Many former presidents were born into "middle class" families, but most worked their way up the ladder to become prominent business people, and successful politicians.

The truth is, and has been for many generations, that it takes substantial financial backing to gain elective office in this country, as is the case in most representative democracies. Looking back, most of the Founders were upper class landowners. Earned (as opposed to inherited) wealth is usually a by-product of educaton, initiative, and leadership -- exactly the qualities that we look for in our political candidates.

With the aristocrats (inherited wealth) however, some are social reformers and contributors to society (the Kennedy family), and some are just ideological neocon corporate whores and profiteers (the Bush family). It's a crap shoot.

Charismatic "non-achievers" only gain power in the Third World through violence -- revolution and coups -- and go on to become dictators. Somehow, I like our system better (warts and all)...;-)

were rich. FDR certainly cared about people
and did much for the poor. Brought the country
out of our worst depression, ran a war, (paid for
the war) and saved Capitalism.
gave us SS,--the list goes on and on.

Lyndon Johnson(started from humble beginnings) made
himself rich. History will be kinder to Johnson
than the present. That pesky of VietNam War will
just not go away. Republicans have done their best
to discredit poverty programs, etc. Those poverty
programs laid the foundation and the beginnings for
the AfricanAmerican Middle Class we now have.

Truman was middle class and got propelled into
the Presidency by FDR's death. He tried for
for Universal Health Care, but with a Republican
Congress, he did not get to far.

Rich people can be just as caring and sometimes
moreso than middle class. It lies with the individual
and the way they have been taught, their worldview.

I had a big laugh with my husband the other day and perhaps you can identify. My husband said The richman's hell is the fear of poverty. I said I wish when they impeach Cheney they put him in real prison with real Big Tyrone. Thn What if Bush had to live on disability for being mental of only $630.00 after working all his life. Just the vision had me in tears.

Why do many rich people think nothing of paying country club dues and protest paying taxes? I guess because they want to chose who gets membership and don't believe in life and liberty for all.The elitists really hated the fact that FDR betrayed his Brahmin background and stooped to care about the people who were trying to survive the Great Depression. I am sorry to hear about your son Grinch and I, like you, am thankful that social security survives. It can be fixed by raising the cap upon which the contributions are made. It will cost people like me more money but isn't that what America is about. I don't belong to any country club on purpose. Bill, Bush's presidency which illustrates the bad leadership that results when a rich non-achiever is in power sort of makes us a third-world country righgt now. We have to change this.

I can't imagine how difficult it would be to have any of my children pass away before I did. I will keep you in my prayers and hope you will get through this period of your life all right.

I would like to find out if anyone knows if Social Security money is invested in some kind of good fund nowdays. I think that long ago it was against the law for the government to dip into it but now they seem to be always "borrowing" from it. Why can't they go back to not being able to touch it?

I read a contrarian financial newsletter that says our government is playing the biggest shell game in history with our tax money. You don't even want to know the real deficit numbers they are so huge and incomprehensible. I just don't understand why people don't see these things and get more upset about it all.