Franklin D. Roosevelt | whitehouse.gov Air Force One Franklin D. Roosevelt Assuming the Presidency at the depth of the Great Depression as our 32nd President (1933-1945), Franklin D. Roosevelt helped the American people regain faith in themselves. Assuming the Presidency at the depth of the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt helped the American people regain faith in themselves. He brought hope as he promised prompt, vigorous action, and asserted in his Inaugural Address, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Born in 1882 at Hyde Park, New York--now a national historic site--he attended Harvard University and Columbia Law School. On St. Patrick's Day, 1905, he married Eleanor Roosevelt. Following the example of his fifth cousin, President Theodore Roosevelt, whom he greatly admired, Franklin D. Roosevelt entered public service through politics, but as a Democrat. He won election to the New York Senate in 1910. President Wilson appointed him Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and he was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 1920.

In the summer of 1921, when he was 39, disaster hit-he was stricken with poliomyelitis. Demonstrating indomitable courage, he fought to regain the use of his legs, particularly through swimming. At the 1924 Democratic Convention he dramatically appeared on crutches to nominate Alfred E. Smith as "the Happy Warrior." In 1928 Roosevelt became Governor of New York. He was elected President in November 1932, to the first of four terms. By March there were 13,000,000 unemployed, and almost every bank was closed. In his first "hundred days," he proposed, and Congress enacted, a sweeping program to bring recovery to business and agriculture, relief to the unemployed and to those in danger of losing farms and homes, and reform, especially through the establishment of the Tennessee Valley Authority. By 1935 the Nation had achieved some measure of recovery, but businessmen and bankers were turning more and more against Roosevelt's New Deal program. They feared his experiments, were appalled because he had taken the Nation off the gold standard and allowed deficits in the budget, and disliked the concessions to labor.

Roosevelt responded with a new program of reform: Social Security, heavier taxes on the wealthy, new controls over banks and public utilities, and an enormous work relief program for the unemployed. In 1936 he was re-elected by a top-heavy margin. Feeling he was armed with a popular mandate, he sought legislation to enlarge the Supreme Court, which had been invalidating key New Deal measures. Roosevelt lost the Supreme Court battle, but a revolution in constitutional law took place. Thereafter the Government could legally regulate the economy. Roosevelt had pledged the United States to the "good neighbor" policy, transforming the Monroe Doctrine from a unilateral American manifesto into arrangements for mutual action against aggressors. He also sought through neutrality legislation to keep the United States out of the war in Europe, yet at the same time to strengthen nations threatened or attacked. When France fell and England came under siege in 1940, he began to send Great Britain all possible aid short of actual military involvement. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Roosevelt directed organization of the Nation's manpower and resources for global war.

Feeling that the future peace of the world would depend upon relations between the United States and Russia, he devoted much thought to the planning of a United Nations, in which, he hoped, international difficulties could be settled. As the war drew to a close, Roosevelt's health deteriorated, and on April 12, 1945, while at Warm Springs, Georgia, he died of a cerebral hemorrhage. The Presidential biographies on WhiteHouse.gov are from “The Presidents of the United States of America,” by Frank Freidel and Hugh Sidey. Copyright 2006 by the White House Historical Association. For more information about President Roosevelt, please visit FDR wins unprecedented fourth term - Nov 07, 1944 - HISTORY.com FDR wins unprecedented fourth term Share this: FDR wins unprecedented fourth term Author FDR wins unprecedented fourth term URL Publisher A+E Networks On this day in 1944, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected to an unprecedented fourth term in office. FDR remains the only president to have served more than two terms. Roosevelt rose above personal and political challenges to emerge as one of the nation’s most revered and influential presidents.

In 1921, at the age of 29, he contracted polio and thereafter was burdened with leg braces; eventually, he was confined to a wheelchair. From the time he was first elected to the presidency in 1932 to mid-1945, when he died while in office, Roosevelt presided over two of the biggest crises in U.S. history: the Great Depression of the 1930s and World War II. FDR implemented drastic and oft-criticized legislation to help boost America out of the Great Depression. Although he initially tried to avoid direct U.S. involvement in World War II, which began in 1939, the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941 thrust American headlong into the conflict. By the time Roosevelt was elected to his fourth term, the war had taken a turn in favor of the Allies, but FDR’s health was already on the decline. His arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) had been worsened by the stress of serving as a war-time president.

In April 1945, seven months before the war finally ended in an Allied victory, FDR died of a stroke at his vacation home in Warm Springs, Georgia. In 1947, with President Harry Truman, Roosevelt’s vice president, in office, Congress proposed a law that would limit presidents to two consecutive terms. Up to that time, presidents had either voluntarily followed George Washington’s example of serving a maximum of two terms, or were unsuccessful in winning a third. (In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt ran for a third non-consecutive term, but lost.) In 1951, the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution was passed, officially limiting a president’s tenure in office to two terms of four years each. Related Videos The 32nd US President - Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Roosevelt George W. Bush ï¿½ Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the thirty-second President of the United States (1933-45), was the only United States President to be elected to four terms. FDR, as he was called, served during the worst times in the history of the United States, including the Great Depression and World War II.

Born January 30, 1882 in Hyde Park, New York, his uncle was the former President, Theodore Roosevelt. His mother, Sarah Delano, was his father's second wife, and she could trace her ancestry back to the Plymouth Colony. As the only son of a wealthy family, Franklin first attended the prestigious Groton School, where his sense of social responsibility was formed, and then went on to Harvard. He was only an average student, but during his senior year was the editor of the elite Harvard Crimson (the student paper). He graduated in 1903 and went on to Columbia Law School (1904-07), but he dropped out upon his admission to the New York State Bar Association in 1907. On March 27, 1905, he had married Eleanor Roosevelt, a distant cousin. As a young woman, Eleanor was shy, but she grew into one of the most prominent first ladies of this nation. In the latter part of her life she worked for social betterment, and she was highly regarded as a lecturer and newspaper columnist. From 1949 to 1952 she served as a United States delegate to the United Nations.

Franklin Roosevelt was elected to the New York Senate in 1910. His first elected public office was State Senator from the Hudson River District. At this time, he became a Democrat, despite the fact that his Uncle Teddy was a Republican. During the bitter fight for President in 1912 he supported Woodrow Wilson. In 1913, President Wilson appointed him Assistant Secretary of the Navy under Josephus Daniels. This is where he got the reputation as an elitist and a dandy (a finely dressed man) that followed him throughout his career. In 1920 he was the Vice Presidential candidate on a ticket with James Cox. They lost to Warren G Harding. While in his thirties Roosevelt, vacationing at his summer home on Campobello Island, suffered an attack of poliomyelitis. For the rest of his life, he was unable to walk without assistance. Inspired by his own experience with the illness, he would later found the March of Dimes to raise money for research into a cure for polio, as well as a national foundation at Warm Springs, Georgia for its treatment. FDR, himself, underwent treatment at this facility.

