Franklin Delano Roosevelt (/ˈroʊzəvɛlt/ ROH-zə-velt or /ˈroʊzəvəlt/ ROH-zə-vəlt;
January 30, 1882 -- April 12,
1945), also known by his initials,
FDR, was the
32nd President of the United States (1933--1945) and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the
United States during a time of worldwide economic depression and total war. A dominant leader of the
Democratic Party and the only
American president elected to more than two terms, he built a
New Deal Coalition that realigned
American politics after 1932, as his domestic policies defined
American liberalism for the middle third of the
20th century.
With the bouncy popular song "
Happy Days Are Here Again" as his campaign theme, FDR defeated incumbent
Republican Herbert Hoover in November 1932, at the depth of the
Great Depression.
Energized by his personal victory over polio, FDR's unfailing optimism and activism contributed to a renewal of the national spirit.[1] Assisted by key aide
Harry Hopkins, he worked closely with
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and
Soviet Dictator
Joseph Stalin in leading the
Allies against
Nazi Germany and
Japan in World War II. The war ended the depression and restored prosperity.
In his first hundred days in office, which began March 4, 1933,
Roosevelt spearheaded major legislation and issued a profusion of executive orders that instituted the New
Deal—a variety of programs designed to produce relief (government jobs for the unemployed), recovery (economic growth), and reform (through regulation of
Wall Street, banks and transportation). The economy improved rapidly from 1933 to
1937, but then relapsed into a deep recession. The bipartisan
Conservative Coalition that formed in 1937 prevented his packing the
Supreme Court or passing any considerable legislation; it abolished many of the relief programs when unemployment diminished during
World War II. Most of the regulations on business were ended about 1975--85, except for the regulation of Wall Street by the
Securities and Exchange Commission, which still exists.
Along with several smaller programs, major surviving programs include the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which was created in 1933, and
Social Security, which
Congress passed in 1935.
As World War II loomed after
1938, with the
Japanese invasion of China and the aggression of Nazi Germany, FDR gave strong diplomatic and financial support to
China and
Great Britain, while remaining officially neutral. His goal was to make
America the "
Arsenal of Democracy" which would supply munitions to the Allies. In March
1941, Roosevelt, with Congressional approval, provided Lend-Lease aid to the countries fighting against Nazi Germany with Britain. With very strong national support, he made war on
Japan and
Germany after the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on
December 7, 1941, calling it a "date which will live in infamy". He supervised the mobilization of the
U.S. economy to support the
Allied war effort. As an active military leader, Roosevelt implemented an overall war strategy on two fronts that ended in the defeat of the
Axis Powers and the development of the world's first atom bomb. In
1942 Roosevelt ordered the internment of
100,
000 Japanese American civilians. Unemployment dropped to 2%, relief programs largely ended, and the industrial economy grew rapidly to new heights as millions of people moved to new jobs in war centers, and 16 million men and
300,000 women were drafted or volunteered for military service.
Roosevelt dominated the
American political scene not only during the twelve years of his presidency, but also for decades afterward. He orchestrated the realignment of voters that created the
Fifth Party System. FDR's New Deal Coalition united labor unions, big city machines, white ethnics,
African Americans and rural white Southerners. He also influenced the later creation of the
United Nations and
Bretton Woods. Roosevelt is consistently rated by scholars as one of the top three
U.S. Presidents, along with
Abraham Lincoln and
George Washington.
A liberal
Democrat, Roosevelt defined his ideological position as "a little left of center."[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FDR
- published: 28 Jul 2013
- views: 13112