Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, commonly known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States and the only president elected to four terms. Born into a wealthy and politically connected New York family, Roosevelt entered public life as a Democrat committed to public service and eventually became one of the most consequential presidents in American history. His presidency, spanning from 1933 to 1945, was defined by two enormous crises: the Great Depression and World War II. Roosevelt greatly expanded the role of the federal government through the New Deal and later led the United States through most of the Second World War, helping transform the country into a major global power. His leadership reshaped American politics and established a political coalition that influenced the nation for decades.

Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882, at his family's estate in Hyde Park, New York. Raised in an affluent family, he received a privileged education that included private tutors and schooling at Groton School in Massachusetts before attending Harvard University. He developed an early interest in politics, particularly through the influence of his distant cousin Theodore Roosevelt, who became president in 1901. In 1905, Franklin married Eleanor Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt's niece, beginning a partnership that would become one of the most important political relationships in American history. Roosevelt later attended Columbia Law School but left without completing his degree after passing the New York bar examination. His privileged upbringing gave him considerable advantages, but it also exposed him to the expectations and responsibilities of public service.

Roosevelt began his political career in 1910 when he was elected to the New York State Senate as a Democrat from a traditionally Republican district. As a state senator, he challenged aspects of the Democratic political machine and developed a reputation as a reform-minded politician. President Woodrow Wilson appointed him Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1913, a position he held throughout World War I and one that gave him valuable experience in national administration and military affairs. In 1920, Roosevelt was the Democratic nominee for vice president alongside presidential candidate James M. Cox, but the ticket lost to Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge. The following year, Roosevelt contracted a severe illness that left him permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Despite the physical limitations caused by his illness, he returned to politics and was elected governor of New York in 1928, serving two terms and gaining national recognition for his response to the economic crisis.

Roosevelt won the presidency in 1932 as the United States struggled through the Great Depression. Taking office in March 1933, he launched the New Deal, a broad collection of programs intended to provide relief to the unemployed, stimulate economic recovery, and reform the financial system. His administration established programs and institutions including Social Security, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and major public-works and employment programs. Roosevelt also expanded the federal government's involvement in economic and social life to a degree unseen during peacetime. After winning reelection in 1936 and 1940, he guided the nation toward and eventually into World War II. Although he initially sought to keep the United States out of the conflict, Roosevelt provided increasing aid to Britain and other Allied powers before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, brought America directly into the war. He became one of the principal Allied leaders alongside Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin, helping develop the strategy that ultimately defeated Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Japan.

After Roosevelt's fourth inauguration in January 1945, his health deteriorated rapidly. He was increasingly weakened by cardiovascular disease and the enormous physical demands of the presidency, although the public was largely unaware of the severity of his condition. Roosevelt nevertheless continued directing the war effort and participated in the Yalta Conference in February 1945, where he met with Churchill and Stalin to discuss the postwar order and the future of Europe. He also supported the creation of a new international organization that would become the United Nations. By the spring of 1945, Allied victory in Europe was close, while the war against Japan continued. Roosevelt's administration had fundamentally changed the relationship between Americans and their federal government, while his wartime leadership had established the United States as a central power in international affairs.

Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, at his retreat in Warm Springs, Georgia, after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. He was succeeded by Vice President Harry S. Truman, who would oversee the final months of World War II. Roosevelt remains one of the most influential and controversial presidents in American history. Supporters credit him with helping millions of Americans survive the Great Depression, strengthening democratic institutions, and leading the country to victory in World War II, while critics have questioned the expansion of federal power under the New Deal, his economic policies, and certain decisions made during the war. Regardless of these debates, Roosevelt permanently altered the American presidency and the federal government, and his four-term tenure remains a defining period in the history of the United States.