Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945)

Overview

• Born January 30, 1882, Hyde Park, NY

• Died April 12, 1945 (aged 63), Warm Springs, GA

• Member of the Democratic Party

• 32nd President of the United States (March 4, 1933-April 12, 1945)

• 44th Governor of New York (January 1, 1929-December 31, 1932)

• Assistant Secretary of the Navy (March 17, 1913-August 26, 1920)

• Member of the New York State Senate for the 26th District (January 1, 1911-March 17, 1913)

Presidential portrait

Early Life

• Franklin Delano Roosevelt, also known by his initials FDR, was born into a wealthy family on January 30, 1882.

• The Roosevelt family had been notable for their presence in the United States for several generations; they achieved their wealth through real plantation and trade.

• Franklin was the only child of James Roosevelt and Sara Ann Delano Roosevelt.

• The family resided at Springwood, their estate in the Hudson River Valley in New York State.

• Growing up, Roosevelt was entitled to pleasure and a sense of self-importance.

• Until he was fourteen, he was taught by tutors and professors; the whole household centered on him, with his mother as the prevailing figure in his life, even during his adulthood.

• His education was very much different from the common people that he later fought for.

Roosevelt’s birthplace, Hyde Park, NY

Early Life – cont.

• Roosevelt attended Groton School for boys, a prestigious Episcopal preparatory school in Massachusetts, in 1896.

• The experience was a challenging one for him; he did not integrate with the other students.

• Groton men did exceptionally well in athletics, but Roosevelt did not.

• He struggled to satisfy the adults and took seriously the doctrines of Groton's headmaster, Endicott Peabody, who encouraged students to assist the less privileged through public service.

Groton School

Early Life – cont.

• After he graduated from Groton in 1900, Roosevelt entered Harvard University, focused on making something of himself.

• Despite only being a C student, he joined the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity and served as editor of the Harvard Crimson newspaper and obtained his degree within a three-year period.

• Still, the general consensus was that he was an average student and an underachiever.

• During his final year at Harvard, he became engaged to Eleanor Roosevelt, his fifth cousin who was two years his junior; she was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt.

• They were married on March 17, 1905.

Groton School, Class of 1900

The Roosevelts on their wedding day, March 17, 1905

Early Life – cont.

• Roosevelt went on to study law at Columbia University Law School and passed the bar exam in 1907, but he didn't acquire a degree.

• He practiced corporate law in New York over the next three years, living the usual noble life.

• He nonetheless had little interest in law practice and felt it was unexciting and preventive.

• He decided to set his prospects on bigger and better accomplishments.

Columbia University Law School

Political Beginnings

• In 1910, twenty-eight-year-old Roosevelt was invited to run for the New York State Senate.

• He ran as a Democrat in a locality that had supported Republican candidates since 1878.

• He campaigned hard and won the election with name recognition and an overwhelming Democratic majority.

• As a state senator, Roosevelt disapproved components of the Democratic political machine in New York.

• This led to the anger of party leaders, though it also won him national dishonor and valuable experience in political strategies and intrigue.

• During this time, Roosevelt established an association with Louis Howe, who would play a role in his political career for the next twenty-five years.

• Roosevelt won reelection in 1912, serving as chair of the agricultural committee; he enacted farm and labor bills and social welfare programs.

Roosevelt’s 1910 Senate campaign photo

Roosevelt as a NY State Senator, 1912

Political Beginnings – cont.

• During the 1912 Democratic National Convention, Roosevelt endorsed presidential candidate Woodrow Wilson; in return, he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy, the same job his hero, Theodore Roosevelt, had used to ascend to the presidency.

• Franklin Roosevelt was enthusiastic and an effective administrator; he was attentive to business operations, and worked with Congress to approve budgets and reform systems; he established the U.S. Naval Reserve, though he was on edge in the position as "second chair" to his boss, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, who was less than eager about supporting a large and well-organized naval force.

1912 Democratic National Convention, Baltimore

Roosevelt as Assistant Secretary of the Navy

Political Beginnings – cont.

• Roosevelt decided to run for the U.S. Senate seat for New York in 1914.

• However, his bid was doomed from the start due to a lack of White House support.

• President Wilson needed the Democratic political machine to successfully pass his social reforms and guarantee his reelection.

