Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Early life and education

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882, in Hyde Park, New York, to James Roosevelt I and his second wife, Sara Ann Delano. His parents, who were sixth cousins, came from the wealthy Roosevelt and Delano families. They resided at Springwood, a large estate south of Hyde Park's historic center. James, "a wealthy, landed gentleman who dabbled in but usually devoted no great effort to business", was a prominent Bourbon Democrat. His mother Sara "devoted virtually all her energies to raising her only child". Franklin had a half-brother, James Roosevelt "Rosy" Roosevelt, from his father's previous marriage.

According to Alan Brinkley, the family lived "in a manner reminiscent of the English aristocracy, and Franklin grew up, therefore, in a remarkably cosseted environment, insulated from the normal experiences of most American boys". Frequent trips to Europe and Canada helped Roosevelt become conversant in German and French. Aside from a stint in public school in Germany at age nine, Roosevelt was homeschooled by tutors until age 14. He then attended Groton School, an exclusive Episcopal boarding school in Groton, Massachusetts. He was not among the more popular Groton students, who were better athletes. Its headmaster, Endicott Peabody, preached the duties of Christians and urged his students to enter public service. Peabody remained a strong influence throughout Roosevelt's life, officiating at his wedding and presiding over the church service which preceded his inauguration as president.

Like most of his Groton classmates, Roosevelt went to Harvard College. He was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity "Fly Club", though he regretted not being admitted to the Porcellian Club. Roosevelt was relatively undistinguished as a student or athlete, but he became editor-in-chief of The Harvard Crimson newspaper.

Roosevelt's father died in 1900. The following year, Roosevelt's cousin Theodore Roosevelt became US president. Theodore's vigorous leadership style and reforming zeal made him Franklin's role model. Franklin graduated from Harvard in three years in 1903 with an A.B. in history. He took graduate courses for an additional year to continue his work with the Crimson. Roosevelt entered Columbia Law School in 1904, but dropped out in 1907 after passing the bar.

Marriage, family, and extramarital affairs

While at college, Roosevelt met and proposed to the heiress Alice Ruggles Sohier, who declined. Franklin then began courting his childhood acquaintance and fifth cousin once removed, Eleanor Roosevelt, a niece of Theodore Roosevelt. In 1903, Franklin proposed to Eleanor. Despite "initial resistance" from his mother, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt were married on March 17, 1905. Theodore, who was then President, gave away the bride since Eleanor's father Elliott was deceased. The young couple moved into Springwood. Franklin's mother, Sara Roosevelt, also provided a townhouse for the newlyweds in New York City, and had a house built for herself alongside that townhouse. Eleanor never felt at home in the houses at Hyde Park or New York City. However, she loved the family's vacation home on Campobello Island, also a gift from Sara.

Burns indicates that young Franklin Roosevelt was self-assured and at ease in the upper class. On the other hand, Eleanor was shy and insecure, and initially focused on her husband's career. As his father had done, Franklin left childcare to his wife, and Eleanor assigned the task to caregivers. They had six children. Their only daughter, Anna, was born in 1906. James was born in 1907. The couple's second son, Franklin, died in infancy in 1909. Elliott was born in 1910, another son named Franklin followed in 1914, and the youngest, John, was born in 1916.

Roosevelt had multiple extramarital affairs. He commenced an affair with Eleanor's social secretary, Lucy Mercer, soon after she was hired in 1914. Eleanor discovered the affair in 1918. Franklin contemplated divorcing Eleanor, but Sara objected, and Mercer would not marry a divorced man with five children. Franklin promised never to see Mercer again, but their marriage shifted to become a political partnership. Eleanor soon established a separate home in Hyde Park at Val-Kill and devoted herself to social and political causes independent of her husband. Franklin broke his promise to Eleanor regarding Lucy Mercer. He and Mercer maintained a correspondence and began seeing each other again by 1941. Roosevelt's son Elliott claimed that his father also had an affair with his private secretary, Missy LeHand.

Early career (1910–1920)

New York state senator (1910–1913)

In 1908, Roosevelt took an unsalaried position with the prestigious law firm of Carter Ledyard & Milburn, later moving into the firm's admiralty law division. Roosevelt cared little for the practice of law and told friends he planned to enter politics. Despite his admiration for cousin Theodore, Franklin accepted an invitation to run for the Democratic Party in the 1910 elections for the New York State Assembly. He was a compelling candidate due to his name recognition and his family's ability to contribute to party fundraising, but his campaign ended after the Democratic incumbent, Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler, chose to seek re-election. Rather than putting his political hopes on hold, Roosevelt ran for a seat in the New York State Senate. The senate district, located in Dutchess, Columbia, and Putnam Counties, was strongly Republican. Roosevelt feared that opposition from Theodore could end his campaign, but Theodore encouraged his candidacy despite their party differences. Acting as his own campaign manager, Roosevelt traveled throughout the senate district via automobile at a time when few could afford a car. In the Democratic landslide in the 1910 US elections, Roosevelt won a surprising victory.

