Claim: Franklin D. Roosevelt was born in 1882 to an old, prominent Dutch family.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt -LRB- -LSB- ˈroʊzəvəlt -RSB- , his own pronunciation , or -LSB- - en ˈroʊzəvɛlt -RSB- January 30 , 1882 -- April 12 , 1945 -RRB- , commonly known as FDR , was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 32nd President of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945 . A Democrat , he won a record four presidential elections and emerged as a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century . He directed the United States government during most of the Great Depression and World War II . As a dominant leader of his party , he built the New Deal Coalition , realigning American politics into the Fifth Party System and defining American liberalism throughout the middle third of the 20th century . He is often rated by scholars as one of the three greatest U.S. Presidents , along with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln .   Roosevelt was born in 1882 to an old , prominent Dutch family from Dutchess County , New York and attended Groton School . He went on to graduate from Harvard College in 1903 and attended Columbia Law School . At age 23 in 1905 , he married Eleanor Roosevelt , and the couple went on to have six children . He entered politics in 1910 , serving in the New York State Senate , and then as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson . In 1920 , presidential candidate James M. Cox selected Roosevelt as his running mate , but the Cox/Roosevelt ticket lost to the Republican ticket of Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge . In 1921 , Roosevelt was stricken with debilitating polio , which cost him the use of his legs . The disability put his future political career in jeopardy , but he attempted to recover from the illness and founded the treatment center in Warm Springs , Georgia for people with polio . Roosevelt returned to political life when he nominated Alfred E. Smith at the 1924 Democratic National Convention . At Smith 's behest , Roosevelt successfully ran for Governor of New York in 1928 . He was in office from 1929 to 1933 and served as a reform governor , promoting the enactment of programs to combat the depression besetting the United States at the time .   In the 1932 presidential election , Roosevelt defeated incumbent Republican president Herbert Hoover in a landslide to win the presidency . Roosevelt took office while the United States was in the midst of the worst economic crisis in its history . Energized by his personal victory over polio , FDR relied on his persistent optimism and activism to renew the national spirit . During his first 100 days in office , Roosevelt spearheaded unprecedented federal legislation and issued a profusion of executive orders that instituted the New Deal -- a variety of programs designed to produce relief -LRB- government jobs for the unemployed -RRB- , recovery -LRB- economic growth -RRB- , and reform -LRB- through regulation of Wall Street , banks and transportation -RRB- . He created numerous programs to support the unemployed and farmers , and to encourage labor union growth while more closely regulating business and high finance . His support for the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 added to his popularity , helping him win re-election by a landslide in 1936 . The economy improved rapidly from 1933 -- 37 , but then relapsed into a deep recession in 1937 -- 38 . The bipartisan Conservative Coalition that formed in 1937 prevented his packing the Supreme Court , and blocked almost all proposals for major liberal legislation -LRB- except the minimum wage , which did pass -RRB- . When the war began and unemployment ended , conservatives in Congress repealed the two major relief programs , the Works Progress Administration -LRB- WPA -RRB- and Civilian Conservation Corps -LRB- CCC -RRB- . However , they kept most of the regulations on business . Along with several smaller programs , major surviving programs include the Securities and Exchange Commission , the Wagner Act , the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Social Security .   With World War II looming after 1938 with the Japanese invasion of China and the aggression of Nazi Germany , Roosevelt gave strong diplomatic and financial support to China and the United Kingdom , while remaining officially neutral . His goal was to make America the `` Arsenal of Democracy '' , which would supply munitions to the Allies . In March 1941 , Roosevelt , with Congressional approval , provided Lend-Lease aid to Britain and China . Following the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7 , 1941 , which he famously called `` a date which will live in infamy '' , Roosevelt sought and obtained the quick approval on the following day for Congress to declare war on Japan and , a few days later , on Germany . Assisted by his top aide Harry Hopkins , and with very strong national support , he worked closely with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill , Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in leading the Allies against Nazi Germany , Fascist 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 he initiated the development of the world 's first atomic bomb . His work also influenced the later creation of the United Nations and Bretton Woods . Roosevelt 's physical health seriously declined during the war years , and he died weeks into his fourth term . He was then succeeded by his vice president Harry S. Truman , and a few months after Truman 's inauguration , the United States bombed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , leading to Japan 's surrender .