Biography of president franklin d. roosevelt

However, as military conflicts emerged in Asia and Europe, Roosevelt sought to assist China in its war with Japan and declared that France and Great Britain were America's "first line of defense" against Nazi Germany. As Americans learned more about the war's atrocities, isolationist sentiment diminished. Bipartisan support in Congress expanded the Army and Navy and increased the flow of supplies to the Allies.

However, any hopes of keeping the United States out of war ended with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, Within a few months after declaring war, Roosevelt signed Executive Order , ordering all persons of Japanese descent to leave the West Coast. As a result, , people, many American citizens, were sent to internment camps located inland.

Oddly, no such order applied to Hawaii, where one-third of the population was of Japanese descent, nor to Americans of Italian or German ancestry living in the United States. Nearly all Japanese Americans along the West Coast were forced to quit their jobs and sell their property and businesses at a tremendous loss. Their entire social order was turned upside down as families were given just days to leave their homes and neighborhoods and be transported to the internment camps.

During World War II, Roosevelt was a commander in chief who worked with and sometimes around his military advisers. He helped develop a strategy for defeating Germany in Europe through a series of invasions, first in North Africa in November , then Sicily and Italy in , followed by the D-Day invasion of Europe in At the same time, Allied forces rolled back Japan in Asia and the eastern Pacific.

During this time, Roosevelt promoted the formation of the United Nations. On the afternoon of April 12, , Roosevelt suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage and died. The stress of World War II had taken its toll on his health, and in March , hospital tests indicated he had atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure.

Biography of president franklin d. roosevelt

Truman was summoned to the White House where he took the oath of office. FDR's sudden death shook the American public to its core. Though many had noticed that he looked exhausted in photographs and newsreels, no one seemed prepared for his passing. In the annals of American history, Roosevelt is regarded as one of the greatest presidents ever to lead the nation: His name is routinely mentioned alongside those of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

As one biographer noted, "He lifted himself from a wheelchair to lift the nation from its knees. The Biography. We have worked as daily newspaper reporters, major national magazine editors, and as editors-in-chief of regional media publications. Among our ranks are book authors and award-winning journalists. Our staff also works with freelance writers, researchers, and other contributors to produce the smart, compelling profiles and articles you see on our site.

The First Family on Inauguration Day. Donald Trump. The 13 Most Memorable Inauguration Performances. Jimmy Carter. Biography: Jimmy Carter. Farley and Vice President John Garner were not pleased with Roosevelt when he ultimately made the decision to break from Washington's precedent. He was aided by the party's political bosses, who feared that no Democrat except Roosevelt could defeat Wendell Willkie , the popular Republican nominee.

At the July Democratic Convention in Chicago, Roosevelt easily swept aside challenges from Farley and Vice President Garner, who had turned against Roosevelt in his second term because of his liberal economic and social policies. But Roosevelt insisted that without Wallace on the ticket he would decline re-nomination, and Wallace won the vice-presidential nomination, defeating Speaker of the House William B.

Bankhead and other candidates. A late August poll taken by Gallup found the race to be essentially tied, but Roosevelt's popularity surged in September following the announcement of the Destroyers for Bases Agreement. 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 achieve total mobilization of 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 close 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. In military affairs, Roosevelt worked most closely with Secretary Henry L.

By late , re-armament was in high gear, partly to expand and re-equip the Army and Navy and partly to become the " Arsenal of Democracy " for Britain and other countries. Assisted by Willkie, Roosevelt won Congressional approval of the Lend-Lease program, which directed massive military and economic aid to Britain and China. Thus, Roosevelt had committed the U.

In August , Roosevelt and Churchill conducted a secret bilateral meeting in which they drafted the Atlantic Charter , conceptually outlining global wartime and postwar goals. This would be the first of several wartime conferences ; [ ] Churchill and Roosevelt would meet ten more times in person. 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 U.

Navy zone. This "shoot on sight" policy brought the U. Navy into direct conflict with German submarines and was favored by Americans by a margin of 2-to After the German invasion of Poland, the primary concern of both Roosevelt and his top military staff was on the war in Europe, but Japan also presented foreign policy challenges. Relations with Japan had continually deteriorated since its invasion of Manchuria in and worsened further with Roosevelt's support of China.

