"Are You Better Off Today Than You Were Four Years Ago?"

[Garson O'Toole]

Bill Mullins wrote:
> _Hartford Courant_ 21 Aug 1934 p 10 col 6
> [re: FDR] "He went right to the heart of the whole matter when he asked
> in his recent radio address:  "Are you better off today than you were a
> year ago?" "
> [from a 27 Oct 1935 LA Times article, it would appear this question was
> asked in a June 1934 Fireside Chat]

Excellent Bill. Here is a secondary source that states FDR's remark
was made during a Fireside Chat on June 28, 1934.

Cite: 2006, Presidential Profiles: The FDR Years by William D.
Pederson, Quote Page 340, Facts On File: An Imprint of Infobase
Publishing, New York. (Google Books preview)

[Begin excerpt]
8. Fifth Fireside Chat "On Economic Progress" June 28, 1934

FDR 's fifth Fireside Char dealt with the New Deal as most of them
did. He focused on whether the New Deal was working. His response was
put in a rhetorical question, "Are you better off now than you were
last year?" He fully understood that his audience would answer in the
affirmative.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Fri, Sep 7, 2012 at 8:00 AM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      "Are You Better Off Today Than You Were Four Years Ago?"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I would be interested in any suggestions as to the origin of the election-y=
> ear question, "Are you better off today than you were four years ago?"  Whe=
> n is some version of it first recorded?  When was it popularized?
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
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