Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882 - 1945) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. [1] The only president elected to four terms, he guided the country through the Great Depression with the domestic program known as the New Deal and directed American strategy through most of the Second World War. [2] His long presidency reshaped the role of the federal government and realigned American politics for a generation. [3]
Early life and education
Roosevelt was born on 30 January 1882 into a wealthy family in Hyde Park, New York. [1] He was educated at the Groton School and went on to Harvard College, later studying law at Columbia Law School before entering practice in New York City. [1] A distant cousin of President Theodore Roosevelt, he married Eleanor Roosevelt in 1905, and she became one of the most influential public figures of the era in her own right. [2]
Rise in politics
Roosevelt entered the New York State Senate in 1911 and served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy during the First World War. [2] In 1921 he was stricken with a paralytic illness, long identified as polio, that cost him the use of his legs; he nonetheless returned to public life and was elected governor of New York in 1928. [1] His record as governor and his response to the deepening economic crisis positioned him as the Democratic nominee for president in 1932. [3]
Presidency and the New Deal
Taking office in March 1933 amid the worst economic collapse in the nation's history, Roosevelt launched an ambitious legislative agenda during his first hundred days. [2] The New Deal created programs and agencies aimed at relief for the unemployed, recovery of the economy, and structural reform, including the Social Security system, federal deposit insurance, and large public-works efforts. [3] He communicated directly with citizens through radio broadcasts that became known as fireside chats, and won re-election by a landslide in 1936. [1]
World War II leadership
As war spread across Europe and Asia, Roosevelt moved the United States from neutrality toward support of the Allies, notably through the Lend-Lease program. [2] Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he led the country into the Second World War as commander in chief, mobilizing American industry and coordinating strategy with Allied leaders at wartime conferences. [3] He was re-elected to a third and then a fourth term as the conflict continued.
Death and legacy
Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage on 12 April 1945 at Warm Springs, Georgia, shortly before the Allied victory in Europe. [1] His presidency expanded the federal government's role in the economy and society and forged a broad Democratic coalition that dominated American politics for decades. [3] Historians consistently rank him among the most consequential of American presidents. [2]