The Japanese were incensed by the embargo and Japanese leaders became determined to attack the United States unless it lifted the embargo. The Roosevelt administration was unwilling to reverse the policy, and Secretary of State Hull blocked a potential summit between Roosevelt and Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe. At the same time, separate Japanese task forces attacked Thailand , British Hong Kong , the Philippines, and other targets.

Roosevelt called for war in his " Infamy Speech " to Congress, in which he said: "Yesterday, December 7, —a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. On December 11, , Hitler and Mussolini declared war on the United States, which responded in kind.

A majority of scholars have rejected the conspiracy theories that Roosevelt, or any other high government officials, knew in advance about the attack on Pearl Harbor. Senior American officials were aware that war was imminent, but they did not expect an attack on Pearl Harbor. In late December , Churchill and Roosevelt met at the Arcadia Conference , which established a joint strategy between the U.

Both agreed on a Europe first strategy that prioritized the defeat of Germany before Japan. The U. In , Roosevelt formed a new body, the Joint Chiefs of Staff , which made the final decisions on American military strategy. Admiral Ernest J. Marshall led the Army and was in nominal control of the Air Force, which in practice was commanded by General Hap Arnold.

Leahy , the most senior officer in the military. Roosevelt avoided the State Department and conducted high-level diplomacy through his aides, especially Harry Hopkins, whose influence was bolstered by his control of the Lend-Lease funds. Szilard realized that the recently discovered process of nuclear fission could be used to create a weapon of mass destruction.

Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to jointly pursue the project, and Roosevelt helped ensure that American scientists cooperated with their British counterparts. The Allies formulated strategy in a series of high-profile conferences as well as by contact through diplomatic and military channels. In November , Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met to discuss strategy and post-war plans at the Tehran Conference , where Roosevelt met Stalin for the first time.

Subsequent conferences at Bretton Woods and Dumbarton Oaks established the framework for the post-war international monetary system and the United Nations , an intergovernmental organization similar to the failed League of Nations. Roosevelt expected it would be controlled by Washington, Moscow, London and Beijing, and would resolve all major world problems.

With the end of the war in Europe approaching, Roosevelt's primary focus was convincing Stalin to enter the war against Japan; the Joint Chiefs had estimated that an American invasion of Japan would cause as many as one million American casualties. The three leaders agreed to hold a conference in to establish the United Nations, and they also agreed on the structure of the United Nations Security Council , which would be charged with ensuring international security.

Roosevelt did not push for the immediate evacuation of Soviet soldiers from Poland, but he won the issuance of the Declaration on Liberated Europe, which promised free elections in countries that had been occupied by Germany. Germany itself would not be dismembered but would be jointly occupied by the United States, France, Britain, and the Soviet Union.

At the conference, Roosevelt also announced that he would only accept the unconditional surrender of Germany, Japan, and Italy. Eisenhower , who had successfully commanded a multinational coalition in North Africa and Sicily. Supported by 12, aircraft and the largest naval force ever assembled, the Allies successfully established a beachhead in Normandy and then advanced further into France.

After most of France had been liberated, Roosevelt granted formal recognition to de Gaulle's government in October In the opening weeks of the war, Japan conquered the Philippines and the British and Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia. The Japanese advance reached its maximum extent by June , when the U. Navy scored a decisive victory at the Battle of Midway.

American and Australian forces then began a slow and costly strategy called island hopping or leapfrogging through the Pacific Islands, with the objective of gaining bases from which strategic airpower could be brought to bear on Japan and from which Japan could ultimately be invaded. In contrast to Hitler, Roosevelt took no direct part in the tactical naval operations, though he approved strategic decisions.

The strength of the Japanese navy was decimated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf , and by April the Allies had re-captured much of their lost territory in the Pacific. The home front was subject to dynamic social changes throughout the war, though domestic issues were no longer Roosevelt's most urgent policy concern. The military buildup spurred economic growth.

Unemployment fell from 7. African Americans from the South went to California and other West Coast states for new jobs in the defense industry. To pay for increased government spending, in Roosevelt proposed that Congress enact an income tax rate of In , war production increased dramatically but fell short of Roosevelt's goals, due in part to manpower shortages.

The production capacity of the United States dwarfed that of other countries; for example, in , the United States produced more military aircraft than the combined production of Germany, Japan, Britain, and the Soviet Union. Jones , in charge of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation ; both agencies assumed responsibility for the acquisition of rubber supplies and came to loggerheads over funding.