His mother was the matriarch of the family and encouraged him, in her usual dominating manner, to retire to his home in Hyde Park and live his life contently there. Instead, he and Eleanor went against the grain. Eleanor, with the help of his trusted aide Louis McHenry Howe, assisted Franklin in keeping active in the Democratic Party. Franklin's mother was not happy at her lack of control, and she often took out her wrath on Eleanor. At the Democratic National Convention of 1924, Franklin Roosevelt finally made a return to the political stage. He was given the honor of placing Alfred Smith as the nominee for President of the United States. In his nomination speech, he referred to Smith as "The Happy Warrior." Franklin's delivery was masterful, and the speech gathered the Democrats behind Smith, who upon securing the nomination, strong-armed Roosevelt into running for Governor of New York. Smith had hoped that Roosevelt's appeal to the Protestants of rural New York would help him to carry the state in the election. Smith lost the race for President to Herbert Hoover, but Roosevelt did become Governor of New York, although by a narrow margin, proving to all that, despite his health, he could manage a strong campaign.

While Governor, he initiated various welfare reforms, the development of public power, and civil service reforms. He also began to have serious Presidential aspirations. He met with a group of trusted advisors, many of them prominent new Yorkers, whose purpose was to brainstorm ideas that might put the nation back on its feet and, at the same time, quietly position FDR with a Presidential image. Reelected in 1930, he began to use the radio as a means of contact with the people. Roosevelt was still Governor of New York when he first mounted his campaign for the White House. During the National Convention he promised the delegates a " New Deal." That terminology was forever linked to his presidency and is a great part of United States history. Roosevelt gathered together a "Brain Trust" from New York's Columbia University. The group was formed prior to the Chicago Convention and included Raymond Mosley (a law professor), Rexford Tugwell (agriculture economist), and A. A. Berle, Jr. (a specialist in corporate structure and finance). These men provided Roosevelt with a specific platform on which to run his campaign. He began to speak of "an economic constitutional order," which included conservation, relief, social insurance, and cheaper electricity.

The Great Depression helped give him an overwhelming victory in the general election. His opponents criticized his physical limitations, but he used his powers of persuasion and charm. Some say that had there been television back then, a man in a wheelchair would never have been elected President of the United States; but Franklin was able to make voters forget his disability. He became President in March of 1933 at one of the worst points of the Great Depression. On the eve of his inauguration he inspired confidence with the people when he told them " The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Roosevelt began by winning the confidence of ordinary Americans through regular "fireside chats" on the radio. He asked them to stop hoarding cash, and on his first day as President he closed the Banks and ordered the Congress into special session to pass emergency banking legislation. It was a crisis situation. Between 12 and 14 million people were unemployed, and many were actually starving.

In response, FDR recommended passage of programs such as the Works Progress Administration (WPA) that provided building projects, built schools and public buildings; the Civil Concentration Corps [CCC], wherein unmarried men built roads and public projects under the direction of the Army; and The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), formed to build dams and hydroelectric plants for electricity and flood control on rivers. The Agricultural Adjustment Acts of 1933 and 1938 promoted reforestation and conservation and controlled supply and demand by paying farmers not to plant certain crops. During Roosevelt's presidency; the gold standard was abandoned and the Social Security Act introduced. The Social Security Act provided unemployment compensation, retirement funds, and disability insurance on a national scale. The dollar was devalued to stimulate foreign trade and to support more competitive business practices. As part of the New Deal, aid and assistance were provided to farms and businesses. The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) was passed to stabilized industry by eliminating cutthroat practices, maintaining prices, and promoting labor unionization. The United States Supreme Court claimed that the NIRA and the Agricultural Adjustment Acts were unconstitutional. In 1938 Roosevelt had Congress pass another AA Act that did fit the Supreme Court's Standards.

Employment for the unemployed and "a chicken in every pot" were the themes of the times. Many critics called the programs socialistic and said they were creating a welfare state funded by the government. Roosevelt's social welfare platform created federal deficits never seen before in this country. Roosevelt defeated Hoover for a second term and, for an unprecedented third term, he defeated Wendell Wilkie. Finally, in a fourth run, he defeated Thomas Dewey. Franklin Delano Roosevelt has been called the greatest President since Lincoln. But he is also highly criticized, especially for circumventing Congress and even his own Cabinet to get his programs through. He would constantly employ the use of radio and his now famous "fireside chats" to talk directly to the American people. Roosevelt foresaw the coming of the war that began in Europe in September of 1939. He kept playing cards with foreign policy, finding ways to aid the Allies against the Axis Powers. He advocated preparedness. Hitler was smashing his way through Europe, one country at a time, until he finally took France. In an overt gesture that broke the United State's neutrality, Roosevelt gave warships to the British, docking them in ports in the West Indies.

Soon after this he introduced legislation to the Congress called the Lend-Lease Act. Under this act, the Allied countries could trade leased foreign bases for supplies and ships under a cash and carry arrangement that would have materials delivered to their ports by American ships. Soon America's factories were again humming, and war materials flowed to the Allies in huge numbers. Many of the American people did not want to enter into another war. Like the public, Roosevelt and his staff were divided on the matter; but the less-than-neutral actions of the United States with regard to shipping made for deteriorating relations with the Axis powers. The decision to enter the war was made for the US when on December 7, 1941, the Japanese Navy bombed the American fleet at Pearl Harbor. Hitler then also declared war on the United States. This truly was a world war to end all wars. When Roosevelt spoke of the attack in his address to Congress on December 8, 1941, he called it "A day that will live in infamy." Yet Roosevelt had been eager for the United States to enter The War on the behalf of the Allies, and some argue he welcomed the Japanese attack as the excuse he needed.

Roosevelt mobilized for war by enacting Woodrow Wilson's Selective Service Act, which created a draft to secure men for armed forces, and the War Production Board, which consolidated industry for the production of war materials on a massive scale. Roosevelt and Britain's Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, planned all aspects of the war with unity and purpose. Their first mission was to annihilate Hitler and force Germany into an unconditional surrender, which would never again allow an opening for the Germans to wage war upon the continent of Europe. Together they coordinated all of their countries' will and power to defeat the enemy. But to truly mount the war effort, they needed Stalin; and Stalin needed them. Although they knew of his plans for Eastern Europe, they had to align with the Communist for strategic purposes. Roosevelt initiated the Manhattan Project, which eventually led to the development of the Atomic Bomb. Food and gasoline were rationed. Drives for rubber, scrap and even paper were conducted to support the war effort. Women took over the jobs formerly filled by the fighting men.

Eleanor Roosevelt traveled about the country motivating these women with her wit and praise, while Franklin attended high level conferences with Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill in places like Quebec, Malta, Tehran, and at Yalta. It was during the Yalta conference that the discussion that led to the formation of a United Nations was held. Roosevelt's health had been deteriorating during the latter years of the War. The burden of the presidency took a toll on his body; but his mind persevered. Doctors constantly attended to him, doing what was necessary to keep him functioning. Roosevelt knew his days were numbered, but he desperately wanted to bring the War to a close. At Yalta the cold of the sea had made him ill, and upon his return, he went to Warm Springs, Georgia, for a much-needed rest. His wife was not with him, but was carrying his message from city to city when, finally, on April 12, 1945, Franklin Delano Roosevelt died without getting to see the peace.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt—Four-Term President—and the Election of 1944 | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History Franklin Delano Roosevelt—Four-Term President—and the Election of 1944 by Matthew Dallek When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt decided to seek a fourth term in 1944, his campaign would come to mark a major moment in the history of presidential elections for several reasons. No president had run for a fourth term prior to Roosevelt and FDR remains the only person to have been elected to a fourth term, or in fact, a third term. It was only the third time in US history up to then that a presidential election had taken place in wartime. The election was also momentous because Roosevelt was seriously ill, and he and his aides orchestrated a cover-up that hid his failing health from the American people. [1] With the benefit of hindsight, we can see how consequential the 1944 election was. FDR’s victory would lead to the passage in 1951 of the Twenty-second Amendment to the Constitution barring presidents from serving more than two full terms.

