by Tom Ontis

Created on: September 22, 2009

Of everything that goes into a person's legacy, FDR will be remembered for three things: His physical disability, his actions during the Great Depression and his actions in World War II. Detractors like to say that the economy would have turned itself around had FDR and the federal government not done a thing. Fact re mains though: In the two years of the depression under President Hierbert Hoover, not much changed. Early on, Roosevelt continued some of Hoover's program, especially in the area of construction, but FDR and his advisors decided more was needed, the the 'New Deal.'

FDR created, with the support of much of the Congress, the 'Alphabet Agencies;" CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps,) WPA (Works Progress Administration,) NRA (National Recovery Administration,) These are just a few examples. (The current successful Caloifornia Conservation Corps was modeled after the Depression-era CCC.) The CCC put yhoung men to work in the parks, fighting fires, building damns and other projects that benefited the environmemt. They may have been 'make work' jobs, but it got men who were hanging out into jobs, sent money to the families, provided room and board and three squares a day and gave them hope. FDR was an incredibly upbeat person, who saw the promise. His 'Fireside Chats' of the era were designed to keep the public informed and continue to give them hope. His detractors also argue that it was only the US entry into World War II that would help the country climb out of the Depression. Some argue that FDR wanted war towards those ends. No President wants war.

FDR contracted polio well into adulthood, about 39 years old. It struck him on an annual family vacation in Canada one summer. He did not use it as an excuse to continue on his path in politics. He served in the New York Senate, ran as James Cox' Vice Presidential running mate in 1920 (they lost,) and served two terms before winning the presidency in 1932, one of the worst years of the Depression.

In the latter part of the 1930's, with much of Europe coming under the thumb of Germany's Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, the United States became involved in an indirect manner: Though the Congress had prohibited any involvement by the US, FDR did get them to accept a program whereby countries that were threatened by totalitarian forces, would be eligible for the loan or lease of surplus military materiel from the US, thus the Lend-Lease Act. Mainly meant to help Great Britain, materiel was also made available to

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