Roosevelt resolved the dispute by dissolving both agencies. Byrnes , who came to be known as the "assistant president" due to his influence. Bill , which would create a massive benefits program for returning soldiers. Benefits included post-secondary education , medical care, unemployment insurance, job counseling, and low-cost loans for homes and businesses.

The G. Bill passed unanimously in both houses of Congress and was signed into law in June Of the fifteen million Americans who served in World War II, more than half benefitted from the educational opportunities provided for in the G. Roosevelt, a chain-smoker throughout his adult life, [ ] [ ] had been in declining health since at least In March , shortly after his 62nd birthday, he underwent testing at Bethesda Hospital and was found to have hypertension , atherosclerosis , coronary artery disease causing angina pectoris , and congestive heart failure.

Hospital physicians and two outside specialists ordered Roosevelt to rest. His personal physician, Admiral Ross McIntire, created a daily schedule that banned business guests for lunch and incorporated two hours of rest daily. During the re-election campaign, McIntire denied several times that Roosevelt's health was poor; on October 12, for example, he announced that "The President's health is perfectly OK.

There are absolutely no organic difficulties at all. While some Democrats had opposed Roosevelt's nomination in , the president faced little difficulty in securing his re-nomination at the Democratic National Convention. Roosevelt made it clear before the convention that he was seeking another term, and on the lone presidential ballot of the convention, Roosevelt won the vast majority of delegates, although a minority of Southern Democrats voted for Harry F.

Party leaders prevailed upon 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. Truman of Missouri, who had earned renown for his investigation of war production inefficiency and was acceptable to the various factions of the party. On the second vice presidential ballot of the convention, Truman defeated Wallace to win the nomination.

The Republicans nominated Thomas E. Dewey , the governor of New York, who had a reputation as a liberal in his party. They accused the Roosevelt administration of domestic corruption and bureaucratic inefficiency, but Dewey's most effective gambit was to raise discreetly the age issue. He assailed the President as a "tired old man" with "tired old men" in his cabinet, pointedly suggesting that the President's lack of vigor had produced a less than vigorous economic recovery.

But upon entering the campaign in earnest in late September , Roosevelt displayed enough passion to allay most concerns and deflect Republican attacks. With the war still raging, he urged voters not to "change horses in mid-stream". Roosevelt and Truman won the election , defeating Dewey and his running mate John W. Bricker with When Roosevelt returned to the United States from the Yalta Conference , many were shocked to see how old, thin and frail he looked.

He spoke while seated in the well of the House, an unprecedented concession to his physical incapacity. When Stalin accused the Western Allies of plotting behind his back a separate peace with Hitler, Roosevelt replied: "I cannot avoid a feeling of bitter resentment towards your informers, whoever they are, for such vile misrepresentations of my actions or those of my trusted subordinates.

In the afternoon of April 12, , in Warm Springs, Georgia , while sitting for a portrait by Elizabeth Shoumatoff , Roosevelt said: "I have a terrific headache. The president's attending cardiologist, Howard Bruenn , diagnosed a massive intracerebral hemorrhage. The following morning, Roosevelt's body was placed in a flag-draped coffin and loaded onto the Ferdinand Magellan presidential train for the trip back to Washington.

Despite this, thousands flocked to the route to pay their respects. Rather than lying in state at the United States Capitol as per tradition, Roosevelt's remains were placed in the White House East Room where, on April 14, a simple funeral service was held that was attended by his family, high government officials, and foreign ambassadors. Roosevelt was then transported by train from Washington to his birthplace at Hyde Park.

On April 15 he was buried, per his wish, in the rose garden of his Springwood estate. Roosevelt's declining physical health had been kept secret from the public. His death was met with shock and grief across the world. Roosevelt was viewed as a hero by many African Americans, Catholics, and Jews, and he was highly successful in attracting large majorities of these voters into his New Deal coalition.

Roosevelt ended federal involvement in the deportations. After , deportations fell by approximately 50 percent. Sitkoff reports that the WPA "provided an economic floor for the whole black community in the s, rivaling both agriculture and domestic service as the chief source" of income. He asserted that such legislation was unlikely to pass and that his support for it would alienate Southern congressmen, though by 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.