• Still, he could not endorse Roosevelt, who had made too many political enemies among New York Democrats.

• Roosevelt was badly defeated in the primary election and learned an important lesson: national importance could not defeat a well-structured local political organization.

Political Beginnings – cont.

• In politics, Roosevelt was becoming personally as well as professionally successful.

• He took to Washington politics and flourished at personal relationships.

• He was regularly seen at the most prominent parties and was seen by women to be a very striking man.

• In 1914, he developed a relationship with Lucy Mercer, Eleanor Roosevelt's social secretary, which developed into a love affair.

• In 1918, Eleanor found out about the affair and demand that Franklin stop seeing Lucy, or she would file for divorce.

• He agreed, even though he continued to secretly see Mercer over the years.

Lucy Mercer

Political Beginnings – cont.

• With his political career flourishing, Franklin D. Roosevelt accepted the nomination for vice president as Ohio Governor James M. Cox's running mate at the 1920 Democratic Convention.

• The pair was overwhelmingly defeated by Republican Warren G. Harding in the general election, but the experience did give Roosevelt national experience.

Results of the 1920 presidential election

Polio Diagnosis

• While on vacation at Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada, he was diagnosed as having contracted polio.

• At first, he refused to accept that he was permanently paralyzed.

• He tried countless treatments and even bought the Warm Springs resort in Georgia, seeking a treatment.

• In spite of his efforts, he never recovered the use of his legs.

• He subsequently established a foundation at Warm Springs to assist others, and instituted the March of Dimes program that finally funded a successful polio vaccine.

Roosevelt in his wheelchair

Polio Diagnosis – cont.

• For a while, Roosevelt was submissive to being a victim of polio, and feared that his political career was over.

• But Eleanor Roosevelt and political confidante Louis Howe inspired him to carry on on.

• Throughout the next several years, Roosevelt worked to recover his physical and political image.

• He taught himself to walk short distances in his braces and was cautious about being seen in public in his wheelchair; moreover, he began to improve 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 experience.

Roosevelt delivers the nomination speech for Al Smith at the 1924 Democratic National Convention

Al Smith

President of the United States, 1933-1945

• In 1928, Al Smith persuaded Roosevelt to run for governor of New York.

• The forty-six-year-old Roosevelt was narrowly elected, and the victory gave him assurance that his political star was on the rise.

• As governor, he was an advocate of progressive government and implemented various new social programs.

• By 1930, Republicans were being blamed for the Great Depression, and Roosevelt saw opportunity near him.

• He began campaigning for the presidency, and called for government involvement in the economy to offer the three R’s: relief, recovery, and reform.

• His optimistic, hopeful method and personal charisma helped him defeat Republican incumbent Herbert Hoover by a landslide in November 1932.

• When Roosevelt assumed office in March 1933, 13 million Americans were unemployed, while hundreds of banks were closed.

• Roosevelt was now faced with the greatest disaster in U.S. history since the Civil War.

FDR as Governor of NY

Results of the 1932 presidential election

President of the United States, 1933-1945 – cont.

• During his first 100 days, President Roosevelt put forward a sweeping economic reform known as the New Deal.

• He ordered a temporary closing of all banks to end the run on bonds.

• He made a "Brain Trust" of economic counselors who designed the alphabet organizations such as the AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Administration) to support farm prices, the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) to hire young men, and the NRA (National Recovery Administration), which controlled wages and prices.

• Other organizations protected bank deposits, regulated the stock market, sponsored loans, and provided assistance to the unemployed.

President Roosevelt’s inauguration, March 4, 1933

Civilian Conservation Corps

President of the United States, 1933-1945 – cont.

• The economy was showing signs of improvement by 1936; gross national product was up thirty-four percent, and unemployment fell from twenty-five percent to fourteen percent.

• Conversely, President Roosevelt was criticized for increased government spending, uneven budgets, and what some understood as moving the country toward socialism.

• A number of New Deal acts were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, to which President Roosevelt responded by proposing to "pack" the court with liberal justices who were more supportive of his reforms.

• Many in Congress, including some Democrats, opposed the idea.

• By 1938, negative publicity, a continuing slow-moving economy, and Republican victories in mid-term elections almost ended Roosevelt's ability to pass more reform legislation.

