Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882 in Hyde Park, New York. He received his undergraduate at Harvard University in 1903. A few months before Roosevelt married Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, he began studying law at Columbia University. He then passed the bar and worked in a New York City law firm for five years. In 1910 some fellow Democrats asked him to run for political office, he complied, and won. Like Grover Cleveland, Roosevelt was an opponent of the Tammy Hall political machine. He even directly spoke out against them on a few occasions and earned their respect. One of FDR's distant relatives was Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States. Because of this, FDR held great admiration for the man so he also believed that in order for the government to be most effective it had to play a role in establishing a principled society. This was the type of mindset a leader needed when dealing with the future Great Depression. One day President Wilson's secretary of the navy asked FDR to serve as his assistant secretary. He readily said yes, for it was no secret that Teddy Roosevelt had also been assistant secretary of the navy. During WWI FDR did not like staying neutral and strongly recommended they be involved. Once the US did get involved, FDR supervised the Navy's contribution to the war. In 1921 FDR lost the use of his legs after contracting poliomyelitis, more commonly known as polio, which is a viral inflammation of the spinal column. Eleanor became more involved in New York's Democratic Party, acting as her husband's eyes, ears, and legs. This allowed her to work on projects she was passionate about. FDR ran for governor of New York and he won. FDR immediately began forming alliances with Democrats in the rural South, West and East. Also, FDR finally saw eye to eye with Tammy Hall. FDR got re-elected as governor in 1930. Then, two years later, he appeared as the front runner for the Democratic Presidential nomination.
Presidency
Roosevelt was elected on March 4, 1933 and immediately began rebuilding the economy. Unlike Hoover, FDR was not afraid of the government getting too involved with the people. During the first 100 days of his presidency he closed all the banks until Congress could pass reform legislation then he created the First New Deal and the Second New Deal. The First New Deal's main function was to stabilize the US's financial system and provide relief jobs, The Securities and Exchange Commission was established to regulate the financial market, the Federal Housing Administration allowed homeless Americans to buy or renovate homes, the Federal Reserve Relief Administration provided money for the unemployed, and the Civilian Conservation Corp put 300'000 men to work planting trees, The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation protected people's money and the Securities Exchange Commission regulated the stock market. The most notable act of the Second New Deal was the Social Security Act. This reform established a system of Federal old age benefits. Thus, Social Security was invented. There was also the Works Progress Administration which employed two million people to construct buildings and roads. FDR won reelection in 1936. While the New Deal had helped the country immensely, it was WWII that finally brought the US out of the Depression. It provided even more jobs that were extremely high paying. Those planes, ships, weapons, and ammunition weren't going to build themselves. FDR revised the country's neutrality acts and allowed the French and British to purchase American weapons on a "cash and carry" basis. Even though a president only ran for two terms, FDR decided to go for a third and he beat Wendell L. Wilkie by 5 million votes. FDR continued to support Britain and he met with Winston Churchill on several occasions. On December 8, 1941 Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and now the US was fully involved in WWII. FDR and Churchill continued to meet and start building friendly relations with the leader of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin. In 1942, FDR created the United Nations which would follow the ideals of the Atlantic Charter he had made with Churchill a couple years prior. In 1944 FDR won reelection again. Then he, Stalin, and Churchill sat down to have the Yalta Conference where Stalin finally agree to enter the war against Japan. "The Big Three" as they now were called continued to build foundations for the international peace organization that became the United Nations. By this time, FDR's health had decreased dramatically and he died on April 12, 1945.
Legacy
What didn't Franklin D. Roosevelt do during his twelve year presidency? He provided jobs for millions of people and passed reforms that we still use today, like Social Security. His New Deals stabilized the economy and while not completely bringing the US out of the Great Depression (we have WWII to thank for that) they made sure that social, economic, and political benefits were more available and equally distributed among the American populace. During WWII he established the United Nations which was based of four freedoms: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of religion, freedom from want and freedom from fear. Their one purpose being the maintenance of international peace and security to ensure another world war never happens again. So far, it's worked.
Works Cited
"Miller Center." Franklin D. Roosevelt: Life Before the Presidency-. Web. 19 Jan. 2016.
"Miller Center." Franklin D. Roosevelt: Domestic Affairs-. Web. 19 Jan. 2016.
"Miller Center." Franklin D. Roosevelt: Foreign Affairs-. Web. 19 Jan. 2016.
"Miller Center." Franklin D. Roosevelt: Impact and Legacy-. Web. 19 Jan. 2016.
"Franklin D. Roosevelt." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 19 Jan. 2016.
"United Nations." UN News Center. UN. Web. 19 Jan. 2016.
"Miller Center." Franklin D. Roosevelt: Domestic Affairs-. Web. 19 Jan. 2016.
"Miller Center." Franklin D. Roosevelt: Foreign Affairs-. Web. 19 Jan. 2016.
"Miller Center." Franklin D. Roosevelt: Impact and Legacy-. Web. 19 Jan. 2016.
"Franklin D. Roosevelt." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 19 Jan. 2016.
"United Nations." UN News Center. UN. Web. 19 Jan. 2016.