Politics & Power Quote by Franklin D. Roosevelt

Roosevelt is doing what he did best: turning civic duty into a form of self-respect. The line refuses the comforting story that politics is something done to us by distant professionals. By insisting that "government is ourselves", he collapses the gap between citizen and state, making every complaint about "them" a quiet confession about "us". That reframing is the muscle of the quote. It denies voters the luxury of innocence.

The subtext is both empowering and disciplinary. "Not an alien power" is a direct answer to democratic despair: the sense that bureaucracy, parties, and moneyed interests have hijacked public life. But it's also a moral nudge. If the "ultimate rulers" are voters, then apathy isn't just a personal choice; it's a delegation of power. Roosevelt puts accountability where it hurts most: on the people who like to feel powerless.

Context matters. FDR spoke as a president who dramatically expanded the federal government's role during the New Deal and then wartime mobilization. That growth provoked accusations of overreach and even authoritarian drift. This quote works as a preemptive defense: if government is "ours", then larger government isn't automatically tyranny; it's collective action with a democratic receipt attached. He's legitimizing the state by anchoring it in the ballot box.

The rhetorical trick is the list: "a President and senators and congressmen..". It name-checks the pantheon of official power only to demote it, ending with the real sovereign: the voter. It's Roosevelt reminding Americans that democracy isn't a spectator sport - it's authorship, with all the responsibility that implies.