In the ancient world, the only way a person could become famous through out the world was to be some sort of king, master warlord, or a descendent of a holy entity. Monarchies, that last lasted long enough, kept the memories of their former leaders alive, conquered peoples never forgot the names of their conquerors, and religions have a knack for constantly worshiping the same divine prophets. Some remain of the ancient celebrities are still famous to this day, many of them now shrouded in the mists of time and have become slightly warped by literature and business.
For example, the charitable St. Nicholas, warped by language translations and commercialism, is now a large gift giving elf by the name of Santa Claus. But in this day and age, where anyone can record anything he or she wants to, will any of the present day lords and prophets shine as brightly through the shroud of mythology and time as the ones of old? In 500 years – providing anyone is still alive to care – a few men and women will stand out against the haze of time and represent the twentieth century.
If there is a group, among them will be at least man involved in World War II. Roosevelt, Churchill, Tojo and Hitler -especially Hitler – are all candidates for the group because of their involvements in the bloodiest wars of the twentieth century. In this world,blood is a hard thing to forget about. Which ones, and in what light theyll be remembered in depends entirely on the biases of historians and the abilities of governments to cover up the embarrassing moments blemishing the memories of their leaders.
So if the United States is still around and as powerful as now in five centuries – and hopefully it will – F. D Roosevelt will most likely be one of the mist breakers from the second world war because of the American peoples great interest in the presidents involved in wars and the governments talent for hiding less than flattering information from the world. Roosevelts involvement in the great World War II allows him to fit ,comfortably, the U. S standard of fighting presidents.
Entering the war on the side of the Allies after a sneak attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt became a kind of vengeful hero, fighting the good fight in the name of justice. In so doing he ended an economic slump by gearing the nation up for war and won over the support of the public and businesses who were very grateful for the new jobs. Roosevelt had started the U. S on a direct path to becoming a world power as well as saving Europe and the Jews from the fascist Nazis.
Even though he wasnt perfect (he was crippled ) his domestic strategies were not too well thought out ( started the national debt that is now around five trillion) and his foreign policies were not pure of heart (allowing the Japanese to bomb Pearl Harbor even though he knew it would happen ahead of time) his public relations committee did an excellent job in painting him the savior of the world.
The accepted and slightly warped view people have of him today gives him the potential to be even more warped in the future. Perhaps by the twenty fifth century the frail body of the powerful man might give way to the talking brain in a glass jar that fought the nasty Fascists in spite of not having a body. Never the less he will be known in the future and most likely beloved.