The New Deal invigorated a bureaucratic state which had already done much to limit the entrepreneurial opportunities of Americans of all racial and economic backgrounds.
A reason the left is good as what it does: it thinks big and thinks long term. Conservatives and libertarians, meanwhile, like to give up immediately if something seems like it might take a while, or if other people don't embrace their ideas instantly.
The professional custodians of American views of history have always named the same presidents as "great." It's always the presidents who abused power frequently, and expanded government power the most.