Despite short legislative sessions, Roosevelt treated his new position as a full-time career. Taking his seat on January 1, 1911, Roosevelt soon became the leader of the "Insurgents" in opposition to the Tammany Hall machine that dominated the state Democratic Party. In the 1911 US Senate election, Roosevelt and nineteen other Democrats caused a prolonged deadlock by opposing the Tammany-backed candidate. This made him a well-known figure in the press. News articles and cartoons depicted "the second coming of a Roosevelt" sending "cold shivers down the spine" of Tammany Hall. Roosevelt also opposed Tammany Hall by supporting Woodrow Wilson's successful bid for the 1912 Democratic nomination. With help from journalist Louis McHenry Howe, he was re-elected in 1912. After the election, he chaired the Agriculture Committee; his work on farm and labor bills was a precursor to his later New Deal policies.

Assistant Secretary of the Navy (1913–1920)

Roosevelt's support of Wilson led to his desired appointment in March 1913 as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, the second-ranking official in the Navy Department after Secretary Josephus Daniels, who tended towards pacifism. Roosevelt was enthusiastic (sometimes to the point of insubordination) and "an impassioned promoter of the Navy" who "viewed himself as a vital voice for national defense". Daniels and Roosevelt instituted a merit-based promotion system and extended civilian control over the autonomous departments of the Navy. Roosevelt oversaw the Navy's civilian employees and gained valuable experience working with both union leaders and with Congress. Roosevelt sometimes lent assistance to discriminatory policies of Wilson and Daniels. In 1916, for example, he carried out an order to designate at considerable expense separate toilets for "the use of [white] women, white men and colored." The NAACP and civil rights organizations objected so strenuously that the order was rescinded without explanation a month later.

In 1914, Roosevelt ran for the seat of retiring Republican Senator Elihu Root of New York. Though he had the backing of Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo and Governor Martin H. Glynn, he faced a formidable opponent in Tammany Hall's James W. Gerard. He also was without Wilson's support, as the president needed Tammany's forces for his legislation and 1916 re-election. Roosevelt was soundly defeated in the Democratic primary. After the election, he and Tammany Hall boss Charles Francis Murphy became allies.

Roosevelt refocused on the Navy Department when World War I broke out in 1914. Though he remained publicly supportive of Wilson, Roosevelt was privately opposed to neutrality. Following the sinking of the RMS Lusitania by a German submarine, Roosevelt helped establish the US Navy Reserve and proposed the Council of National Defense. In April 1917, after Germany declared it would engage in unrestricted submarine warfare and attacked several US ships, Congress approved Wilson's call for a declaration of war on Germany.

Roosevelt requested that he be allowed to serve as a naval officer, but Wilson insisted that he continue as Assistant Secretary. For the next year, Roosevelt coordinated the naval deployment from Washington, as the Navy expanded fourfold. In the summer of 1918, Roosevelt traveled to Europe to inspect naval installations and meet with French and British officials, including King George V and prime ministers David Lloyd George and Georges Clemenceau. In September, on the ship voyage back to the US, he contracted pandemic influenza with complicating pneumonia, which left him unable to work for a month. After the Armistice of 11 November 1918, Daniels and Roosevelt supervised the demobilization of the Navy. Against the advice of older officers such as Admiral William S. Benson—who claimed he could not "conceive of any use the fleet will ever have for aviation"—Roosevelt argued for the preservation of the Navy's Aviation Division. He also approved the investigation that led to the Newport sex scandal, for which he was reprimanded by a 1921 congresional subcommittee.

1920 vice presidential campaign

With Wilson's presidency nearing its end, Roosevelt planned his next run for office. He approached the public-minded businessman Herbert Hoover about running for the 1920 Democratic presidential nomination, with Roosevelt as his running mate. Roosevelt's plan for Hoover to run fell through after Hoover declared his alignment with the Republican Party, but Roosevelt continued to seek the 1920 vice presidential nomination. After Governor James M. Cox of Ohio won the party's presidential nomination at the 1920 Democratic National Convention, he chose Roosevelt as his running mate. Although his nomination surprised most people, he balanced the ticket as a moderate and a prohibitionist with a famous name.

During the campaign, Cox and Roosevelt defended the Wilson administration and the League of Nations, both of which were unpopular in 1920. Roosevelt personally supported US membership in the League, but, unlike Wilson, he favored compromising with Senator Henry Cabot Lodge and other "Reservationists". Republican Warren G. Harding and his running mate Calvin Coolidge defeated the Cox–Roosevelt ticket in the presidential election by a wide margin. Roosevelt later reflected that the relationships and goodwill that he built in the 1920 campaign proved to be a major asset in his 1932 campaign. The 1920 election also saw the first public participation of Eleanor Roosevelt, who established herself as a valuable political player. After the election, Roosevelt returned to New York City, where he practiced law and served as a vice president of the Fidelity and Deposit Company.

