Franklin D Roosevelt (1882 - 1945)

Franklin D Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was an American politician and statesman, the 32nd President of the United States (1932-1945).

Franklin was educated at Harvard University and Columbia Law School. His cousin was President Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin also went into public service, but as a Democrat. He was elected to the New York Senate in 1910, President Wilson appointed him Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and Roosevelt became Governor of New York in 1928.

In November 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president of the United States. Taking office in the midst of the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt, with his "Hundred Days" and "New Deal" programs, helped the American people regain faith in themselves. In 1936, he was re-elected by a large margin. During this difficult political period, he sought through neutrality legislation to keep the U.S. out of the war in Europe, but at the same time to strengthen countries that were threatened or attacked. Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, drew the country into the war.

In 1944, as Hitler's Germany was nearing its collapse, an ailing Roosevelt managed to win the presidency again. The following February, he met with Churchill and Stalin at the famous Yalta Conference. His health was deteriorating, and on April 12, 1945, Franklin Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage. He was the only U.S. president to be elected to office four times. Roosevelt successfully led the United States through two of the greatest crises of the 20th century: the Great Depression and World War II.