Today would have been the 139th birthday of the shrewdest politician and one of the greatest Presidents ever to occupy the White House – Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
He knew something about politics, all right. He was elected President four times, something nobody had ever done before, and which nobody will ever do again, since the Constitution was amended to prevent another FDR after he died.
Roosevelt also knew government inside and out, because he had been an assistant Secretary of the Navy and had served two terms as governor of New York, then by far the biggest and most important state.
His natural political talents, brilliant mind and vast experience gave him the background needed to become the longest-serving and one of the most effective leaders in history.
All of which you could also say for Mike Duggan. Both FDR and Duggan were, in a sense, accidental leaders. Roosevelt might never have been elected if the nation hadn’t been devastated by the Great Depression. Duggan, a white suburbanite from Livonia, was chosen by the black voters of Detroit because they were desperate. Their leaders had failed them.
Their city had been taken over by the state and was in emergency management and facing bankruptcy. Voters saw Duggan as a guy who could get stuff done. After all, he had taken over a dysfunctional Detroit Medical Center, fixed it up, and soon had the DMC delivering fast, professional service and making a profit.
Eventually, it was sold to Vanguard Health Systems for a tidy sum. Detroiters concluded that maybe Duggan could fix Detroit too.
So they gave him the keys to the Manoogian Mansion, and so far, it’s mostly paid off. The street lights are indeed on, the grass in the parks is cut, and suddenly, Detroit is the place to be.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t lots left to be done, something Duggan knows better than anyone. The city owns lots of land, but mainly in little checkerboard parcels, and it needs to be able to put together larger tracts to attract major development.
The public schools have better leadership and are trying hard, but are still a long way from being able to attract children whose parents have other alternatives. And the obscenely high cost of auto insurance prevents many people from living in Detroit.
And some who do can’t vote in Detroit, since their drivers’ licenses say they live in other cities. Duggan knows that; his attempt last year to get the lawmakers to enact what he called “D-insurance” was one of the few times he has tried something and totally failed.
Failed, that is, for now. Duggan is tenacious.
But why has he done so well where other Detroit mayors have failed? The answer mainly has to do with the fact that a young Mike Duggan spent almost 15 years as deputy Wayne County executive serving under and learning from that old pro, Ed McNamara.
He then did a short stint as prosecutor before taking on the DMC. How much longer he will be mayor is anyone’s guess. Longtime City Council member Sheila Cockrel told me she thought Duggan would need at least three terms to wring the corruption out of the system.
Whether he agrees isn’t known. What I do know is that at some point, Duggan will no longer be mayor. Is he grooming a successor?
Should he even be trying?
Consider this: We tend to look for a man on a white horse to save Detroit, someone named Duggan or Ilitch or Gilbert. They’ve all done some good things.
But if you consider yourself part of the city and want to know who can save it, I’ll tell you where to find them: Just take a long look in your bathroom mirror.
