F D Roosevelt

Famous as 32nd President of the United States

Born on 30 January 1882
Born in Hyde Park, New York
Died on 12 April 1945
Nationality United States
Works & 32nd President of the United States
Achievements
Born in 1882 and famous all over the world with the
three letters, 'FDR' Franklin D. Roosevelt was the
32nd President of the U.S. and is the only U.S.
president to have served more than two terms of
presidency. As president, Roosevelt faced an
immediate challenge of and succeeded in pulling the
country back from the brisk of unemployment and
widespread economic crisis as soon as he took
charge of the office in 1932. Initially a member of the
Democratic Party, Roosevelt has been credited with
the invention and establishment of
Social Security system and the National Labor
Relations Board(NLRB) in America. He was the only
American President to be elected Four times and his
tenure was the most by any American President.
Serving the U.S. from 1932 to 1945, Roosevelt
acquired fame and popularity in America with the
way he framed policies to tackle the Great
Depression in America and led the country's ride
from a fast growing economy to the mightiest power
in the world.

Childhood and Education

Born on June 30, 1882 Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the Hudson Valley town
of Hyde Park, New York. Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a Dutch paternal and
French maternal ancestry and both hailed from a very wealthy and developed
family. Franklin’s father’s name was James who was 54 at the time of his birth. His
mother Sara was apparently very possessive and had a great influence on his son.
Roosevelt childhood passed in a silver spoon atmosphere and he enjoyed frequent
trips to many European countries of Europe that made his vision broader and
exposed him to the outer world.

Roosevelt received his schooling from Groton School in Massachusetts before going
to Harvard, where he became a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. Due to his
good writing and editorial skills he was elected the president of The Harvard
Crimson daily newspaper. During his stay in Harvard, his fifth cousin Theodore
Roosevelt became the US president who was an inspiration to Franklin for his
leadership qualities and reforming skills. Roosevelt went to
the Columbia Law School in 1905, but dropped out after two years without
graduating. In 1908, having passed the New York State Bar exam, he took a job with
the prestigious Wall Street firm of Carter Ledyard & Milburn; where he mainly dealt
with corporate law.

Marriage
Roosevelt married Eleanor, whom he had met in 1902, against his mother’s wish on
17 March 1905. The couple was totally in contrast, on one hand where Franklin was
a charismatic and socially active man, Eleanor was shy and socially inactive, and
spent more time at home. The marriage was unsuccessful though, with Franklin’s
post marital affairs becoming public during 1960’s. The marriage even went to the
extent of divorce but they reconciled after Franklin’s promise to discontinue the
affair. Franklin’s mother Sara also intervened and warned him not to divorce
Eleanor. Although they did not divorce, the times were never the same, as the
couple lived together only to keep their children and friends happy. Franklin did not
end the affair as he had promised and continued it secretly even in his Presidential
tenure which was publicly disclosed in 1960's. They together had six children but
only five could survive their adulthood.

Early Political Career

In 1910, Roosevelt started his political Career from Hyde Park district around Hyde
Park New York as State Senate. His surname Roosevelt won him a lot of respect
and popularity along with prestige in the area. After a short span of time Roosevelt’s
leadership skills became apparent and he won quick fame and won a lot of following
in the state Democratic Party. He entered the state house on 1 January 1911
becoming a popular figure among New York Democrats, resulting into his re-election
in 1912. He resigned from the State Senate in 1913.

During 1913, on the eve of the second world war Roosevelt was appointed Assistant
Secretary of the Navy by the then American President Woodrow Wilson. In 1914, he
was defeated in the Democratic primary election for the United States Senate. To
improve the condition of the organization, he negotiated with Congressional leaders
and other government departments to get budgets approved. In July
1920, Roosevelt resigned as Assistant Secretary of the Navy but he continued his
political aspirations and campaigned for the Post of the Vice President in the same
year.

He however was defeated in the elections heavily and thus went to do his legal
practice. In 1921, Roosevelt who had polio at that time had an attack which resulted
in paralysis of waist which continued for the rest of his life. Roosevelt however
continued to maintain his political contacts and as a matter, was elected in 1928 as
the governor of New York, however by a narrow margin. He ran a fantastic tenure
during the two years and as a result of that was re-elected in 1930 for the second
time by a mammoth margin of 7,00,000 votes.

The Journey to White House

Roosevelt's fame and popularity in New York made his case strong for the
Presidential Candidate of Democratic party in 1932.The great orator that he was, he
won the support of a lot of people due to his authoritative declarations. His first
speech is still famous in history. At the time of election campaign the problem of
Great Depression was on the heads of all the top brass of the country's leadership. It
was at that time that Roosevelt proposed the New Deal Coalition. He openly
declared it in public and made it as his slogan and won the election with 57% of the
vote, thus transforming American politics by starting what is called the "New Deal
Party.
First term
After his election to the post of President, Roosevelt inherited the greatest
depression in the US history. A massive population had lost employment and all the
Institutions were in a trouble that had dug deep. Roosevelt blamed the crisis on
bankers and financiers, because of what he called as their greed and quest for
interest. He started tackling the problem head on beginning with the three R's i.e.
relief, recovery and reform. He used radio and newspapers very well to create
awareness among the Public.