[2] His physical condition at the time of his victory virtually ensured that his vice president would become president, and when FDR died three months into his fourth term, Harry Truman helped launch the nuclear age when he dropped two atomic bombs on Japan to end the war in the Pacific. The Cold War with the Soviet Union also began on Truman’s watch. The 1944 presidential election inaugurated a politics of prosperity that would last for decades, while FDR’s deception about his health helped pave the way for the now-familiar custom in which candidates are forced to release results of their physicals, disclose income taxes, and reveal at least some details of their personal lives to the public. FDR defended his precedent-breaking decision to seek a fourth term on several grounds. In late 1944, Roosevelt reflected that while he “hate[d] the fourth term . . . and the third term as well,” he thought he was able to “plead extenuating circumstances!” He believed, he explained, that Americans deserved to have the chance “freely to express themselves every four years.” Unlike some of his contemporaries, Roosevelt claimed, he did not feel the need to cling to power just for the sake of holding power.

“I would, quite honestly, have retired to Hyde Park with infinite pleasure in 1941” had it not been for the international crisis. He felt ethically bound to break from tradition in 1940 and, again, in 1944; he described the possible election of his 1940 opponent, Republican Wendell Willkie, as “a rather dangerous experiment,” as he had little foreign policy experience and was not the man to handle an international emergency. By 1944, with America in its third year of the war, FDR considered it his obligation to remain in office until Hitler had been defeated. [3] Roosevelt faced re-election challenges on a variety of thorny fronts. Democratic bosses regarded Vice President Henry Wallace as a left-wing ultra-liberal, and they refused to accept him on the 1944 ticket. FDR was forced to dump Wallace, and he browbeat Missouri’s Senator Harry Truman into running as his number two. Truman had won praise for leading a Senate Committee investigation that turned up billions of dollars in fraud and government waste in the war effort, but he had only modest experience with foreign affairs.

[4] An even greater problem for the President was that his body was falling apart. As only a handful of doctors and members of his inner circle knew, FDR had had hypertension in the early 1940s. High blood pressure had led to congestive heart failure by the time his re-election campaign rolled around. According to the author and medical doctor Hugh E. Evans, by March 1944 FDR was clearly suffering from heart failure. His death—due to a brain hemorrhage on April 12, 1945—was “predictable,” Evans has argued. [5] Roosevelt faced a more formidable Republican opponent in 1944 than he had in 1940. New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey defeated Wendell Willkie, a utility executive who had been the 1940 Republican nominee, for the GOP’s 1944 nomination. Willkie had crisscrossed Wisconsin in the hopes of winning enough delegates in its April 4 primary to propel him toward the 1944 nomination. Yet Willkie failed to take a single delegate from the state’s primary, and he ended his bid on that disappointing note.

Some Republican conservatives flirted with drafting General Douglas MacArthur into the race. But the MacArthur boomlet fizzled after letters he had written to one of his supporters were made public, which, among other things, highlighted the general’s disdain for civilian authority. [6] Dewey was prim, exact, and at times incendiary. He was a one-time district attorney of New York County who had also sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1940. [7] During a June 1940 rally in front of 2,000 people in Burlington, Vermont, he had blasted the Roosevelt administration for failing to staunch the internal threat that communists posed to Americans. “The least we can demand of our national government is that it stop coddling men and women whose major objective is the destruction of American institutions,” Dewey huffed. “The administration is . . . riddled with communists and fellow travelers.” [8] In 1944, Dewey continued his anti-communist chest-thumping. He sought to sow doubts about FDR’s physical health and questioned his capacity to defend America from domestic enemies lurking in the shadows.

But he failed to mount a significant challenge to Roosevelt’s New Deal program, stepping on conservatives’ own argument when he said in September that if elected he would “keep” the New Deal, “maybe [even] add to it some.” [9] The charges that FDR was soft on communism failed to resonate with the public. Moreover, Dewey was one of the icier presidential candidates of his era—a sharp contrast to FDR’s radiant warmth. Dewey was, one liberal writer said, “intelligent without depth, shrewd without vision, jocular without humor. . . . [Even] his friends don’t like him.” “Pompous and cold,” journalist David Brinkley sniffed, as author David M. Jordan has pointed out. [10] If Dewey’s candidacy was hyperbolic and if his personality was remote, Roosevelt was no longer the sterling campaigner of the 1930s. The President had lost his vigor. His face was haggard and gaunt; his clothes hung loose around his frame; his hands trembled so much that Truman once saw him unable to make his own coffee.

FDR’s physician, Ross McIntire, and a coterie of aides managed a cover-up that hid FDR’s illnesses from the voting public. Roosevelt’s use of radio helped him overcome doubts about his wherewithal to handle a fourth term. When he was preparing to oversee a military exercise at San Diego’s Camp Pendleton in July 1944, he had a seizure. This happened just as the Democratic National Convention was taking place. Still, Roosevelt delivered his acceptance speech to the convention over the radio. Only a handful of his closest aides knew about his seizure. Another key moment in the campaign came when FDR addressed the Teamsters on September 23, 1944. His talk, which was carried over the radio, rebutted Republican-led smears that the President had ordered the use of a Navy destroyer to rescue his Scottish terrier, Fala, from an island where the dog allegedly had been stranded. [11] “These Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or my wife, or on my sons,” FDR said in his speech. “No, not content with that, they now include my little dog, Fala.

Well, of course, I don’t resent attacks, and my family doesn’t resent attacks, but Fala does resent them.” [12] His humor disarmed his critics and tamped down rumors that the President was unfit to serve four more years. His spirited speech was a bracing reminder of his vigor and his mastery of the airwaves. Whereas television would have made FDR’s deceptions impossible, the radio enabled him to use his voice to cover up the severity of his physical deterioration. Most importantly, two issues—peace and prosperity—framed the election and explain why FDR won an unprecedented fourth term. On the eve of the 1942 mid-term elections, Roosevelt confronted economic troubles at home and military challenges abroad. While his name was not on the ballot that year, the returns on Election Day were a bad omen for FDR. His party lost forty-seven House seats and seven Senate seats. Beginning in 1943, Congress began to eliminate some of Roosevelt’s cherished New Deal programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps and the National Youth Administration. The nation’s mood was less than ebullient. The economy had frustrated consumers on the home front; World War II seemed to be stalemated.