Paralytic illness and political comeback (1921–1928)

Roosevelt sought to build support for a political comeback in the 1922 elections. However, he became ill while the Roosevelts were vacationing at Campobello Island in August 1921. He was diagnosed with polio which left him permanently paralyzed from the waist down. A 2003 study favored a diagnosis of Guillain–Barré syndrome, but historians have continued to describe his paralysis according to the initial diagnosis. Though his mother favored his retirement, Roosevelt, his wife, and Roosevelt's close friend and adviser, Louis Howe, were all determined that he continue his political career. Roosevelt laboriously taught himself to walk short distances with iron braces on his hips and legs. He was careful never to be seen using his wheelchair in public, and great care was taken to prevent any portrayal in the press that would highlight his disability.

Beginning in 1925, Roosevelt spent most of his time in the Southern US, at first on his houseboat, the Larooco. Intrigued by the potential benefits of hydrotherapy, he used most of his inheritance to establish a rehabilitation center at Warm Springs, Georgia, in 1926, assembling a staff of physical therapists who led an orthotics laboratory and later a postgraduate school. In 1938, he organized what would become the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, leading to the development of polio vaccines.

Roosevelt issued an open letter endorsing Al Smith's successful campaign in New York's 1922 gubernatorial election, which both aided Smith and showed Roosevelt's continuing relevance as a political figure. Roosevelt and Smith never fully trusted one another, but Roosevelt supported Smith's progressive policies, while Smith was happy to have Roosevelt's backing. Roosevelt gave presidential nominating speeches for Smith at the 1924 and 1928 Democratic National Conventions; the speech delivered at the 1924 convention marked a return to public life following his illness. That year, the Democrats were badly divided between an urban wing, led by Smith, and a conservative, rural wing, led by William Gibbs McAdoo. On the 103rd ballot, the nomination went to John W. Davis, a compromise candidate who suffered a landslide defeat in the 1924 presidential election.

From 1925 until 1928, Roosevelt chaired the Taconic State Park Commission, tasked with planning the Taconic State Parkway. In this role, he clashed with Robert Moses, a key Smith ally and then the president of the New York State Council of Parks. Roosevelt was unhappy with Moses diverting funds to developments on Long Island, and Moses worked to block the appointment of Howe to a salaried position with the Taconic commission. Roosevelt's contentious relationship with Moses continued as their careers progressed.

Governor of New York (1929–1932)

Smith, the Democratic presidential nominee in the 1928 election, asked Roosevelt to run for governor of New York in the 1928 state election. Roosevelt initially resisted, as he was reluctant to leave Warm Springs and feared a Republican landslide. Party leaders eventually convinced him only he could defeat the Republican gubernatorial nominee, New York Attorney General Albert Ottinger. While Smith lost the presidency in a landslide, Roosevelt was elected governor by less than a one-percent margin. Relations between Roosevelt and Smith suffered after he chose not to retain key Smith appointees. He and Eleanor established an understanding for the rest of his career: she would dutifully serve as the governor's wife but would also be free to pursue her own interests.

As governor, Roosevelt proposed the construction of hydroelectric power plants and addressed the ongoing farm crisis of the 1920s. He began holding "fireside chats" in which he addressed his constituents via radio, taking advantage of this medium to pressure the New York State Legislature into advancing his agenda. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 that October began the Great Depression. Roosevelt was, according to the biographer Jean Edward Smith, "among the first state governors to recognize the seriousness of the Depression"; he established the first state employment commission and became the first governor to publicly endorse the idea of unemployment insurance. In 1930, Roosevelt passed through the legislature a bill creating old-age pensions for New Yorkers.

Roosevelt was re-elected to a second term in the 1930 election. He proposed an economic relief package and the establishment of the Temporary Emergency Relief Administration. Led first by Jesse I. Straus and then by Harry Hopkins, the agency assisted over one-third of New York's population between 1932 and 1938. Roosevelt supported reforestation with the Hewitt Amendment in 1931, which gave birth to New York's state forest system. Roosevelt also began an investigation into corruption in New York City among the judiciary, the police force, and organized crime, prompting the creation of the Seabury Commission. The Seabury investigations exposed an extortion ring, led many public officials to be removed from office, and made the decline of Tammany Hall inevitable.