First New Deal

This is where the making of history was started. During the First 100 days he
concentrated on the immediate relief to the one hit most badly. He understood that it
was fear that was causing more damage and thus first decided to tackle that. In this
regard, he inaugurated the Panic Bank to provide immediate relief. His strategy of
the New Deal to create reforms and generate funds and provide relief to the
unemployed proved to be remarkable for the recovery of the American Economy
although the crisis was so deep that it took almost a decade for the Scenario to
improve.

The First New deal proved to be instrumental in paving the way out for the US from
such a global crisis which had wounded the whole of the world except theSoviet
Union. Roosevelt, in fact by this, kept all his promises which he had done during his
Campaign. Although the First part of that New Deal Policy was mainly concerned
with low par sectors which were first hit, the Second part challenged the business
fraternity. Within a couple of years it became evident to the American public that the
nation was healing.

Re-Election and Second Term

In the 1932’s Presidential Campaign Roosevelt had strong New Deal programs in
his Lap and obviously was expected to sweep through. Roosevelt won by a
landslide margin of 60.8% in every state except Maine and Vermont. Although the
second term was not as charismatic and did not involve as much legislation but he
still continued in American publics eyes as a hero. Many of Roosevelt’s programmes
were also overturned by the Supreme Court decisions. To the surprise of many, as
many as eight judges were changed in the four years of Roosevelt’s second tenure.
Though Roosevelt enjoyed massive support among the peasant class which was
growing rapidly at that time but the Democratic Party was splitting internally which
was constantly weakening the party. This became public in 1938 when the party lost
seats in the Senate creating more hurdles for the party.

The Third Term

The US constitution after its First President George Washington until this had a
trend for a president to serve for two terms only or a rule that was rather unscripted.
Although Theodore Roosevelt tried to obtain the third term but he was denied. But
the Delegates stressed that for America to recover properly and to control what was
happening in Europe; Roosevelt should fight the elections again. The call ‘we
want Roosevelt became’ immensely popular in the Country. Roosevelt himself was
also willing to continue because he knew that to keep the US out of the war, he had
to. He thus had strong base and won the 1940 elections by 55% of the popular vote.

His third term was more or less under the shadow of the Great War that was
happening in Europe at that time. Although he committed to the allies for full
support, including the Soviet Union, when Hitler attacked the soviets, but he never
wanted the US to enter the war directly. Until the fierce Pearl Harbor incident
happened. On December 7, 1941, the Japan attacked the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl
Harbor, destroying 16 warships, including most of the fleet's battleships, and killing
more than 2,400 American military personnel and civilians. It was time for the
president to give reply and Roosevelt did what whole of America expected him to.
He decided and declared that it was time that the United States entered the cage
starting from the powerful Germany itself.

Franklin Roosevelt teamed up with Churchill and Stalin to make policies to crush the
Axis Powers. Once the US joined the allies and with china became invincible and
Hitler and Mussolini began to feel the heat. With each passing day they were
pushed to back foot. Roosevelt always believed Germany was the biggest threat to
the allies and always insisted on combating Germany first. And by the last years of
1945 the allies lead by the Soviet Red Army had advanced to Berlin.

Last Days and Death

In 1944 Roosevelt, despite very weak and suffering from many health problems fought the Election for the 4th
time. Though he was only 62 then but he was so weak that his party members were sure that he won't live long
now. Roosevelt in his final days formulated the concept of the United Nations as a substitute to the Ineffective
League of Nations. And it was on April 12, 1945 that a terrific shock wave rolled across the US, when President
Roosevelt passed away. At his wish, Franklin was buried in the Rose Garden of the Springwood estate, in Hyde
Park. Eleanor Roosevelt died in year 1962 and was buried next to him.

Timeline:
1882- Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on June 30, 1882.
1905- Roosevelt went to the Columbia Law School in 1905.
1905- Roosevelt married Eleanor on 17 March.
1910- Roosevelt started his political Career as State Senate.
1911- He entered the state house on 1 January 1911.
1913- Roosevelt was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy.
1914- He was defeated in the Democratic primary election for the United States Senate.
1920- Roosevelt resigned as Assistant Secretary of the Navy and contested for the vice- Presidency.
1921- Roosevelt had a paralysis attack.
1932- Roosevelt was elected as President.
1936- Roosevelt was reelected as President of the United States.
1940- Roosevelt was elected for his third term.
1941- Japan attacked the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7.
1944- Roosevelt wond the Presidential Election for the 4th time.
1945- President Roosevelt passed away on April 12.
1962- Eleanor Roosevelt died in year 1962.