Historian William Leuchtenburg says that before 1960,  "Kennedy showed a conspicuous lack of inclination to identify himself as a New Deal liberal."He adds, as president, "Kennedy never wholly embraced the Roosevelt tradition and at times he deliberately severed himself from it."[369] By contrast, young Lyndon Johnson had been an enthusiastic New Dealer and a favorite of Roosevelt. Johnson modelled his presidency on Roosevelt's and relied heavily on New Deal lawyer Abe Fortas, as well as James H. Rowe, Anna M. Rosenberg, Thomas Gardiner Corcoran, and Benjamin V. Cohen.[370][371]
During his presidency, and continuing to a lesser extent afterwards, there has been much criticism of Roosevelt, some of it intense. Critics have questioned not only his policies, positions, and the consolidation of power that occurred due to his responses to the crises of the Depression and World War II but also his breaking with tradition by running for a third term as president.[372] Long after his death, new lines of attack criticized Roosevelt's policies regarding helping the Jews of Europe,[373] incarcerating the Japanese on the West Coast,[374] and opposing anti-lynching legislation.