1932 presidential election and transition

As the 1932 presidential election approached, Roosevelt established a campaign team led by Howe and Farley, and a "brain trust" of policy advisers, primarily composed of Columbia University professors. Some were doubtful about his campaign, such as the political commentator Walter Lippmann, who observed: "He is a pleasant man who, without any important qualifications for the office, would very much like to be president." However, Roosevelt's work as governor to address the impact of the Depression in New York established him as the front-runner for the nomination. Opposing candidates included Speaker of the House John Nance Garner of Texas and Al Smith, the 1928 Democratic presidential nominee.Roosevelt entered the convention with a delegate lead due to his success in the 1932 Democratic primaries. He clinched the nomination on the fourth ballot. Garner was subsequently named his running mate. Roosevelt flew from New York to Chicago after learning that he had won the nomination, becoming the first major-party presidential nominee to accept the nomination in person. His appearance was necessary to demonstrate his vitality despite his physical disability.

In his acceptance speech, Roosevelt declared, "I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people... This is more than a political campaign; it is a call to arms." Roosevelt promised securities regulation, tariff reduction, farm relief, government-funded public works, and other actions to address the Great Depression. Otherwise, Roosevelt's primary campaign strategy was one of caution, intent upon avoiding mistakes that would distract from Hoover's failings on the economy. Hoover's handling of the Bonus Army further damaged the incumbent's popularity, as newspapers across the country criticized the use of force to disperse assembled veterans.

Roosevelt won 57% of the popular vote and carried all but six states. His victory was enabled by the creation of the New Deal coalition: small farmers, Southern Whites, Irish Catholics, big-city political machines, labor unions, northern Black Americans (southern ones were still disfranchised), Jews, and political liberals. This coalition represented a political realignment towards the Democrats and started the "New Deal Party System" or the Fifth Party System.

President Hoover sought to convince Roosevelt to renounce much of his campaign platform and to endorse the Hoover administration's policies. According to the historian Robert Dallek, "Roosevelt not only viewed Hoover's policies as shortsighted but considered any association with him as potentially damaging". During the transition, Roosevelt chose Howe as his chief of staff, and Farley as Postmaster General. Frances Perkins, as Secretary of Labor, became the first woman appointed to a cabinet position. William H. Woodin, a Republican industrialist close to Roosevelt, was chosen for Secretary of the Treasury, while Roosevelt chose Senator Cordell Hull as Secretary of State. Harold L. Ickes and Henry A. Wallace, two progressive Republicans, were selected for Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Agriculture, respectively.

Presidency (1933–1945)

Roosevelt made all of his administration's major decisions himself, regardless of any delays, inefficiencies, or resentments this may have caused. Analyzing the president's administrative style, Burns concludes:

The president stayed in charge of his administration... by drawing fully on his formal and informal powers as Chief Executive; by raising goals, creating momentum, inspiring a personal loyalty, getting the best out of people... by deliberately fostering among his aides a sense of competition and a clash of wills that led to disarray, heartbreak, and anger but also set off pulses of executive energy and sparks of creativity... by handing out one job to several men and several jobs to one man, thus strengthening his own position as a court of appeals, as a depository of information, and as a tool of co-ordination; by ignoring or bypassing collective decision-making agencies, such as the Cabinet... and always by persuading, flattering, juggling, improvising, reshuffling, harmonizing, conciliating, manipulating.

First and second terms (1933–1941)

By early 1933, the US was at the nadir of the Great Depression. At least a quarter of the workforce was unemployed, and an estimated 1.2 million people were homeless. By March 3, the eve of Roosevelt's inauguration, 32 of the 48 states—as well as the District of Columbia—had closed their banks. Historians categorized Roosevelt's program as "relief, recovery, and reform": relief for the unemployed, recovery in boosting the economy back to normal, and reform of the financial and banking systems. Roosevelt presented his proposals directly to the American public in a series of radio addresses known as "fireside chats".

One of his first actions in office was to declare a national "bank holiday". He convened a special session of Congress on March 9, when Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act with very limited review. The act was drafted by members of the Hoover administration; according to the author Jonathan Alter, it gave the president "unprecedented control over the financial system", and authorized the Federal Reserve Banks to issue banknotes. In the weeks after the holiday ended on March 15, over $1 billion was deposited, ending the bank panic. The "Hundred Days Congress" set a benchmark against which future presidents have been compared. On March 22, Roosevelt signed the Cullen–Harrison Act, permitting the sale of beer; Prohibition was officially repealed in December with the 21st Amendment.

Roosevelt signed the Economy Act in an effort to cut the federal government budget. This included a reduction in military spending from $752 million in 1932 to $531 million in 1934, and a 40% cut to veteran benefits; over 500,000 veterans and dependents lost pensions. The veterans were well organized and strongly protested, so most benefits were later restored or increased. Congress overrode the President's veto and passed the Bonus Act in January 1936. It pumped sums equal to 2% of the GDP into the consumer economy and had a major stimulus effect.