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. 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.

The attack on Pearl Harbor raised concerns among the public regarding the possibility of sabotage by Japanese Americans. This suspicion was fed by long-standing racism against Japanese immigrants and the findings of the Roberts Commission , which concluded that the attack on Pearl Harbor had been assisted by Japanese spies. On February 19, , Roosevelt signed Executive Order , which relocated , Japanese-American citizens and immigrants, most of whom lived on the Pacific Coast.

The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the executive order in the case of Korematsu v. United States. Unlike Japanese Americans, however, they were not sent to them on the sole basis of racial ancestry. There is controversy among historians about Roosevelt's attitude to Jews and the Holocaust. Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. He did not loosen immigration quotas but did allow German Jews already in the U.

Adolf Hitler chose to implement the " Final Solution "—the extermination of the European Jewish population—by January , and American officials learned of the scale of the Nazi extermination campaign in the following months. Against the objections of the State Department, Roosevelt convinced the other Allied leaders to issue the Joint Declaration by Members of the United Nations , which condemned the ongoing Holocaust and warned to try its perpetrators as war criminals.

In , Roosevelt told U. Aside from these actions, Roosevelt believed that the best way to help the persecuted populations of Europe was to end the war as quickly as possible. Top military leaders and War Department leaders rejected any campaign to bomb the extermination camps or the rail lines leading to them, fearing it would be a diversion from the war effort.

According to biographer Jean Edward Smith , there is no evidence that anyone ever proposed such a campaign to Roosevelt. Roosevelt is widely considered to be one of the most important figures in U. 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.

His isolationist critics faded away, and even the Republicans joined in his overall policies. 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". Kennedy came from a Roosevelt-hating family. Historian William Leuchtenburg says that before , "Kennedy showed a conspicuous lack of inclination to identify himself as a New Deal liberal.

Johnson modelled his presidency on Roosevelt's. During his presidency, and continuing to a lesser extent afterwards, there has been much criticism of Roosevelt , some of it intense. Critics have questioned not only his policies, positions , and the consolidation of power that occurred due to his responses to the Depression and World War II but also his breaking with tradition by running for a third term as president.

Roosevelt was criticized by conservatives for his economic policies, especially the shift in tone from individualism to collectivism with the expansion of the welfare state and regulation of the economy. Those criticisms continued decades after his death. One factor in the revisiting of these issues was the election of Ronald Reagan in , who opposed the New Deal.

Washington, D. Postage stamps. Roosevelt was launched and served from to Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read View source View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikisource Wikidata item. President of the United States from to Roosevelt disambiguation.

Official campaign portrait, John Nance Garner — Henry A. Wallace — Harry S. Truman Jan—Apr. Eleanor Roosevelt. James Roosevelt I Sara Delano. Roosevelt family Delano family. Franklin D. Roosevelt's voice. Education and early career. Marriage, family, and extramarital affairs. Early political career — Civil liberties Cloward—Piven strategy Cultural liberalism Economic development Broad measures Economic growth Direct democracy Freedom of movement Human enhancement Indigenous rights Inward light Intersectionality Liberation theology Moral universalism Progress Philosophy of progress Progressive education In Latin America Progressive stack Progressive taxation Religious liberalism Progressive nationalism Social justice Social justice warrior Social organization Social progress List of countries Scientific progress Social change Social constructivism Strategic essentialism Sustainable design Ecological engineering Reparations for slavery In the US Scientific management Solidarity unionism Sustainable development Techno-progressivism Voluntary childlessness Welfare state Women's suffrage Workplace democracy.

By region. New York state senator — Assistant Secretary of the Navy — Campaign for vice president Paralytic illness and political comeback — Further information: Paralytic illness of Franklin D. Governor of New York — Main article: Governorship of Franklin D. Main article: United States presidential election. Transition and assassination attempt.

Main article: Presidential transition of Franklin D. Presidency — First and second terms — Main article: Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, first and second terms. Nothing to Fear. Problems playing this file? See media help. First New Deal — Main article: New Deal. Second New Deal — Main article: Second New Deal. Supreme Court fight and second term legislation.

See also: Franklin D. Conservation and the environment. GNP and unemployment rates. Foreign policy — Main article: Foreign policy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. Third and fourth terms — Roosevelt, third and fourth terms. Further information: Foreign policy of the Franklin D. State of the Union Four Freedoms January 6, Pearl Harbor and declarations of war.

