FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT

Franklin Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882, at his family’s farm in Hyde Park, New York. He received a
degree in history from Harvard and next he studied law at New York's Columbia University. In 1905, he got
married with a distant cousin, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, who was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt.

IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT FDR

1.The 32nd President of the United States
Having served from 1932 to 1945. Before he was elected to the presidency, he was a New York state senator,
Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and Governor of the state of New York.

2. He served the longest time in office in U.S. history

Roosevelt has a unique place in the history of U.S. presidents. He was the only one ever elected to office four
times. He served during two of America’s most challenging eras of 20th century: the Great Depression and World
War II. Even more impressive, Roosevelt did all of this while he was forced to rely on a wheelchair and leg braces
after polio took away his ability to walk on his own.

3. He was paralysed from the waist down

In 1921, he contracted polio and needed to use a wheelchair to move around. He kept his condition largely hidden
from public view, and the White House was made more comfortable or accessible to him, adding ramps
everywhere. In time, he established a foundation to help other polio victims, and he supported the research in
the treatment of polio.

4. He created the New Deal programs

When Roosevelt ran for president in 1932, the nation was in the middle of the greatest economic crisis in its
history: the Great Depression. There was a a large percentage of unemployment, homeless people living in
temporary settlements. So, as soon as Roosevelt took office, he began working to keep his promise. In his first
hundred days, he signed 14 laws that were part of a bigger plan—called the New Deal—that Roosevelt hoped
would help to recover the country

He worked with a special session of Congress to support farm prices and to employ young men, to subsidized
home and farm payments. Banks reopened and direct reliefs saved millions people from starvation. These
measures revived confidence in the economy.

5. He used the radio to appear in “Fireside Chats”

FDR is known as one of the first presidents to communicate directly and routinely with the American population
through his “fireside chats” on radio, which he used to talk about the Great Depression, the 1936 recession, New
Deal initiatives, and the course of World War II. On radio, he calmed down rumors, and explained his policies
directly to the American people.
6. He was the first president to appear on television

In April of 1939 TV was a very new medium when he was president, but he saw the opportunity to speak even
more directly to the America people thanks to it. His “Fireside Chats” moved to TV where he reached even more
people.

7. He led the country during World War II and gave the name to the UN

U.S. voters were so pleased with Roosevelt’s work as president that they elected him two more times. After
the 1940 election, Roosevelt swore he would keep the country out of a war that was spreading around the
world, as long as the United States wasn’t attacked first. But Japanese forces bombed U.S. naval bases in Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7th, 1941—a date that Roosevelt famously said would "live in infamy" in his
speech. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. Then, declarations of war
on Germany and Italy followed. The United States had officially entered World War II.

This was important for Great Britain and America to create and project a unified front against Axis powers.
Perhaps most important, Roosevelt developed an idea for a future international peacekeeping organization
dedicated to ensuring “life, liberty, independence, and religious freedom, and to preserve the rights of man and
justice.” So that would allow countries to come together to solve their problems, without guns or tanks. He
called it the United Nations.

8. FDR is credit with the Social Security program

One of the more famous policies created under FDR’s leadership is the Social Security program, which to this day
allows retirement benefits as well as other kinds of assistance to people who are elderly, disabled, or otherwise
in need.

9. FDR was the first president to fly in a plane

His trip across the Atlantic, was the first time a U.S. president flew on an airplane, for a secret meeting between
himself and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill at Casablanca in Morocco, North Africa.

10. He died in office

Sadly, Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage on April 12, 1945, at the biggening of his 4th serving and just
months before the end of World War II and the official start of the United Nations.

His presidency was, and still is, the longest in U.S. history and is one of the greatest U.S. presidents of all time.