderideologies
thatwerenot essentiallydifferent.... HitlerhadlongadmiredStalin,regardinghimas
‘one of the extraordinaryfiguresin worldhistory,’ and onceshockeda groupof intimates
by assertingthat he and the Sovietleaderhad muchin commonsincebothhad risenfrom
the lowerclasses.. .” Whenone interlocutorpointedout to Hitlerthat,in his youth,Josef
Stalincommittedbankrobbery,the Führerrepliedthat the robberywasjustifiedon
accountof Stalincommittingit for the ultimatebenefitof his ownpoliticalmovement—a
gestureany Nazioughtto appreciate.
Thatshouldtell somethingto thosewhoassertthatcommunismandNaziismare
opposites.Moresuperficiallyoutrageous,though,Hitlerexpressedstrongapprovalfor
FranklinRooseveltwithregardto his domesticfiscalpolicies.^84 HitlertoldaNewYork
Timescorrespondentin July1934,“I havesympathyfor Mr. Roosevelt.. .”^85 On March14,
1934, Hitler sent the following letter to then-U.S. Ambassador Thomas J. Dodd
(1907–1971)^86 : “TheReichChancelloris in accordwiththe Presidentthatthe virtuesof
senseof duty” and“readinessfor sacrifice... mustbe the supremeruleof the whole
Nation.Thismoraldemand,whichthe Presidentis addressingto everysinglecitizen,is
alsothe quintessenceof Germanphilosophyof the State,expressedin its motto‘The
publicwealbeforeprivategain.’”^87
JohnP. Digginserroneouslydeniesthat NewDealadviserRexfordTugwellwasinflu-
encedby Italianfascism.Nonetheless,he doesadmitthat NewDealadvisorsHughJohn-
son and JamesFarleyexpressedpositiveassessmentstowardMussolini’s programs.Dig-
ginsacknowledgesthatFarley“wroteRoosevelta briefbut glowingestimateof Mussoli-
ni’s reclamationprojects;HughJohnson,headof the NRA,carrieda copyof Raffaello
Vigone’sThe CorporateState, spokerespectfullyof Fascism,anduponresigninginvoked
in a farewellspeechwhathe calledthe ‘shiningname’ of Mussolini.”^88
FranklinD. Roosevelthimselfhad somewarmfeelingstowardIl Ducepriorto declar-
ing war on him.In June1933,FDRwroteto AmbassadorHenryBreckinridgeLongabout
the Italianruler,“Thereseemsno questionthathe is reallyinterestedin whatwe are
doingand I am muchinterestedand deeplyimpressedby whathe has accomplishedand
by his evidencedhonestpurposeof restoringItalyandseekingto preventgeneralEuro-
peantrouble.”^89 On July27, 1933,FDRwrotein a letterto JohnLawrence,whoalso
laudedMussolini,“I don’t mindtellingyou in confidencethat I am keepingin fairlyclose
touchwiththat admirableItaliangentleman.”^90 JohnD. Digginsrevealsthat even“as late
as 1939,” whenItalyhadjoinedthe AxisPowers,“Rooseveltcouldstill lookbackon Il
Duce’s regimewithsomesympathy.”^91
Suchobservationsbeliethe denialsof FDR/KennedyhagiographerArthurM. Schle-
singerthatthe NewDealenactedeconomicorganizationpoliciesparallelingthoseof
fascism.^92 Andtherewereothers,besidesHitlerhimself,whonoticedthesesimilaritiesin
the outlookbetweenhimand FDR.BroadcastjournalistandMasterpieceTheatrehostAlis-
tair Cooke(1908–2004)—hardlya right-wingideologue—recollectsthatunderFDR’s ad-
ministration,“Americahada flingat NationalSocialism.Rooseveltwasfor all adminis-
trationpurposesa dictator,” though,unlikethe Führer,he was “a benevolentone.”^93