By Election Day 1944, however, the Allies had pulled off D-Day and liberated Paris. In his Pulitzer-winning synthesis Freedom from Fear: The American People in World War II, historian David Kennedy points out that news from the front lines was positive in 1944. “Shortly before election day, the navy defeated the Japanese in the war’s last great sea duel at Leyte Gulf, MacArthur histrionically waded ashore in the Philippines, and the first US troops entered Germany.” [13] Nearly three years after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Americans concluded that victory in World War II was now achievable. Equally vital to FDR’s chances, the US economy had risen from its years-long doldrums and had started an expansion that would endure for decades to come. The US national income had expanded by more than $40 billion between 1942 and 1944. [14] More Americans began to see and feel the rewards of this boom. Wartime production of tanks, planes, bombs, and guns—and the millions of jobs created by the war economy—augured a peacetime economy of unlimited potential.

After years of economic sacrifice and stagnation, a kind of economic Promised Land seemed within the nation’s grasp. FDR managed to give Americans hope that he had put the country on a glide path to economic victory. Not even FDR knew what he would do in a fourth term. He sought to leave as many options open as possible; his intentions were contradictory and, ultimately, inscrutable. During a news conference on December 28, 1943, FDR told reporters that his single-minded economic focus had been replaced by his wartime agenda. He talked in metaphors, explaining that when he took power in 1933 the United States was “an awfully sick patient” with “grave internal” wounds. FDR had to don his “Dr. New Deal” persona—prescribing the remedies that prevented the patient from dying. But then he said that when this patient “was in a pretty bad smashup” on December 7, 1941, Dr. New Deal was forced to bring in his partner, “Dr. Win-the-War, to take care of this fellow who had been in this bad accident.” Dr. Win-the-War was now in charge of saving the country.

[15] FDR contradicted his news conference when he declared in his January 11, 1944, State of the Union address that “the one supreme objective for the future . . . can be summed up in one word: Security. And that means not only physical security which provides safety from attacks by aggressors. It means also economic security, social security, moral security.” Perhaps Dr. New Deal was making a comeback? He went on to outline an economic bill of rights that would give every American “regardless of station, race, or creed” access to enough food, a good job, “a decent home,” and “adequate medical care.” “All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.” [16] The anti–New Deal Congress rejected almost all of Roosevelt’s economic bill of rights, but that did not harm his re-election bid. The President had at least one major legislative victory in 1944—the GI Bill of Rights (or the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act), which he signed into law in June.

The act provided returning veterans with access to college loans, help with buying homes, job training, and other services that enabled them to pursue the American Dream as they returned home. The law won support from Republicans and Democrats and veterans, and it symbolized FDR’s nationwide effort to honor soldiers’ military sacrifices and harness the lever of government intervention to spur individual initiative to build a better, more prosperous postwar world. [17] In the face of these successes Dewey had a hard sell. Despite the hardships that the war had imposed on the American people, FDR was commander in chief and seemed more than up to the task of winning it. He was also steering the economy with a sure hand. Roosevelt had quelled concerns in his own ranks with his selection of Truman. The Washington Post faulted Dewey for having failed to confront head-on “the great issues of war and peace” at stake in 1944. Dewey lacked the expertise and “conviction” to lead World War II America. The electorate was ultimately reluctant to cast aside the incumbent commander in chief, who seemed best equipped to achieve a military victory and transition the country to a sound future.

[18] In the end, FDR defeated Dewey by more than three and a half million votes, winning a 333-vote margin in the Electoral College. [19] Franklin Delano Roosevelt would be dead by April, but the election’s ramifications reverberate into the twenty-first century. Roosevelt’s deception about his health was one factor moving the political culture to a place where candidates would be forced to disclose intimate details of their lives. Wartime presidents, FDR’s victory suggested, had an electoral advantage while running for re-election—so long as their leadership seemed to be paying dividends. His fourth-term win also resulted in the amendment that has barred presidents from winning more than two elections—perhaps depriving Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton of third terms. Last, Roosevelt’s victory, and Truman’s ascension, helped ensure that the New Deal would continue to define Americans’ relationship with their government—that with his re-election Roosevelt’s vision of humanizing the industrial economy had become an accepted aspect of Americans’ lives, so vital to the country’s future that even FDR’s 1944 opponent vowed to “keep” it. [1] David M.

Kennedy, Freedom from Fear: Part II, The American People in World War II (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 357–358. [2] For a discussion of the Twenty-second Amendment, see this pdf from the Annenberg Classroom . [3] FDR letter, reprinted in Robert H. Jackson, That Man: An Insider’s Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt, ed. John Q. Barrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), 45. [4] Kennedy, Freedom from Fear: Part II, 366. [5] Hugh E. Evans, The Hidden Campaign: FDR’s Health and the 1944 Election (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2002), xiii. [6] David M. Jordan, FDR, Dewey, and the Election of 1944 (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2011), 84–91; Kennedy, Freedom from Fear: Part II, 363. [7] William E. Leuchtenburg, Franklin D.

Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1932–1940 (New York: Harper & Row, 1963), 312–313. [8] William Fulton, “Dewey Demands Immediate Home Defense Action,” Chicago Daily Tribune, June 18, 1940. Dewey’s speech is reprinted after the article. [9] Jordan, FDR, Dewey, and the Election of 1944, 329. [10] Quoted in Jordan, FDR, Dewey, and the Election of 1944, 27–28. [11] Stanley Weintraub, Final Victory: FDR’s Extraordinary World War II Presidential Campaign (Boston: Da Capo Press, 2012), 1–5; Kennedy, Freedom from Fear: Part II, 367. [12] Kennedy, Freedom from Fear: Part II, 367. FDR, Address at a Union Dinner, Washington, DC, September 23, 1944.

[13] Kennedy, Freedom from Fear: Part II, 368. [14] Kennedy, Freedom from Fear: Part II, 360. [15] Franklin D. Roosevelt, Excerpts from the Press Conference, Dec. 28, 1943, ; also see Kennedy, Freedom from Fear: Part II, 358–359. [16] Franklin D. Roosevelt, A State of the Union Message to Congress, Jan. 11, 1944. [17] Kennedy, Freedom from Fear: Part II, 361–362. [18] Quoted in Jordan, FDR, Dewey, and the Election of 1944, 326. [19] Kennedy, Freedom from Fear: Part II, 368. Matthew Dallek, Associate Academic Director at the University of California, Washington Center, is writing a book about the Roosevelt Administration and home defense in World War II. Suggested Resources The author recommends the following books to learn more about Franklin Roosevelt’s last presidential election and America in World War II: Evans, Hugh E.

The Hidden Campaign: FDR’s Health and the 1944 Election. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2002. Jordan, David M. FDR, Dewey and the Election of 1944. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2011. Kennedy, David M. Freedom from Fear: Part II, The American People in World War II. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Smith, Jean Edward. FDR. New York: Random House, 2008. Weintraub, Stanley. Final Victory: FDR’s Extraordinary World War II Presidential Campaign. Boston: Da Capo Press, 2012. Franklin D. Roosevelt - U.S. President - Biography.com Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt was the only U.S. president to be elected four times. He led the United States through the Great Depression and World War II. IN THESE GROUPS quotes “There is nothing I love as much as a good fight.” “This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper.

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” “Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.” “These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.” “We know now that government by organized money is just as dangerous as government by organized mob.” “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” “Freedom to learn is the first necessity of guaranteeing that man himself shall be self-reliant enough to be free.” “Wealth in the modern world does not come merely from individual effort; it results from a combination of individual effort and of the manifold uses to which the community puts that effort.” “There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.” “War is a contagion, whether it be declared or undeclared.