Roosevelt saw the establishment of a number of agencies and measures designed to provide relief. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration, under the leadership of Harry Hopkins, distributed relief to state governments. The Public Works Administration (PWA), under Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, oversaw the construction of large-scale public works such as sewer systems and lighthouses. The Rural Electrification Administration (REA) increased the share of farms with electricity from 1% to almost 50% by 1941. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) hired an initial 250,000 unemployed men for rural projects; it ultimately employed over 3.2 million total. This included over 2,600 veterans who participated in the second Bonus Army march in May 1933. Roosevelt also expanded Hoover's Reconstruction Finance Corporation, which funded railroads and banks. Congress gave the Federal Trade Commission broad regulatory powers and provided mortgage relief to millions of farmers and homeowners. Roosevelt also set up the Agricultural Adjustment Administration to increase commodity prices, by paying farmers to leave land uncultivated and cut herds. The policies were criticized when some crops were intentionally plowed under and livestock slaughtered; it also accelerated the transition from smallholding to commercial farming.

Third term (1941–1945)

World War II dominated Roosevelt's attention, with far more time devoted to world affairs than ever before. Domestic politics and relations with Congress were largely shaped by his efforts to completely mobilize the nation's economic, financial, and institutional resources for the war effort. Even relationships with Latin America and Canada were structured by wartime demands. Roosevelt maintained personal control of all major diplomatic and military decisions, working closely with his generals and admirals, the war and Navy departments, the British, and even the Soviet Union. His key advisors on diplomacy were Harry Hopkins in the White House, Sumner Welles in the State Department, and Henry Morgenthau Jr. at Treasury. In military affairs, Roosevelt worked most closely with Secretary Henry L. Stimson at the War Department, Army Chief of Staff George Marshall, and Admiral William D. Leahy.

By late 1940, re-armament was in high gear, partly to expand and re-equip the Army and Navy and partly to become the "Arsenal of Democracy". With his Four Freedoms speech in January 1941, which proposed four fundamental freedoms that people "everywhere in the world" ought to enjoy (freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear), Roosevelt laid out the case for an Allied battle for basic rights worldwide. Assisted by Willkie, Roosevelt won Congressional approval of the Lend-Lease program, which directed massive military and economic aid to Britain and China. In sharp contrast to the loans of World War I, there would be no repayment. As Roosevelt took a firmer stance against Japan, Germany, and Italy, American isolationists such as Charles Lindbergh and the America First Committee attacked him as an irresponsible warmonger. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Roosevelt agreed to extend Lend-Lease to the Soviets. Thus, Roosevelt had committed the US to the Allied side with a policy of "all aid short of war". By July 1941, Roosevelt authorized the creation of the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs to counter perceived propaganda efforts in Latin America by Germany and Italy.

In August 1941, Roosevelt and Churchill conducted a secret bilateral meeting in which they drafted the Atlantic Charter, conceptually outlining global wartime and postwar goals. Though Churchill pressed for an American declaration of war against Germany, Roosevelt believed that Congress would reject any attempt. In September, a German submarine fired on the US destroyer Greer, and Roosevelt declared that the US Navy would assume an escort role for Allied convoys in the Atlantic as far east as Britain and would fire upon German ships or U-boats of the Kriegsmarine if they entered the US Navy zone. This "shoot on sight" policy brought the US Navy into direct conflict with German submarines and was favored by Americans by a margin of 2-to-1.

Fourth term (1945)

While some Democrats had opposed Roosevelt's nomination in 1940, the president faced little difficulty in securing re-nomination at the 1944 Democratic National Convention. On the lone presidential ballot, he won the vast majority of delegates, although a minority of Southern Democrats voted for Harry F. Byrd. Party leaders persuaded Roosevelt to drop Vice President Wallace from the ticket, believing him to be an electoral liability and a poor potential successor in case of Roosevelt's death. Roosevelt preferred Byrnes as Wallace's replacement but was convinced to support Senator Harry S. Truman of Missouri, who had earned renown for his investigation of war production inefficiency and was acceptable to the various factions of the party.

The Republicans nominated Thomas E. Dewey. They accused the Roosevelt administration of domestic corruption and bureaucratic inefficiency, but Dewey's most effective tactic was to assail the President as a "tired old man". However, during the campaign Roosevelt displayed enough vigor to undermine this description. Labor unions, which had grown rapidly in the war, fully supported Roosevelt. He and Truman won the 1944 election with 53.4% of the popular vote and 432 out of the 531 electoral votes. The president campaigned in favor of a strong United Nations, so his victory symbolized support for the nation's future participation in the international community.

The Manhattan Project started as early as August 1939, when Leo Szilard and Albert Einstein sent the Einstein–Szilárd letter to Roosevelt, warning of the possibility of a German nuclear weapon project. Roosevelt feared the consequences of allowing Germany to have sole possession of the technology and authorized preliminary research into nuclear weapons. The rapid capitulation of Germany weeks after the death of Roosevelt did not require the evaluation of the use of nuclear weapons in Germany. Roosevelt told Truman nothing about the Manhattan Project; Truman was informed only after taking the presidential office. Within months of Roosevelt's death, atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and soon after Japan capitulated, ending the war with unconditional surrender.

