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Opinion
Cass R. Sunstein

The Right Way for Presidents to Address ‘Fear Itself’

The Great Depression was worse than coronavirus. Yet FDR found a way to warn and reassure all Americans, all at once.

There was actually a lot to fear.

There was actually a lot to fear.

Source: Corbis via Getty Images

The coronavirus epidemic has produced several different kinds of crises. It is of course a public health crisis, first and foremost. But it’s also an economic crisis, an international-relations crisis and a crisis of public morale. Fear is widespread and mounting.

The U.S. has not been here before, but it has been in the vicinity. In some ways, the closest analogy is to the Great Depression.