"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Thus spoke Franklin Delano Roosevelt to the nation on his first inaguration as President of the United States. It came as the country was in the middle of the Great Depression, which by most accounts lasted from the Stock Market Crash on October 29th 1929, to the US's unofficial entry into World War II about 10 years later.
He was known as FDR. He had served the government as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, a post also held by distant cousin Theodore Roosevelt. (They were quite a few years apart in age and really did not know each other that well.) He was also Governor of New York, another trait he shared with his cousin. They were of opposite poltical parties, FDR being a Democrat, while Theodore (he didn't like to be called 'Teddy,') was a Republican, albeit from a branch of the party that really did look out for the 'average Joe' of the country.
FDR was educated at private schools his entire life. He went to Harvard, then to law school. He practiced law briefly before entering Democratic Party politics. Near the end of World War I, FDR sought a naval commission obviously to help him in his bid for national office. He was too late though.
In 1920, he ran as the vice-presidential candiate with James Cox. They were defeated by Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge. When Harding died, Coolidge became president, one of many 'accidental presidents' in the history of our nation.
The Republicans ran on a platform of 'return to normalcy,' after nearly two decades of a progressive agenda.
FDR became Governor of New York. The Great Depression hit just a few months after that. With his name now associated with the nation's largest state, he had a national forum and ran for president in 1932, handily defeating President Herbert Hoover, who had done little to help the 'average Joe' during th Depression. Hoover did however champion some programs that would reward business for hiring the out of work.
FDR will forever be associted with the 'New Deal,' of which there were two in a short amount of time. His first action was to close the banks for a holiday. Non-regulation, or self regulation was one of the culprits in the Depression. With virtually no controls, when a run on the banks began, banks paid off their largest depositers with what they had and the little people, who maybe had a couple of hundred dolars, were hung out to dry. The banks were closed, some reopening 9 days later, some dissolved. The Federal Government required strict controls. Today the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and a companion agency for credit unions protects all deposits up to $100,000. This was a check against anything further like had taken place.
Under the New Deal, the Civilian Conservation Corps was established. The CCC would take out of work men and put them to work in forests building trails and fighting fires and send money home to desparate families. The California Conservation Corps of today is modeled after the CCC, though the circumstances and the money are much different than 70 years ago.
The Works Progress Administration put thousands of men to work building bridges and dams. The Hoover Dam of southern Nevada was built by the WPA. Numerous post office buildings, including the one in my home town were built by the WPA. The old main building at San Juan High School near Sacramento, California was a WPA project.
Some anti-FDR economists will argue that if FDR had done nothing, the economy would have righted itself eventually. For three years, not much was done and look what happened.
FDR will always be associated also with World War Two. Though he vowed that US boys would never see foreign soil again, that turned out not to be the case when the US was attacked on the '...day that will live in infamy..." War was declared against Japan and its allies the next day. The three declared war against the US a few days later. It was now a world war. Over the next four years, millions of lives were lost because of military action, civilian actions and atrocities committed by the Fascist regime in Germany. Though the war had 'started' in Hawaii, war never again came to the island territory, which would become the 50th state in 1960. Rather, the Japanese did attack and capture a couple of islands in the Aleutian chain, off the coast of Alaska. They were eventually expelled.
FDR took personal leadership of the war, but not to the point that he was ordering specific troop movements, like his adversary in Germany. He formed a strong bond with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. They became fast friends and Churchill, by all accounts was devastated when FDR passed away in early 1945.
FDR will always be known too for his cigarette holder clenched between his teeth in his famous profile that appeared in many pictures. FDR will also always be remembered for his leadership in spite of having contracted the crippling disease of polio, contracted when he was nearing his 40th year. Heavy braces and assistance from aides helped him 'stand' during speeches. There are only two or three pictures known showing with his braces.
FDR was among the three men chosen by Time Magazine to vie for the title of 'Man of the Century.' The other two were Churchill and Mohandas K. Gandhi in India. Gandhi was chosen by the readers. (I voted for Gandhi.)
FDR died on April 12th, 1945, at his compund in Warm Springs, Georgia. He had established an institute for 'crippled' childen, (that was the term of the day,) early in his fight with the disease. The story went that the curative waters of Warm Springs could quite possibly cure polio. The institute stands to this day, funded by the Roosevelt family.
As the train carrying Roosevelt's body slowly moved towards Washington, hundreds of thousands of onlookers paid their last respects to their fallen president. People held signs, flags, they saluted, anything to honor FDR. (Veteran reporters said when they saw the funeral train of Senator Robert F. Kennedy in June of 1968 on its solemn journey from New York to Washington, it reminded them of FDR's funeral train and the output of love and respect.)
FDR lies at his boyhood home of Hyde Park, New York, about 100 miles north of New York City, on the Hudson River.