It can engulf states and peoples remote from the original scene of hostilities.” Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt - Mini Biography (TV-14; 4:56) A short biography of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was cousin to Teddy Roosevelt and a man of the people. He took office in 1933 and drafted the New Deal programs to help the country recover from the Great Depression. Synopsis Born on January 30, 1882, in Hyde Park, New York, Franklin D. Roosevelt was stricken with polio in 1921. He became the 32nd U.S. president in 1933, and was the only president to be elected four times. Roosevelt led the United States through the Great Depression and World War II, and greatly expanded the powers of the federal government through a series of programs and reforms known as the New Deal. Roosevelt died in Georgia in 1945. Early Life Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882, into a wealthy family.

The Roosevelts had been prominent for several generations, having made their fortune in real estate and trade. Franklin was the only child of James Roosevelt and Sara Ann Delano Roosevelt. The family lived at Springwood, their estate in the Hudson River Valley in New York State. While growing up, Franklin Roosevelt was surrounded by privilege and a sense of self-importance. He was educated by tutors and governesses until age 14, and the entire household revolved around him, with his mother being the dominant figure in his life, even into adulthood. His upbringing was so unlike the common people who he would later champion. In 1896, Franklin Roosevelt attended Groton School for boys, a prestigious Episcopal preparatory school in Massachusetts. The experience was a difficult one for him, as he did not fit in with the other students. Groton men excelled in athletics and Roosevelt did not. He strived to please the adults and took to heart the teachings of Groton's headmaster, Endicott Peabody, who urged students to help the less fortunate through public service. After graduating from Groton in 1900, Franklin Roosevelt entered Harvard University, determined to make something of himself.

Though only a "C" student, he was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, editor of the Harvard Crimson newspaper and received his degree in only three years. However, the general consensus by his contemporaries was that he was underwhelming and average. During his last year at Harvard, he became engaged to Eleanor Roosevelt , his fifth cousin. She was the niece of Franklin's idol, Theodore Roosevelt . They married on March 17, 1905. Roosevelt studied law at Columbia University Law School and passed the bar exam in 1907, though he didn't receive a degree. For the next three years, he practiced corporate law in New York, living the typical upper-class life. But he found law practice boring and restrictive. He set his sights on greater accomplishments. Political Beginnings In 1910, at age 28, Roosevelt was invited to run for the New York state senate. He ran as a Democrat in a district that had voted Republican for the past 32 years. Through hard campaigning and the help of his name, he won the seat in a Democratic landslide. As a state senator, Roosevelt opposed elements of the Democratic political machine in New York.

This won him the ire of party leaders but gained him national notoriety and valuable experience in political tactics and intrigue. During this time, he formed an alliance with Louis Howe, who would shape his political career for the next 25 years. Roosevelt was reelected to the state senate in 1912 and served as chair of the agricultural committee, passing farm and labor bills and social welfare programs. During the 1912 National Democratic Convention, Roosevelt supported presidential candidate Woodrow Wilson and was rewarded with an appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, the same job his idol, Theodore Roosevelt, had used to catapult himself to the presidency. Franklin Roosevelt was energetic and an efficient administrator. He specialized in business operations, working with Congress to get budgets approved and systems modernized, and he founded the U.S. Naval Reserve. But he was restless in the position as "second chair" to his boss, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, who was less enthusiastic about supporting a large and efficient naval force. In 1914, Franklin Roosevelt, decided to run for the U.S. Senate seat for New York. The proposition was doomed from the start, as he lacked White House support.

President Wilson needed the Democratic political machine to get his social reforms passed and ensure his reelection. He could not support Franklin Roosevelt, who had made too many political enemies among New York Democrats. Roosevelt was soundly defeated in the primary election and learned a valuable lesson that national stature could not defeat a well-organized local political organization. In politics, Franklin Roosevelt was finding personal as well as professional success. He took to Washington politics and thrived on personal relationships. He was often seen at the most prominent parties and was considered by women to be a very attractive man. In 1914, he developed a relationship with Lucy Mercer, Eleanor Roosevelt's social secretary, which evolved into a love affair. In 1918, Eleanor discovered the affair and gave Franklin an ultimatum to stop seeing Lucy or she would file for divorce. He agreed, but continued to secretly see Mercer over the years. With his political career thriving, Franklin D. Roosevelt accepted the nomination for vice president—as James M. Cox's running mate—at the 1920 Democratic Convention. The pair was soundly defeated by Republican Warren G. Harding in the general election, but the experience gave Roosevelt national exposure.

Polio Diagnosis While vacationing at Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada, Roosevelt was diagnosed as having contracted polio. At first, he refused to accept that he was permanently paralyzed. He tried numerous therapies and even bought the Warm Springs resort in Georgia seeking a cure. Despite his efforts, he never regained the use of his legs. He later established a foundation at Warm Springs to help others, and instituted the March of Dimes program that eventually funded an effective polio vaccine. For a time, Franklin Roosevelt was resigned to being a victim of polio, believing his political career to be over. But Eleanor Roosevelt and political confidante Louis Howe encouraged him to continue on. Over the next several years, Roosevelt worked to improve his physical and political image. He taught himself to walk short distances in his braces and was careful not to be seen in public using his wheelchair. He also began to repair his relationship with New York's Democratic political machine. Roosevelt appeared at the 1924 and 1928 Democratic National Conventions to nominate New York governor Al Smith for president, which increased his national exposure. U.S. Presidency Al Smith urged Franklin Roosevelt to run for governor of New York, in 1928.

Roosevelt was narrowly elected, and the victory gave him confidence that his political star was rising. As governor, he believed in progressive government and instituted a number of new social programs. By 1930, Republicans were being blamed for the Great Depression and Franklin Roosevelt sensed opportunity. He began his run for the presidency, calling for government intervention in the economy to provide relief, recovery and reform. His upbeat, positive approach and personal charm helped him defeat Republican incumbent Herbert Hoover in November, 1932. By the time Roosevelt took office in March of 1933, there were 13 million unemployed Americans, and hundreds of banks were closed. Roosevelt faced the greatest crisis in American history since the Civil War. FDR in 1933 (Photo: Elias Goldensky (1868-1943) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons ) In his first 100 days, President Franklin Roosevelt proposed sweeping economic reforms, calling for a "New Deal" for Americans. He ordered the temporary closure on all banks to halt the run on deposits.

He formed a "Brain Trust" of economic advisers who designed the "alphabet agencies" such as the AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Administration) to support farm prices by reducing agricultural production through subsidies , the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), to employ young unmarried men to work refurbishing public lands and national parks, and the NRA (National Recovery Administration), which regulated wages and prices. Other agencies insured bank deposits, regulated the stock market, subsidized mortgages, and provided relief to the unemployed. By 1936, the economy showed signs of improvement. Gross national product was up 34 percent, and unemployment had dropped from 25 percent to 14 percent. But Franklin Roosevelt faced criticism for increased government spending, unbalanced budgets, and what some perceived as moving the country toward socialism. During the mid-1930s, several New Deal acts were declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. Roosevelt retaliated by proposing to "pack" the court with justices more favorable to his reforms. Many in Congress, including some Democrats, rejected the idea. By 1938, negative publicity, a continuing sluggish economy, and Republican victories in mid-term elections virtually ended Roosevelt's ability to pass more reform legislation.