Severe health decline and death

Roosevelt, a chain-smoker, had been in declining health since at least 1940. In March 1944, he underwent testing at Bethesda Hospital and was found to have hypertension, atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease causing angina pectoris, and congestive heart failure. Physicians ordered Roosevelt to rest. His personal physician, Admiral Ross McIntire, created a daily schedule that incorporated two hours of rest and banned business guests for lunch. During the 1944 re-election campaign, McIntire denied several times that Roosevelt's health was poor. Roosevelt realized that his declining health could eventually make it impossible for him to continue as president, and in 1945 he told a confidant that he might resign following the end of the war.

Everyone who saw Roosevelt was reportedly shocked by how old and frail he looked upon his return to the US from the Yalta Conference. He spoke while seated in his address to Congress, an unprecedented concession to his physical incapacity. On March 29, Roosevelt departed for the Little White House in Warm Springs, Georgia, to rest before his anticipated appearance at the founding conference of the United Nations. On April 12, at the Little White House, he sat for a portrait by painter Elizabeth Shoumatoff. He told Shoumatoff, "I have a terrific headache." He then slumped forward in his chair, unconscious, and was carried into his bedroom. At 3:35 p.m. that day, his doctor Howard Bruenn diagnosed a massive intracerebral hemorrhage and pronounced him dead at age 63.

Funeral and burial

On April 13, Roosevelt's body was placed in a flag-draped coffin and loaded onto the Ferdinand Magellan presidential railcar for the trip back to Washington. A state funeral was deemed inappropriate during wartime, so a smaller ceremony was undertaken. Despite this, thousands flocked to the route to pay their respects. Rather than lying in state at the Capitol as is tradition, Roosevelt's remains were placed in the White House's East Room, where a simple funeral service was held on April 14. His body was then transported by train transfers from Washington to his birthplace of Hyde Park, New York. On April 15, per his wishes, he was buried in the rose garden of his Springwood estate.

Roosevelt's death was met with shock and grief across the world. Germany surrendered during the 30-day mourning period, but Truman as Roosevelt's successor ordered flags to remain at half-staff, in addition to dedicating Victory in Europe Day and its celebrations to Roosevelt's memory. World War II ended with the surrender of Japan in September.

Roosevelt's declining physical health and use of a wheelchair had been kept secret from the public. Although he was allowed to work only four hours a day, the illusion of activity was kept up. Robert Ferrell's 1998 book The Dying President explores the extent to which Roosevelt and his top aides went to keep the public in the dark about his decline. Ferrell argues that Roosevelt was too sick to have remained in office, and that his inability to work led to critical foreign policy mistakes in 1944 and 1945, as well as a failure to prepare Truman for succeeding him.

Philosophy and views

Economic philosophy

From 1933 onward, Roosevelt argued that emergency spending programs were temporary, and he endorsed the deficit spending proposed by economists such as John Maynard Keynes. In mid-1935, Roosevelt began to prioritize a major reform of the tax code. He sought higher taxes on top incomes, a higher estate tax, a graduated corporate tax, and the implementation of a tax on intercorporate dividends. In response, Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1935, which raised relatively little revenue but increased taxes on the highest earners. A top tax rate of 79% was set for income above $5 million; in 1935, just one individual, John D. Rockefeller, paid that rate. In early 1936, following the passage of the Bonus Act, Roosevelt again sought to increase taxes on corporate profits. Congress passed a bill that raised less revenue than Roosevelt's proposals, but imposed an undistributed profits tax on corporate earnings.

In 1936, Roosevelt appointed the Brownlow Committee to recommend changes to the administration and financing of the executive branch. The Brownlow Committee warned that government agencies had grown increasingly powerful and independent, and proposed a plan to consolidate over 100 agencies into 12 departments and allow the president to appoint several assistants. Congress passed the Reorganization Act of 1939 based on the Brownlow Committee's recommendations. Roosevelt then established the Executive Office of the President, which increased the president's control over the executive branch. Roosevelt combined several government public works and welfare agencies into the Federal Works Agency and the Federal Security Agency. He also transferred the powerful Bureau of the Budget from the Treasury Department to the Executive Office of the President. The new law also authorized the establishment of the Office of Emergency Management, which enabled the immediate creation of numerous wartime agencies. The reorganization is best known for allowing the President to appoint numerous assistants and advisers. Those who built a network of support in Congress became virtually independent "czars" in their specialized domains.