See also: Events leading to the attack on Pearl Harbor. FDR Pearl Harbor speech. Speech given before Joint Session of Congress in entirety. Section of Pearl Harbor speech including "infamy" line. Problems playing these files? Roosevelt signing the declaration of war against Japan on December 8, Roosevelt signing the declaration of war against Germany on December 11, See also: History of nuclear weapons and Nuclear weapons of the United States.

Main articles: United States presidential election and Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection. Final months and death. Last photograph of Roosevelt, taken April 11, , the day before his death. Roosevelt's funeral procession in Washington, D. Civil rights, repatriation, internment, and the Holocaust. Further information: Franklin D.

Roosevelt and civil rights. Lynching and civil rights. Main article: List of memorials to Franklin D. The Twentieth Amendment changed presidential inaugurations to January 20, from Not only did the power of the South in the Democratic party diminish, but without the repeal, it is open to question whether FDR could have been renominated in Johnson and Hubert Humphrey would later set a new record, taking However, in , Roosevelt elevated Stone to the position of Chief Justice.

Japan gave up its own program in As the war came to a conclusion, he helped to lay the foundations for the United Nations. Roosevelt was a very influential figure in both American and world politics. He was brought up with a privileged background but was influenced by his headmaster at Groton School in Massachusetts, who inculcated the importance of Christian duty in helping less fortunate people.

After school, he went to Harvard where he studied economics. He was an unremarkable student but became editor of the Harvard Crimson which suited his capacity to manage other people. In , Franklin married a distant cousin Eleanor. They had six children in quick succession, two of them who went on to be elected to the House of Representatives. FDR has several affairs outside of his marriage including Lucy Mercer, his social secretary.

His wife Eleanor offered a divorce at one point, but for a variety of reasons, it was not taken up. In , FDR was elected governor of New York and this proved a springboard to launch his bid for Democrat nomination for The government borrowed, levied a national income tax and spent money on public works known as the New Deal. This period also marked a shift in power from local governments who could not cope to the national government.

The New Deal did not solve the economic crisis, but it did mitigate some of the worst effects, creating employment and eventually kick-starting the economy. By the end of the s, some sectors of the economy such as construction were booming. Cox in In , Roosevelt got sick with poliomyelitis , a disease that paralyzes people. He never walked again, but Roosevelt remained physically fit, becoming an avid swimmer.

Roosevelt became a champion of medical research and treatment for crippling illnesses, but kept his illness as hidden as much as possible from the public, fearing discrimination. His disability did not limit his political career; Roosevelt was elected the Governor of New York in His wife, Eleanor Roosevelt helped his career by traveling and meeting people when Roosevelt could not.

She became famous as his eyes and ears, meeting thousands of ordinary people and bringing their concerns to Roosevelt. Roosevelt won the election against the unpopular incumbent president at the time , Herbert Hoover and became president in early He started a series of popular programs known as the New Deal to fight against the Great Depression.

The New Deal gave people jobs building roads, bridges, dams, parks, schools, and other public services. Also, it created Social Security, made banks insure their customers, gave direct aid to the needy, and made many regulations to the economy. Because of this, he was re-elected in a large victory in and continued the New Deal. In , Roosevelt became the first President of the United States to appear on television.

He gave weapons and money to the Allies fighting in World War II as a part of the Lend-Lease program at this time, but the United States was still technically neutral in the war. It was formulated an hour after the famous Infamy Speech by Roosevelt. Roosevelt signed Executive Order on June 25, , prohibiting companies and unions from discriminating on the basis of race or ethnicity.

Although patchily implemented and only a wartime measure, this legislation laid the groundwork for the federal government supporting Civil Rights for African Americans. The military used a draft to get people to fight in the war, but many people in Puerto Rico , a colony of the United States, did not want to fight because they felt the U. The U. Roosevelt also signed an order allowing Japanese Americans to be sent to internment camps against their will.

While still president, he died on April 12, Vice President Harry Truman became president. World War II continued for almost four more months, but Allied victory was already assured. For overcoming the difficult challenges of a severe depression and another world war, historians consider him to be one of the three best U. Johnson's Great Society.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Page Talk. Read Change Change source View history.