Since the end of World War I, America had adopted an isolationist policy in foreign affairs. In the early 1930s, Congress passed the Neutrality Acts to prevent the United States from becoming entangled in foreign conflicts. In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt stepped away from the unilateral principle of the Monroe Doctrine and established the Good Neighbor Policy with Latin America. However, as military conflicts emerged in Asia and Europe, Roosevelt sought ways to assist China in its war with Japan and declared that France and Great Britain were America's "first line of defense" against Nazi Germany. In 1940, Roosevelt began a series of measures to help defend France and Britain from Nazi aggression, including the the Lend-Lease agreement which Congress later passed as the Lend-Lease Act in 1941. Third Term and the U.N. Early in 1940, Roosevelt had not publicly announced that he would run for an unprecedented third term as president. But privately, with Germany's victories in Europe and Japan's growing dominance in Asia, he felt that only he had the experience and skills to lead America in such trying times.

At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Roosevelt swept aside all challengers and received the nomination. In November, 1940, he won the presidential election against Republican Wendell Willkie. During early 1941, with war raging in Europe, Franklin Roosevelt pushed to have the United States' factories become an "arsenal of democracy" for the Allies—France, Britain, and Russia. As Americans learned more about the war's atrocities, isolationist sentiment diminished. Roosevelt took advantage, standing firm against the Axis Powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan. Bipartisan support in Congress expanded the Army and Navy and increased the flow of supplies to the Allies. Hopes of keeping the United States out of war ended with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Within a few months after declaring war, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 ordering all persons of Japanese descent to leave the West Coast. As a result, 120,000 people, many American citizens, were sent to internment camps located inland.

Oddly, no such order applied to Hawaii, where one-third of the population was of Japanese descent, nor to Americans of Italian or German ancestry living in the United States. Nearly all Japanese Americans along the West Coast were forced to quit their job and sell their property and businesses at a tremendous loss. Their entire social order was turned upside down as families were given just days to leave their homes and neighborhoods and be transported to the internment camps. For years prior to the war, racial prejudice towards Japanese Americans had fueled strong resentment and suspicion among whites living along the West Coast. Feeling pressure from military authorities and the public to protect the homeland from sabotage, Roosevelt felt relocation was the proper action. Though the U.S. Supreme Court upheld its legality in Hirabayashi v. United States and Korematsu v. United States, most legal scholars believe that internment was one of the most flagrant violations of civil liberties in American history. In 1988, Congress awarded restitution to survivors of the camps as compensation for the violation of their civil liberties. During World War II, Franklin Roosevelt was a commander in chief who worked with and sometimes around his military advisers.

He helped develop a strategy for defeating Germany in Europe through a series of invasions, first in North Africa in November 1942, then Sicily and Italy in 1943, followed by the D-Day invasion of Europe in 1944. At the same time, Allied forces rolled back Japan in Asia and the eastern Pacific. During this time, Roosevelt also promoted the formation of the United Nations. Final Years The stress of war, however, began to take its toll on Franklin Roosevelt. In March, 1944, hospital tests indicated he had atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure. In spite of this, and because the country was deeply involved in war, there was no question that Roosevelt would run for another term as president. He selected Missouri Senator Harry S. Truman as his running mate, and together they defeated Republican candidate Thomas E. Dewey, carrying 36 of the 48 states. In February, 1945, Franklin Roosevelt attended the Yalta Conference with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet General Secretary Joseph Stalin to discuss post-war reorganization. He then returned to the United States and the sanctuary of Warm Springs, Georgia.

On the afternoon of April 12, 1945, Roosevelt suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage and died. At his side were two cousins, Laura Delano and Margaret Suckley, and his former mistress Lucy Mercer Rutherford (by then a widow), with whom he had maintained his relationship. Within hours of Franklin Roosevelt's passing, Vice President Harry S. Truman was summoned to the White House where he took the oath of office. FDR's sudden death shook the American public to its roots. Though many had noticed that he looked exhausted in photographs and newsreels, no one seemed prepared for his passing. He had led the United States through an economic depression and the greatest war in human history. A whole generation of Americans had grown up knowing no other president. His social programs during the Great Depression redefined the role of government in Americans' lives. His role during World War II established the United States' leadership on the world stage. His 12 years in the White House set a precedent for the expansion of presidential power and redefined liberalism for generations to come. Videos Franklin D. Roosevelt - U.S. Presidents - HISTORY.com Franklin D. Roosevelt A+E Networks Introduction Franklin D.

Roosevelt was in his second term as governor of New York when he was elected as the nation’s 32nd president in 1932. With the country mired in the depths of the Great Depression, Roosevelt immediately acted to restore public confidence, proclaiming a bank holiday and speaking directly to the public in a series of radio broadcasts or “fireside chats.” His ambitious slate of New Deal programs and reforms redefined the role of the federal government in the lives of Americans. Reelected by comfortable margins in 1936, 1940 and 1944, FDR led the United States from isolationism to victory over Nazi Germany and its allies in World War II. He spearheaded the successful wartime alliance between Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States and helped lay the groundwork for the post-war peace organization that would become the United Nations. The only American president in history to be elected four times, Roosevelt died in office in April 1945. Google Franklin D.

Roosevelt’s Early Life and Career Born on January 30, 1882, on a large estate near the village of Hyde Park, New York , Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the only child of his wealthy parents, James and Sara Delano Roosevelt. He was educated by private tutors and elite schools (Groton and Harvard), and early on began to admire and emulate his fifth cousin, Theodore Roosevelt , elected president in 1900. While in college, Franklin fell in love with Theodore’s niece (and his own distant cousin), Anna Eleanor Roosevelt , and they married in 1905. The couple had a daughter, Anna, followed by five sons, one of whom died in infancy. Did You Know? Encouraged by his wife, Eleanor, FDR appointed more women to federal posts than any previous president; he also included black Americans in federal job programs (though they remained largely segregated). Roosevelt attended law school at Columbia University and worked for several years as a clerk in a Wall Street law firm. In 1910, he entered politics, winning a state senate seat as a Democrat in the heavily Republican Dutchess County.

In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson named Roosevelt assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy. He would hold that post for the next seven years, traveling to Europe in 1918 to tour naval bases and battlefields after the U.S. entrance into World War II . FDR’s Personal Struggles and Election as Governor With the support of his wife and his longtime supporter, the journalist Louis Howe, Roosevelt began to return to public life, issuing statements on issues of the day and keeping up a correspondence with Democratic leaders. Eleanor Roosevelt spoke publicly throughout New York State, keeping her husband’s reputation strong despite his illness; she also organized the women’s division of the Democratic Party. In 1924, Franklin made a triumphant public appearance at the Democratic National Convention to nominate New York’s Governor Alfred E. Smith for president (though Smith lost the nomination and the Democrats lost the general election). He nominated Smith again in 1928, this time successfully, and at Smith’s urgings agreed to run for governor of New York. Smith lost to Herbert Hoover , but Roosevelt won.

