Who you calling a socialist?

By Angie Drobnic Holan
Published on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 at 6:43 p.m.

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"FDR was called a socialist and a communist."

Barack Obama, Monday, September 21st, 2009.

Ruling: True | Details

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Franklin Delano Roosevelt was called a socialist, too.

Sound familiar?

The president was accused of being "a socialist, not a Democrat." His plan was described as "undisguised state socialism." One critic, who controlled some powerful media outlets, suggested that communists had infiltrated the president's administration.

Those are some of the attacks that Franklin Delano Roosevelt faced in the 1930s — attacks cited recently by President Barack Obama to emphasize that he's not unique.

Obama has mentioned the Roosevelt comparison several times recently, including during an interview on Late Night with David Letterman on Sept. 21, 2009:

"I actually think that's what's happened is that whenever a president tries to bring about significant changes, particularly during times of economic unease, then there is a certain segment of the population that gets very riled up," Obama said. "FDR was called a socialist and a communist."

We rated his statement True ; see our complete item for what we found when we cracked open the history books.