Franklin D.

Roosevelt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from President Franklin D. Roosevelt)

Jump to navigationJump to search

"FDR" redirects here. For other uses, see FDR (disambiguation) and Franklin D.
Roosevelt (disambiguation).

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Official campaign portrait, 1944

32nd President of the United States

In office

March 4, 1933 – April 12, 1945

 John Nance Garner

Vice President
(1933–1941)
 Henry A. Wallace
(1941–1945)
 Harry S. Truman
(January–April 1945)

Preceded by Herbert Hoover

Succeeded by Harry S. Truman

 44th Governor of New York

In office

January 1, 1929 – January 1, 1933

Lieutenant Herbert H. Lehman

Preceded by Al Smith

Succeeded by Herbert H. Lehman

Assistant Secretary of the Navy

In office

March 17, 1913 – August 26, 1920

President Woodrow Wilson

Preceded by Beekman Winthrop

Succeeded by Gordon Woodbury

Member of the New York State Senate
from the 26th district

In office

January 1, 1911 – March 17, 1913

Preceded by John F. Schlosser

Succeeded by James E. Towner

Personal details

Born Franklin Delano Roosevelt

January 30, 1882

Hyde Park, New York, U.S.

Died April 12, 1945 (aged 63)

Warm Springs, Georgia, U.S.

Resting place Springwood Estate

Political party Democratic

Eleanor Roosevelt
Spouse(s)
 

(m. 1905)

Children 6, including Franklin Jr., Anna, Elliott, James II, John

 II

Parent(s) James Roosevelt I

Sara Delano

Relatives  Roosevelt family

 Delano family

Education  Harvard University (AB)

 Columbia Law School (attended)

Occupation  Politician

 lawyer

Signature

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (/ˈdɛlənoʊ/)[1][2] /ˈroʊzəˌvɛlt, -vəlt/[3][4] ROH-zə-velt, -vəlt;

January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an
American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United
States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As a member of the Democratic Party, he won
a record four presidential elections and became a central figure in world events during
the first half of the 20th century. Roosevelt directed the federal government during most
of the Great Depression, implementing his New Deal domestic agenda in response to
the worst economic crisis in U.S. history. As a dominant leader of his party, he built
the New Deal Coalition, which defined modern liberalism in the United
States throughout the middle third of the 20th century. His third and fourth terms were
dominated by World War II, which ended shortly after he died in office.
Born into the Roosevelt family in Hyde Park, New York, he graduated from both Groton
School and Harvard College, and attended Columbia Law School, which he left after
passing the bar exam to practice law in New York City. In 1905, he married his fifth
cousin once removed, Eleanor Roosevelt. They had six children, of whom five survived
into adulthood. He won election to the New York State Senate in 1910, and then served
as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson during World War
I. Roosevelt was James M. Cox's running mate on the Democratic Party's 1920 national
ticket, but Cox was defeated by Republican Warren G. Harding. In 1921, Roosevelt
contracted a paralytic illness, believed at the time to be polio, and his legs became
permanently paralyzed. While attempting to recover from his condition, Roosevelt
founded a polio rehabilitation center in Warm Springs, Georgia. Although unable to walk
unaided, Roosevelt returned to public office after his election as governor of New
York in 1928. He served as governor from 1929 to 1933, promoting programs to combat
the economic crisis besetting the United States.
In the 1932 presidential election, Roosevelt defeated Republican incumbent Herbert
Hoover in one of the largest landslide victories in US history. The Roosevelt presidency
began in the midst of the Great Depression and during the first 100 days of the 73rd
U.S. Congress, he spearheaded unprecedented federal legislative productivity.
Roosevelt called for the creation of programs designed to produce relief, recovery, and
reform. Within his first year, he began implementing these policies through a series of
executive orders and federal legislation collectively called the New Deal. Many New
Deal programs provided relief to the unemployed such as the National Recovery
Administration. Several New Deal programs and federal laws such as the Agricultural
Adjustment Act provided relief to farmers. Roosevelt also instituted major regulatory
reforms related to finance, communications, and labor. In addition to the economy,
Roosevelt also sought to curtail the rising crime fueled by Prohibition.[5] After
campaigning on a platform to repeal it, Roosevelt implemented the Beer Permit Act of
1933 and enforced the 21st amendment. Tax revenue collected from alcohol sales
would go to public works as part of the New Deal. Roosevelt frequently used radio to
speak directly to the American people, giving 30 "fireside chat" radio addresses during
his presidency and became the first American president to be televised. The economy
improved rapidly from 1933 to 1936, and Roosevelt won a landslide re-election in 1936.
Despite the popularity of the New Deal, many within the US Supreme Court maintained
their conservative bent and frequently struck down New Deal initiatives. Following his
re-election, Roosevelt sought to counter this by lobbying for the Judicial Procedures
Reform Bill of 1937 (or "court packing plan"), which would have expanded the size of
the Supreme Court. The bill was blocked by the newly formed bipartisan Conservative
Coalition, which also sought to prevent further New Deal legislation; as a result, the
economy began to decline, which led to the recession of 1937–1938. Other major 1930s
legislation and agencies implemented under Roosevelt include the Securities and
Exchange Commission, the National Labor Relations Act, the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation, Social Security, and the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Roosevelt was reelected in 1940 for his third term, making him the only U.S. president
to serve for more than two terms. By 1939 another World War was on the horizon which
prompted the United States to respond by passing a series of laws affirming
neutrality and rejecting intervention. Despite this, President Roosevelt gave strong
diplomatic and financial support to China, the United Kingdom, and eventually
the Soviet Union. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941,
an event he called "a date which will live in infamy", Roosevelt obtained a congressional
declaration of war against Japan. On December 11 Japan's allies, Nazi
Germany and Fascist Italy declared war on the United States. In response, the US
formally joined the Allies and entered the European theater of war. Assisted by his top
aide Harry Hopkins and with very strong national support, he worked closely with British
Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet General Secretary Joseph Stalin, and
Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in leading the Allied Powers against the Axis
Powers. Roosevelt supervised the mobilization of the U.S. economy to support the war
effort and implemented a Europe first strategy, initiating the Lend-Lease program and
making the defeat of Germany first a priority over that of Japan. His administration
oversaw the construction of The Pentagon, initiated the development of the world's
first atomic bomb, and worked with other Allied leaders to lay the groundwork for the
United Nations and other post-war institutions. It was under his wartime leadership that
the United States became a superpower on the world stage.
Roosevelt won reelection in the 1944 presidential election on his post-war recovery
platform. His physical health began declining during the later war years, and less than
three months into his fourth term, Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945. Vice
President Harry S. Truman assumed office as president and oversaw the acceptance of
surrender by the Axis powers. Since his death, several of Roosevelt's actions have
come under substantial criticism, such as the relocation and internment of Japanese
Americans in concentration camps. Nevertheless, he is consistently ranked by scholars,
political scientists, and historians as one of the greatest presidents in American history.

Contents

Early life and marriage

Childhood

A young, unbreeched Roosevelt in 1884, 2 years old[a]

Roosevelt in 1893, at the age of 11

 Roosevelt in 1900, at the age of 18

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882, in the Hudson Valley town
of Hyde Park, New York, to businessman James Roosevelt I and his second wife, Sara
Ann Delano. His parents, who were sixth cousins,[7] both came from wealthy, established
New York families, the Roosevelts, the Aspinwalls and the Delanos, respectively.
Roosevelt's paternal ancestor migrated to New Amsterdam in the 17th century, and the
Roosevelts succeeded as merchants and landowners. [8] The Delano family
patriarch, Philip Delano, traveled to the New World on the Fortune in 1621, an