Governor Roosevelt grew more liberal in his policies as New York (and the nation) sank deeper into economic depression after the stock market crash of 1929. In particular, he set up the Temporary Emergency Relief Administration (TERA), which aimed at finding jobs for the unemployed, and by 1932 TERA was helping nearly one out of every 10 families in New York. Roosevelt Enters the White House Reelected as governor in 1930, Roosevelt emerged as a front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination two years later. He broke tradition and appeared in person in Chicago to accept the nomination, famously pledging himself to “a new deal for the American people.” In the general election, a confident and exuberant Roosevelt triumphed by an overwhelming margin over the incumbent Hoover, who had become a symbol for many people of the ongoing Great Depression. In addition, Democrats won sizeable majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. By the time Roosevelt was inaugurated on March 4, 1933, the Depression had reached desperate levels, including 13 million unemployed.

In the first inaugural address to be widely broadcast on the radio, Roosevelt boldly declared that “This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and prosper…[T]he only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Roosevelt began the momentous first 100 days of his presidency by closing all banks for several days until Congress could pass reform legislation. He also began holding open press conferences and giving regular national radio addresses in which he spoke directly to the American people. The first of these “fireside chats,” about the banking crisis, was broadcast to a radio audience of some 60 million, and would go a long way toward restoring public confidence and preventing harmful bank runs. After passage of the Emergency Banking Relief Act, three out of every four banks were open within a week. Roosevelt and the New Deal Other key pieces of legislation during FDR’s first “Hundred Days” created some of the most important programs and institutions of Roosevelt’s New Deal , including the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA), the Public Works Administration (PWA), the Civilian Conservations Corps (CCC) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

In addition to programs aimed at providing economic relief for workers and farmers and creating jobs for the unemployed, Roosevelt also initiated a slate of reforms of the financial system, notably the creation of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to protect depositors’ accounts and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to regulate the stock market and prevent abuses of the kind that led to the 1929 crash. In 1935, after the economy had begun to show signs of recovery, Roosevelt asked Congress to pass a new wave of reforms, known as “Second New Deal.” These included the Social Security Act (which for the first time provided Americans with unemployment, disability, and pensions for old age) and the Works Progress Administration. The Democratic-led Congress also raised taxes on large corporations and wealthy individuals, a hike that was derisively known as the “soak-the-rich” tax. Roosevelt’s Reelection and “Court-Packing” Controversial but extremely popular with voters, Roosevelt won reelection by a huge margin in 1936 over Governor Alfred M. Landon of Kansas .

He faced opposition from the Supreme Court over his New Deal programs, and proposed an expansion of the court that would allow him to appoint one new justice for every sitting justice 70 or older. After heated debate, Congress rejected this “court-packing” scheme, handing FDR the biggest setback of his career. Nonetheless, the Court abruptly changed direction, upholding both the Social Security Act and the Wagner Act (officially the National Labor Relations Act). Labor unrest and another economic downturn in 1937 hurt Roosevelt’s approval ratings, but the crisis had largely passed by the following year. Republicans gained ground in the midterm congressional elections, however, and soon formed an alliance with conservative Democrats that would block further reform legislation. By the end of 1938, as support for the New Deal was waning, Roosevelt faced a new looming challenge, this time on the international stage. FDR and World War II As early as 1937, FDR warned the American public about the dangers posed by hard-line regimes in Germany, Italy and Japan, though he stopped short of suggesting America should abandon its isolationist policy.

After World War II broke out in September 1939, however, Roosevelt called a special session of Congress in order to revise the country’s existing neutrality acts and allow Britain and France to purchase American arms on a “cash-and-carry” basis. Germany captured France by the end of June 1940, and Roosevelt persuaded Congress to provide more support for Britain, now left to combat the Nazi menace on its own. Despite the two-term tradition for presidents in place since the time of George Washington , Roosevelt decided to run for reelection again in 1940; he defeated Wendell L. Wilkie by nearly 5 million votes. Roosevelt increased his support of Great Britain with passage of the Lend-Lease Act in March 1941 and met with Prime Minister Winston Churchill in August aboard a battleship anchored off Canada. In the resulting Atlantic Charter , the two leaders declared the “Four Freedoms” on which the post-war world should be founded: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of religion, freedom from want and freedom from fear. On December 8, 1941, the day after Japan bombed the U.S.

naval base at Pearl Harbor , Roosevelt appeared before a joint session of Congress, which declared war on Japan. The first president to leave the country during wartime, Roosevelt spearheaded the alliance between countries combating the Axis, meeting frequently with Churchill and seeking to establish friendly relations with the Soviet Union and its leader, Joseph Stalin . Meanwhile, he spoke constantly on the radio, reporting war events and rallying the American people in support of the war effort (as he had for the New Deal). Yalta Conference and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Death In 1944, as the tide of war turned toward the Allies, a weary and ailing Roosevelt managed to win election to a fourth term in the White House . The following February, he met with Churchill and Stalin in the Yalta Conference , where Roosevelt got Stalin’s commitment to enter the war against Japan after Germany’s impending surrender. (The Soviet leader kept that promise, but failed to honor his pledge to establish democratic governments in the eastern European nations then under Soviet control.) The “Big Three” also worked to build foundations for the post-war international peace organization that would become the United Nations.

After Roosevelt returned from Yalta, he was so weak that he was forced to sit down while addressing Congress for the first time in his presidency. In early April 1945, he left Washington and traveled to his cottage in Warm Springs, Georgia , where he had long before established a nonprofit foundation to aid polio patients. On April 12, Roosevelt suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage; he died later that day, and was succeeded in office by his vice president, Harry S. Truman. Access hundreds of hours of historical video, commercial free, with HISTORY Vault . Start your free trial today. Tags Franklin D. Roosevelt Biography - Presidential Pet Museum Presidential Pet Museum Served: March 4, 1933 – April 12, 1945 Born: January 30, 1882 Birthplace: Hyde Park, New York Died: April 12, 1945 Spouse: Eleanor Roosevelt FDR: Leading Democratic President Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the 32nd president during an economic depression so great it was felt worldwide. Many of the programs he set in place during this time have come to define American liberalism and the Democratic Party as a whole.

Franklin, who was often known by his initials FDR, is also known for his New Deal coalition and for partnering with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and leading the allies during World War II. Marriage Through Sickness and in Health Roosevelt married Eleanor Roosevelt, whom he met while attending Harvard College in 1905. Together they had six children. However, it is widely reported that Roosevelt had numerous affairs. Some were later reported to be quite high-profile affairs, including an alleged affair with Princess Martha of Sweden and a lifelong affair with Lucy Mercer, Eleanor’s social secretary. In 1921, Roosevelt contracted polio and became paralyzed from the waist down. He tried various therapies, including hydrotherapy, to no avail. He refused to accept his paralysis and was equally as careful about being seen in public in a wheelchair. He was able to teach himself to “walk” short distances using iron braces on his hips and legs. FDR’s Pets MORE PETS! Check out our photo gallery of selected White House pets Ending an Economic Depression Roosevelt had a long and distinguished political history. He began his career in the New York State Senate, was appointed as assistant secretary of the Navy, and served as governor of New York.