Geopolitical philosophy

In late December 1941 Churchill and Roosevelt met at the Arcadia Conference, which established a joint strategy between the US and Britain. Both agreed on a Europe first strategy that would prioritize the defeat of Germany before Japan. Roosevelt coined the term "Four Policemen" to refer to the "Big Four" Allied powers of World War II: the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China. Roosevelt, Churchill, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, and Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek cooperated informally on a plan in which American and British troops concentrated in the West, Soviet troops fought on the Eastern front, and Chinese, British, and American troops fought in Asia and the Pacific. Roosevelt had a close relationship with Churchill, but he and his advisers quickly lost respect for Chiang's government, viewing it as hopelessly corrupt. US and Soviet leaders distrusted each other throughout the war, and relations further suffered after 1943 as both sides supported sympathetic governments in liberated territories.

To coordinate war production and other aspects of the home front, Roosevelt established the War Shipping Administration, the Office of Price Administration, the Board of Economic Warfare, and the War Labor Board. In 1943, Roosevelt established the Office of War Mobilization (OWM) to oversee war production.

In August 1939, Roosevelt had aligned his geopolitics with the imminent reality of developing nuclear arms as weapons of mass destruction. Roosevelt authorized the research and development of such destructive military capabilities. The Manhattan Project was soon instituted with British cooperation, leading to the eventual decades-long arms race with the Soviet Union.

Racial views and civil rights

Roosevelt won strong support from Chinese Americans and Filipino Americans, but not Japanese Americans, as he presided over their internment during the war. African Americans and Native Americans fared well in two New Deal relief programs, the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Indian Reorganization Act, respectively.

From his first term until 1939, the Mexican Repatriation started by President Herbert Hoover continued under Roosevelt, which scholars today contend was a form of ethnic cleansing towards Mexican Americans. Roosevelt ended federal involvement in the deportations. After 1934, deportations fell by approximately 50 percent. However, Roosevelt did not attempt to suppress the deportations on a local or state level. Mexican Americans were the only group explicitly excluded from New Deal benefits. The deprivation of due process for Mexican Americans was a precedent for Roosevelt's internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. David T. Beito argues Roosevelt could possibly have significantly reduced anti-Japanese sentiment by leveraging his charisma and even invoking his own Four Freedoms vision.

In contrast to Presidents Harding and Coolidge, Roosevelt stopped short of joining NAACP leaders in pushing for federal anti-lynching legislation. He asserted that such legislation was unlikely to pass and that his support for it would alienate Southern congressmen, though by 1940 even his conservative Texan vice-president, Garner, supported federal action against lynching. Roosevelt did not appoint or nominate a single African American as secretary or assistant secretary to his cabinet. About one hundred African Americans met informally, however, to provide the administration with advice on issues related to African Americans. Although sometimes described as a "Black Cabinet", Roosevelt never officially acknowledged it as such nor did he make "appointments" to it. Although African American sprinter Jesse Owens had won four gold medals for the US in the 1936 Olympic Games, Roosevelt never congratulated Owens or invited him to the White House.

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt vocally supported efforts designed to aid the African American community, including the Fair Labor Standards Act, which helped boost wages for nonwhite workers in the South. In 1941, Roosevelt established the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) to implement Executive Order 8802, which prohibited racial and religious discrimination in employment among defense contractors. The FEPC was the first national program directed against employment discrimination, and it played a major role in opening up new employment opportunities to nonwhite workers. During World War II, the proportion of African American men employed in manufacturing positions rose significantly. In response to Roosevelt's policies, African Americans increasingly defected from the Republican Party during the 1930s and 1940s, becoming an important Democratic voting bloc in several Northern states.

Religious views and ethics

Near the Springwood estate in Hyde Park is the St. James Episcopal Church, where from a young age Roosevelt attended services with his family. Roosevelt grew to be an active member of the church.

In his first inaugural address, in 1933, Roosevelt declared that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" and made numerous religious references, which were widely commented upon at the time. Although Roosevelt did not use the term "Judeo-Christian", it has come to be seen by scholars as in tune with the emerging view of a Judeo-Christian tradition. Historian Mary Stuckey emphasizes "Roosevelt's use of the shared values grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition" as a way to unify the nation, and justify his own role as its chief policymaker.

In the speech, Roosevelt criticized the bankers and promised a reform in an echo of the gospels: "The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit." Houck and Nocasian, examining the flood of responses to the First Inaugural, and commenting on this passage, argue: "For those inclined to see the Divine Hand of Providence at work, Roosevelt's miraculous escape [from assassination] in Miami was a sign—perhaps The Sign—that God had sent another Washington or Lincoln at the appointed hour. ... Many others could not resist the subject position that Roosevelt ... had cultivated throughout the address—that of savior."