Hughes Court, 1932-1937

President of the United States, 1933-1945 – cont.

• Since the end of World War I, America had assumed an isolationist policy in foreign affairs.

• Congress passed the Neutrality Acts in the early 1930s to keep the United States from becoming intertwined in foreign conflicts.

• President Roosevelt stepped away from the one-sided principle of the Monroe Doctrine in 1933 and established the Good Neighbor Policy with Latin America.

• Nevertheless, as military conflicts broke out in Asia and Europe, Roosevelt found ways to support China in its war with Japan and declared that France and Great Britain were America's "first line of defense" against Nazi Germany.

“No Foreign Entanglements” sign

Second Sino-Japanese War

Third Term and the UN

• Early in 1940, Roosevelt had not publically announced that he would run for an unparalleled third term as president.

• But in secret, with Germany's victories in Europe and Japan's rising domination in Asia, Roosevelt felt that only he had the experience and skills to lead America in such wearisome times.

• At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Roosevelt defeated all of his challengers and won the nomination.

• In November 1940, he won the presidential election in a landslide against Republican Wendell Willkie; he became the only president to be elected to a third term.

1940 Democratic National Convention, Chicago

Third Term and the UN – cont.

• Throughout 1941, President Roosevelt pushed to have the United States' factories become an "arsenal of democracy" for the three Allies: France, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union.

• As Americans learned more about the crimes committed during the war, isolationist attitude lessened.

• President Roosevelt took advantage, and stood firm against the Axis Powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan.

• Bipartisan support in Congress enlarged the Army and Navy, increasing the delivery of supplies to the Allies.

• Aspirations of keeping the United States out of war ended when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; the next day, President Roosevelt declared that it would be “a date which will live in infamy”.

President Roosevelt addresses a joint session of Congress, December 8, 1941

Third Term and the UN – cont.

• During World War II, President Roosevelt was a commander-in-chief who worked with and sometimes near his military counselors.

• He helped advance a strategy for defeating Germany in Europe through numerous successful invasions, first in North Africa in November 1942, then Sicily and Italy in July 1943, followed by the D-Day invasion of Europe in June 1944.

• Meanwhile, Allied forces pushed back Japan in Asia and the eastern Pacific; during this time, President Roosevelt also supported the establishment of the United Nations.

Operation Torch, 8 November 1942

Fourth Term and Death

• The pressure of war, however, began to take its toll on President Roosevelt.

• In March 1944, hospital tests showed that he had atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease, and congestive heart failure.

• Despite this, and because the country was heavily involved in the war, there was no question that Roosevelt would run for another term as president.

• He selected Senator Harry S Truman of Missouri as his running mate; together, they defeated Republican candidate Thomas E. Dewey, carrying thirty-six of the forty-eight states.

Results of the 1944 presidential election

Fourth Term and Death – cont.

• In February 1945, President Roosevelt attended the Yalta Conference with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet General Secretary Joseph Stalin to deliberate post-war reorganization.

• He then returned to the United States and the reservation of Warm Springs, Georgia.

• On the afternoon of April 12, 1945, Roosevelt suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage.

• He died that day at 3:35 p.m.; he was only sixty-three.

• At his side were two cousins, Laura Delano and Margaret Suckley, and his former mistress Lucy Mercer Rutherford (who by now was widowed), with whom he had kept his relationship.

Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin at the Yalta Conference

Fourth Term and Death – cont.

• President Roosevelt's unexpected death shook the American people to their roots.

• Though many saw that he looked shattered in photos and documentaries, no one seemed prepared for his death.

• Franklin D. Roosevelt led the United States through a financial depression and the greatest war in human history.

• A whole generation of Americans grew up knowing no other president.

• His social programs during the Great Depression redefined the role of government in the lives of the American people.

• His leadership during World War II established the United States‘ status as a world power.

• His twelve-year presidency set a model for the growth of presidential power and redefined liberalism for future generations.

Roosevelt’s funeral procession

Gravesite of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt

References

• http://www.biography.com/people/franklin-d-roosevelt-9463381

Other sites• First inaugural address: http://

www.bartleby.com/124/pres49.html

• “Day of Infamy” speech: http://library.umkc.edu/spec-col/ww2/pearlharbor/fdr-speech.htm

• Fireside chats: http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/firesi90.html