Call Me Russian FDR: Putin

Vladimir Putin sees himself as Russia's Franklin Delano Roosevelt and is actively encouraging a cult around the Depression-slaying US leader to promote his own ambitions after his current term as president expires. Admiring profiles and documentaries about Roosevelt in the state-controlled media are indoctrinating Russians as Putin maneuvers to stay in power, reports the Washington Post.

Roosevelt, who died in his fourth term, is portrayed in Russia as a heroic figure who battled America's power elite. "Of course it's about the third term, and a fourth, and sure it's organized from the Kremlin," said a Russian political analyst. "Roosevelt is now very popular in Russia." (More Vladimir Putin stories.)