Franklin D. Roosevelt From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Franklin Delano Roosevelt (/ˈroʊzəvəlt/, his own pronunciation,[2] or /ˈroʊzəvɛlt/; January 30, 1882 – April 12, Franklin D. Roosevelt 1945), commonly known as FDR, was an American statesman and political leader who served as the President of the United States from 1933 to 1945. A Democrat, he won a record four presidential elections and dominated his party after 1932 as a central figure in world events during the mid- 20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic depression and total war. His program for relief, recovery and reform, known as the New Deal, involved a great expansion of the role of the federal government in the economy. As a dominant leader of the Democratic Party, he built the New Deal Coalition that brought together and united labor unions, big city machines, white ethnics, African Americans, and rural white Southerners in support of the party. The Coalition significantly realigned American politics after 1932, creating the Fifth Party System and defining American liberalism throughout the middle third of the 20th century. President Roosevelt in 1944 Roosevelt was born in 1882, to an old, prominent Dutch 32nd President of the United States family from Dutchess County, New York. He attended the elite educational institutions of Groton School and Harvard In office College. At age 23, in 1905, he married Eleanor Roosevelt, March 4, 1933 – April 12, 1945 with whom he had six children. He entered politics in 1910, Vice Presidents John Nance Garner (1933– serving in the New York State Senate, and then as Assistant 41) Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson. In Henry A. Wallace (1941–45) 1920, Roosevelt ran for vice president with presidential candidate James M. Cox, but the Cox/Roosevelt ticket lost to Harry S. Truman (1945) the Republican ticket of Warren Harding and Calvin Preceded by Herbert Hoover Coolidge. Roosevelt was stricken with debilitating polio in Succeeded by Harry S. Truman 1921, which cost him the use of his legs and put his future political career in jeopardy, but he attempted to recover from 44th Governor of New York the illness, and founded the treatment center for people with In office polio in Warm Springs, Georgia. After returning to political January 1, 1929 – January 1, 1933 life by placing Alfred E. Smith's name into nomination at the 1924 Democratic National Convention, Roosevelt, at Smith's Lieutenant Herbert H. Lehman behest, successfully ran for Governor of New York in 1928. Preceded by Al Smith In office from 1929 to 1933, he served as a reform governor Succeeded by Herbert H. Lehman promoting the enactment of programs to combat the Great Depression besetting the United States at the time. Assistant Secretary of the Navy In 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression, Roosevelt In office successfully defeated incumbent Republican president March 17, 1913 – August 26, 1920 Herbert Hoover to win the presidency of the United States. President Woodrow Wilson Having been energized by his personal victory over his polio, FDR relied on his persistent optimism and activism to renew Preceded by Beekman Winthrop the national spirit.[3] In his first hundred days in office, which Succeeded by Gordon Woodbury began March 4, 1933, Roosevelt spearheaded unprecedented major legislation and issued a profusion of executive orders Member of the New York State Senate that instituted the New Deal—a variety of programs designed for the 26th District to produce relief (government jobs for the unemployed), In office recovery (economic growth), and reform (through regulation January 1, 1911 – March 17, 1913 of Wall Street, banks and transportation). He created numerous programs to support the unemployed and farmers, Preceded by John F. Schlosser and to encourage labor union growth while more closely Succeeded by James E. Towner regulating business and high finance. The repeal of Personal details Prohibition in 1933 added to his popularity, helping him win re-election by a landslide in 1936. The economy improved Born January 30, 1882 rapidly from 1933 to 1937, but then relapsed into a deep Hyde Park, New York, U.S. recession in 1937–38. The bipartisan Conservative Coalition Died April 12, 1945 (aged 63) that formed in 1937 prevented his packing the Supreme Warm Springs, Georgia, U.S. Court, and blocked almost all proposals for major liberal legislation (except the minimum wage, which did pass). Resting place Home of FDR National Historic When the war began and unemployment ended, conservatives Site, Hyde Park, New York in Congress repealed the two major relief programs, the WPA Political party Democratic and CCC. However, they kept most of the regulations on business. Along