In 1932, Roosevelt won the presidential election against President Herbert Hoover . Roosevelt began pushing various legislative measures upon his arrival at the White House, and a great accomplishment that came from this was his New Deal programs, which provided the American people with economic relief. Some of these programs included bank and finance regulations and government jobs for the unemployed. The economy seemed to improve but soon relapsed into a recession. Many of his relief programs ended when a bipartisan conservative coalition formed. But other programs, including social security , still exist today. During World War II, Roosevelt was forced to declare war on Japan after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. In 1942, Roosevelt ordered internment of Japanese-American civilians. Additionally, the first atom bomb was developed as part of Roosevelt’s war strategy. Even with all of these terrible developments, the economy began to prosper as new jobs were created because of the war. Did You Know…? Roosevelt is the only president ever to be elected more than two terms. George Washington himself had set the precedent followed by all other U.S. presidents to serve no more than two four-year terms.

During his presidential campaign, the song “ Happy Days Are Here Again ” became Roosevelt’s personal and political theme song. Eleanor offered Roosevelt a divorce after finding out about his affair with Lucy; however, they reconciled after some time, and Roosevelt initially promised never to see Lucy again. This turned out to have been a lie—Lucy was with him the day he died. © Presidential Pet Museum. May not be republished without permission . Our comprehensive list of White House pets begins here... Biography - Franklin Roosevelt, 1882-1945: One of the Greatest Presidents in American History (VOA Special English 2008-09-14 ) Franklin Roosevelt, 1882-1945: One of the Greatest Presidents in American History Download MP3 (Right-click or option-click the link.) I'm Shirley Griffith. And I'm Steve Ember with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Today we tell about one of the greatest American presidents, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was one of the most influential presidents in American history. He was elected president four times. He served more than twelve years, longer than any other president.

He led the nation through its worst economic crisis, and through one of its worst wars. Franklin Roosevelt was first elected president in nineteen thirty-two. As the Democratic candidate, he defeated President Herbert Hoover. Americans were suffering through a terrible economic depression. About twenty-five percent of American workers had lost their jobs. They had no money. They had no hope. They waited in long lines to receive free food. Americans did not know if the new president could end the economic crisis. The new president, Franklin Roosevelt, was fifty-one years old. His family name was well known to the American public. Theodore Roosevelt, a distant relation, had been president of the United States thirty years before. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born in eighteen eighty-two to a rich and important family in Hyde Park, New York. He was the only child of James and Sara Roosevelt. His mother tried to control Franklin's life as long as she lived. His father made sure his son had the best of everything. But he also taught Franklin that being rich brought with it the responsibility of helping people who were not so lucky. Franklin married Eleanor Roosevelt in nineteen-oh-five. They were distant relations. In the next eleven years, they had six children. In nineteen ten, Mr.

Roosevelt was elected to the New York state legislature. He showed he had great political skills as a state senator. His next job was in the federal government as assistant secretary of the navy under President Woodrow Wilson. Then in nineteen twenty, he was the Democratic Party's unsuccessful candidate for vice president. In nineteen twenty-one, Franklin Roosevelt suffered a personal tragedy. He was with his family at their summer home. He began feeling very tired. Then he felt severe pain in his back and legs. He could not move. For weeks, he was forced to lie on his back. His doctors discovered that he was a victim of the disabling disease polio. He lost the use of his legs. Franklin Roosevelt was thirty-nine years old. He had always been an active man who loved sports. But now he would never walk again without help. Many Americans thought the sickness would end Franklin Roosevelt's political dreams. But they were wrong. He showed an inner strength that people respected. He was elected governor of New York State in nineteen twenty-eight and re-elected two years later. Franklin Roosevelt always appeared strong and friendly in public. He loved to laugh and enjoy life. But his friendly face hid a strong will. Throughout his life, Mr.

Roosevelt worked hard to improve life for the common man. He believed government had the power and responsibility to improve the lives of its citizens. (MUSIC: - "Happy Days Are Here Again") That music, "Happy Days Are Here Again," was played during Franklin Roosevelt's presidential campaign in nineteen thirty-two. A large majority of voters decided that maybe he could make that song come true. On Inauguration Day in nineteen thirty-three, the nation waited to hear what the new president would say about the economic future of their country. This is what he said: FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT: "This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." President Roosevelt promised to end the Depression. He promised to put Americans back to work. He said the federal government would take an active part in creating jobs. During the next three months, he led Congress in passing more major new programs than the nation had seen for many years. President Roosevelt called his reform program "The New Deal." These are some of the programs created during this time: A National Recovery Administration allowed companies to cooperate to increase production.

A Works Progress Administration provided jobs for unemployed workers. A Civilian Conservation Corps put young men to work protecting the nation's natural resources. The Tennessee Valley Authority built dams, cleared rivers, expanded forests and provided electricity in the southeastern part of the country. In nineteen thirty-five, Congress passed two laws that would change the lives of working Americans for years to come. The National Labor Relations Act strengthened the rights of workers and gave more power to labor unions. The Social Security Act created a federal system to provide money for workers after they retired. Franklin Roosevelt became one of the most loved and most hated presidents in the history of the country. The majority of Americans believed he was trying to save the country and protect common people. Opponents charged he was giving the federal government too much power and destroying private businesses. Franklin Roosevelt tried to establish a close relationship with the American people. He became known by the first letters of his full name -- FDR. He talked to the American people by radio to explain what actions were being taken and what he planned for the future. These radio broadcasts helped him gain widespread support for his programs. President Roosevelt ran for re-election in nineteen thirty-six.

He defeated the Republican candidate Alfred Landon by one of the largest majorities in the nation's history. In the late nineteen thirties, another crisis was growing more serious every day. Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party in Germany threatened central Europe. Japanese forces carried out new aggression in Asia and the Pacific area. FDR warned Americans that a victory by these forces would threaten democracy everywhere in the world. World War Two began in nineteen thirty-nine when Germany invaded Poland. Americans hoped Britain, France and the other Allied powers would defeat Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Yet Congress passed a law declaring the United States would remain neutral. FDR was re-elected in nineteen forty. He was the only president to win a third term in the White House. On December seventh, nineteen forty-one, Japanese planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The United States was forced to enter the war. President Roosevelt cooperated closely with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the war effort. He discussed war efforts with Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. FDR was re-elected president for the fourth time in nineteen forty-four. Most Americans believed the country should not change its leader in the middle of a war. When he was sworn in, President Roosevelt's speech lasted only six minutes.

He declared that America had learned "that we cannot live alone at peace, that our own well-being is dependent on the well-being of nations far away." President Roosevelt did not live to see the victory of the Allies and the end of World War Two. He died less than three months later, on April twelfth, nineteen forty-five, in Warm Springs, Georgia. Winston Churchill wrote about the day he heard the news of the death of his close friend: "I felt as if I had been struck with a physical blow. My relations with this shining man had played so large a part in the long, terrible years we had worked together. Now that had come to an end. And I was overpowered by a sense of deep and permanent loss." Millions of people around the world joined Winston Churchill in mourning the death of America's thirty-second president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. This program was written by Shelley Gollust. It was produced by Lawan Davis. I'm Steve Ember. And I'm Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week when we tell about Franklin Roosevelt's wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, on PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. This page is part of Stories About People which is part of Interesting Things for ESL Students .

Source: Franklin Roosevelt, 1882-1945: One of the Greatest Presidents in American History

Question: How many times was Franklin D. Roosevelt elected president of the USA?
Answer: 4