Gary Scott Smith stresses that Roosevelt believed his welfare programs were "wholly in accord with the social teachings of Christianity". He saw the achievement of social justice through government action as morally superior to the old laissez-faire approach. He proclaimed, "The thing we are seeking is justice," as guided by the precept of "Do unto your neighbor as you would be done by." Roosevelt saw the moral issue as religiosity versus anti-religion. According to Smith, "He pleaded with Protestants, Catholics, and Jews to transcend their sectarian creeds and 'unite in good works' whenever they could 'find common cause.'"

Atalia Omer and Jason A. Springs point to Roosevelt's 1939 State of the Union Address, which called upon Americans to "defend, not their homes alone, but the tenets of faith and humanity on with which their churches, their governments and their very civilization are founded". They state that, "This familiar rhetoric invoked a conception of the sanctity of the United States' Judeo-Christian values as a basis for war." Timothy Wyatt notes that in the coming of World War II Roosevelt's isolationist opponents said he was calling for a "holy war". Wyatt says: "Often in his Fireside Chats or speeches to the houses of Congress, Roosevelt argued for the entrance of America into the war by using both blatant and subtle religious rhetoric. Roosevelt portrayed the conflict in the light of good versus evil, the religious against the irreligious. In doing so, he pitted the Christian ideals of democracy against the atheism of National Socialism.

Legacy

Historical reception

Roosevelt is considered one of the most important figures in US history, and one of the most influential figures of the 20th century. Historians and political scientists consistently rank him, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln as the three greatest presidents, although the order varies. He was the only president thrice named Time Person of the Year, in 1932, 1934 and 1941.

Reflecting on Roosevelt's presidency, "which brought the United States through the Great Depression and World War II to a prosperous future", biographer Jean Edward Smith said in 2007, "He lifted himself from a wheelchair to lift the nation from its knees." His commitment to the working class and unemployed in need of relief in the nation's longest recession made him a favorite of blue-collar workers, labor unions, and ethnic minorities. The rapid expansion of government programs during Roosevelt's term redefined the role of government in the US, and Roosevelt's advocacy for government social programs was instrumental in redefining liberalism for coming generations. Roosevelt firmly established US leadership on the world stage with his role in shaping and financing World War II. He also permanently increased the power of the president at the expense of Congress. In the final section of her book on leadership during adversity, Doris Kearns Goodwin explains that presidential leadership skills were amply demonstrated in Roosevelt's signing of New Deal projects, including the Civilian Conservation Corps, projects for the Works Progress Administration, and the introduction of businesses through the Securities and Exchange Commission

His Second Bill of Rights became, according to historian Joshua Zeitz, "the basis of the Democratic Party's aspirations for the better part of four decades". After his death, Eleanor continued to be a forceful presence in US and world politics, serving as delegate to the conference which established the United Nations and championing civil rights and liberalism generally. Some junior New Dealers played leading roles in the presidencies of Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson. Historian William Leuchtenburg says that, as president, "Kennedy never wholly embraced the Roosevelt tradition and at times he deliberately severed himself from it." Other members of Kennedy's administration such as Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. wrote books in honor of Roosevelt such as The Vital Center (1949), which made a case for the New Deal policies of Roosevelt. Young Lyndon Johnson had been an enthusiastic New Dealer and a favorite of Roosevelt; Johnson later modelled his presidency on Roosevelt's.

Memorials and commemorations

Roosevelt's home in Hyde Park is a National Historic Site and home to his Presidential library. Washington, D.C., hosts two memorials: the 7+1⁄2-acre (3-hectare) Roosevelt Memorial on the Tidal Basin, and a more modest memorial, a block of marble in front of the National Archives building suggested by Roosevelt himself, erected in 1965. Roosevelt's leadership in the March of Dimes is one reason he has been commemorated on the American dime coin since 1946. Roosevelt has also appeared on several US postage stamps. The carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, launched shortly after his death, served from 1945 to 1977.

On the Paris Metro, the Franklin D. Roosevelt station was renamed after him in 1946. London's Westminster Abbey also has a memorial to Roosevelt that was unveiled by Clement Attlee and Churchill in 1948. Welfare Island in New York was renamed after Roosevelt in 1973. Louis Kahn was asked to design Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park, which includes an oversized bronze bust commemorating Roosevelt. Ai Weiwei designed a conceptual pavilion to honor the Four Freedoms memorial site to Roosevelt in 2025.

Roosevelt's life is depicted in the 1976 television miniseries Eleanor and Franklin and in the 2014 documentary miniseries The Roosevelts by Ken Burns. His struggle with illness is featured in the 1958 Tony Award-winning play Sunrise at Campobello, in the 1960 film of the same name, which won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Academy Award, and in the 2005 film Warm Springs, starring Kenneth Branagh. Hyde Park on Hudson is a 2012 historical drama film which reconstructs his close relations with Margaret "Daisy" Suckley. FDR was a 2023 miniseries which chronicled the life of Roosevelt.