Historical Figure
Franklin D. Roosevelt
1882–1945
President of the United States from 1933 to 1945
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Biography
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president and the only one to have served more than two terms. His first two terms were centered on combating the Great Depression, while his third and fourth focused on U.S. involvement in World War II. A member of the Democratic Party, Roosevelt served in the New York State Senate from 1911 to 1913 and as the 44th governor of New York from 1929 to 1932.
In Their Own Words (5)
If the spirit of God is not in us, and if we will not prepare to give all that we have and all that we are to preserve Christian civilization in our land, we shall go to destruction.
Speech at the Dedication of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, September 2, 1940 , 1940
I'm just afraid that I may not have the strength to do this job. After you leave me tonight, Jimmy, I am going to pray. I am going to pray that God will help me, that he will give me the strength and the guidance to do this job and to do it right. I hope that you will pray for me, too, Jimmy.
Talking to his son James on the night of his landslide victory over Herbert Hoover (8 November 1932), as quoted in Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (2008) by H. W. Brands , 2008
I sometimes think we consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm.
Roosevelt to Henry M. Heymann (2 December 1919), as quoted in Roosevelt and Howe (1962), by Alfred B. Rollins, Jr., p. 153 , 1962
We defend and we build a way of life, not for America alone, but for all mankind.
Fireside chat on national defense (May 26, 1940), reported in The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1940 (1941), p. 240 , 1941
It seems to me that the dedication of a library is in itself an act of faith.
Remarks at the Dedication of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library at Hyde Park, New York, United States of America (June 30, 1941). Archived from the original on January 30, 2021. , 1941
Timeline
The story of Franklin D. Roosevelt, told in moments.
Diagnosed with a paralytic illness at Campobello Island, New Brunswick. He's 39. His legs are permanently paralyzed. His mother wants him to retire to the country estate. Eleanor fights her on it. Eleanor wins. He'll spend the next seven years building his political comeback while never walking unassisted again.
Inaugurated as the 32nd president during the worst depression in American history. In his first 100 days, he pushes through more legislation than any president before or since. The SEC, FDIC, Social Security, the National Labor Relations Act. He creates alphabet agencies so fast the press can't keep up. He wins reelection in 1936 by the largest Electoral College margin since 1820.
Asks Congress to declare war the day after Pearl Harbor. "A date which will live in infamy." He'd originally written "world history" and crossed it out. Over the next three years he mobilizes the American economy for total war, meets with Churchill and Stalin to plan the postwar world, and authorizes the Manhattan Project.
Elected to a fourth term. No president before or since has served more than two. He's visibly dying. His blood pressure is 260/150. His doctor lies about it publicly. He goes to Yalta in February 1945 to negotiate the postwar order with Churchill and Stalin.
Dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at Warm Springs, Georgia. He is 63. He's sitting for a portrait when he says "I have a terrific pain in the back of my head" and slumps forward. His former mistress Lucy Mercer is in the room. Eleanor isn't.
Artifacts (4)
The Fireside Chats of Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Radio Addresses to the American People Broadcast Between 1933 and 1944
This etext was produced by Steve Bonner. The Fireside Chats of Franklin Delano Roosevelt Radio addresses to the American people broadcast between 1933 and 1944. March 12, 1933. I...
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