with several smaller programs, major Spouse(s) Eleanor Roosevelt surviving programs include the Securities and Exchange (m. 1905–1945; his death) Commission, the Wagner Act, the Federal Deposit Insurance Relations See Roosevelt family and Delano Corporation and Social Security. family As World War II loomed after 1938, with the Japanese Children Anna Eleanor invasion of China and the aggression of Nazi Germany, James II Roosevelt gave strong diplomatic and financial support to Franklin (died in infancy) China and the United Kingdom, while remaining officially Elliott neutral. His goal was to make America the "Arsenal of Franklin Delano Jr. Democracy", which would supply munitions to the Allies. In John Aspinwall[1] March 1941, Roosevelt, with Congressional approval, provided Lend-Lease aid to Britain and China. Following the Parents James Roosevelt I Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, which Sara Roosevelt he called "a date which will live in infamy", Roosevelt sought Alma mater Harvard University and obtained the quick approval, on December 8, of the Columbia Law School United States Congress to declare war on Japan and, a few days later, on Germany. (Hitler had already declared war on Profession Lawyer the US in support of Japan). Assisted by his top aide Harry Politician Hopkins, and with very strong national support, he worked Elected Official closely with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet Religion Episcopalian leader Joseph Stalin and Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai- Shek in leading the Allies against Nazi Germany, Fascist Signature Italy and Imperial Japan in World War II. He supervised the mobilization of the U.S. economy to support the war effort, and also ordered the internment of 100,000 Japanese American civilians. As an active military leader, Roosevelt implemented a war strategy on two fronts that ended in the defeat of the Axis Powers and the development of the world's first nuclear bomb. His work also influenced the later creation of the United Nations and Bretton Woods. During the war, unemployment dropped to 2%, relief programs largely ended, and the industrial economy grew rapidly to new heights as millions of people moved to wartime factory jobs or entered military service.[4] Roosevelt's health seriously declined during the war years, and he died three months into his fourth term. He is often rated by scholars as one of the top three U.S. Presidents, along with Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.[5] Contents 1 Personal life 1.1 Early life and education 1.2 Marriage and affairs 2 Early political career 2.1 State senator and Tammany antagonist 2.2 Assistant Secretary of the Navy 2.3 Campaign for Vice President 3 Polio 4 Governor of New York (1929–32) 5 1932 presidential election 6 Presidency (1933–45) 6.1 First term, 1933–37 6.1.1 First New Deal, 1933–34 6.1.2 Second New Deal, 1935–36 6.1.3 Economic policies 6.1.4 Conservation and the environment 6.1.5 Foreign policy, 1933–37 6.2 Landslide re-election, 1936 6.3 Second term, 1937–41 6.3.1 Foreign policy, 1937–41 6.3.1 Foreign policy, 1937–41 6.4 Election of 1940 6.5 Third term, 1941–45 6.5.1 Policies 6.5.2 Pearl Harbor and declarations of war 6.6 War plans 6.6.1 Internment of Germans, Japanese and Italians 6.6.2 War strategy 6.6.3 Post-war planning 6.7 Declining health 6.8 Election of 1944 6.9 Fourth term and death, 1945 6.9.1 Last days, death and memorial 6.10 Supreme Court appointments 1933–45 7 Civil rights 8 Criticism of Roosevelt 9 Legacy 10 Portraits 10.1 Photos 10.2 Paintings 11 Appendix 11.1 Cabinet 11.2 Media 12 See also 13 Endmatter 13.1 Notes 13.2 References 13.3 Bibliography 13.3.1 Biographical 13.3.2 Scholarly topical studies 13.3.3 Foreign policy and World War II 13.3.4 Criticism 13.3.5 FDR's rhetoric 13.4 Historiography 13.4.1 Primary sources 14 External links 14.1 Official 14.2 Interviews, speeches and statements 14.3 Media coverage 14.4 Other Personal life Early life and education One of the oldest Dutch families in New York State, the Roosevelts[a] distinguished themselves in areas other than politics. One ancestor, Isaac Roosevelt, had served with the New York militia during the American Revolution.[7] Roosevelt attended events of the New York society Sons of the American Revolution, and joined the organization while he was president. His paternal family had become prosperous early on in New York real estate and trade, and much of his immediate family's wealth had been built by FDR's maternal grandfather, Warren Delano, Jr., in the China trade, including opium and tea.[8] Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882, in the Hudson Valley town of Hyde Park, New York to businessman James Roosevelt I (1828–1900) and Sara Ann Delano (1854–1941).