Historical Figure
Franklin D. Roosevelt
1882–1945
President of the United States from 1933 to 1945
Hear Their Voice
Original recordings and AI voice
"Fireside Chat on the Banking Crisis" — March 12, 1933
Generated by Today in History
Talk to Franklin D. Roosevelt
Have a conversation with this historical figure through AI
Biography
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president and the only one to have served more than two terms. His first two terms were centered on combating the Great Depression, while his third and fourth focused on U.S. involvement in World War II. A member of the Democratic Party, Roosevelt served in the New York State Senate from 1911 to 1913 and as the 44th governor of New York from 1929 to 1932.
Timeline
The story of Franklin D. Roosevelt, told in moments.
Diagnosed with a paralytic illness at Campobello Island, New Brunswick. He's 39. His legs are permanently paralyzed. His mother wants him to retire to the country estate. Eleanor fights her on it. Eleanor wins. He'll spend the next seven years building his political comeback while never walking unassisted again.
Inaugurated as the 32nd president during the worst depression in American history. In his first 100 days, he pushes through more legislation than any president before or since. The SEC, FDIC, Social Security, the National Labor Relations Act. He creates alphabet agencies so fast the press can't keep up. He wins reelection in 1936 by the largest Electoral College margin since 1820.
Asks Congress to declare war the day after Pearl Harbor. "A date which will live in infamy." He'd originally written "world history" and crossed it out. Over the next three years he mobilizes the American economy for total war, meets with Churchill and Stalin to plan the postwar world, and authorizes the Manhattan Project.
Elected to a fourth term. No president before or since has served more than two. He's visibly dying. His blood pressure is 260/150. His doctor lies about it publicly. He goes to Yalta in February 1945 to negotiate the postwar order with Churchill and Stalin.
Dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at Warm Springs, Georgia. He is 63. He's sitting for a portrait when he says "I have a terrific pain in the back of my head" and slumps forward. His former mistress Lucy Mercer is in the room. Eleanor isn't.
In Their Own Words (20)
I'm just afraid that I may not have the strength to do this job. After you leave me tonight, Jimmy, I am going to pray. I am going to pray that God will help me, that he will give me the strength and the guidance to do this job and to do it right. I hope that you will pray for me, too, Jimmy.
Talking to his son James on the night of his landslide victory over Herbert Hoover (8 November 1932), as quoted in Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (2008) by H. W. Brands, 2008
There seems to be no question that [Mussolini] is really interested in what we are doing and I am much interested and deeply impressed by what he has accomplished and by his evidenced honest purpose of restoring Italy.
Comment in early 1933 about Benito Mussolini to U.S. Ambassador to Italy Breckinridge Long, as quoted in Three New Deals : Reflections on Roosevelt's America, Mussolini's Italy, and Hitler's Germany, 1933-1939 (2006) by Wolfgang Schivelbusch, p. 31, 2006
Are you laboring under the impression that I read these memoranda of yours? I can't even lift them.
Comment to economic advisor Leon Henderson, as quoted in Ambassador's Journal: A Personal Account of the Kennedy Years (1969) by John Kenneth Galbraith, p. 225, 1969
Be sincere, be brief, be seated.
Advice to his son James on how to make a public speech, as quoted in Basic Public Speaking (1963) by Paul L. Soper, p. 12, 1963
I sometimes think we consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm.
Roosevelt to Henry M. Heymann (2 December 1919), as quoted in Roosevelt and Howe (1962), by Alfred B. Rollins, Jr., p. 153, 1962
Artifacts (15)
Franklin D. Roosevelt Portrait in New York City, New York - NARA - 196675
Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided
Franklin D. Roosevelt portrait - NARA - 196689
Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided
President Franklin D. Roosevelt with
http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q110975090
Franklin D. Roosevelt, a formal portrait in Groton, Massachusetts - NARA - 196688
Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided
More from the Victorian Era
Explore what happened on the days that shaped Franklin D. Roosevelt's life. Today In History connects historical figures with the events, births, and deaths that defined their era. Browse all historical figures or explore today's events.