Franklin Delano Roosevelt
32nd President of the United States
(March 4, 1933 to April 12, 1945)
Nickname: "FDR"
Born: January 30, 1882, in Hyde Park, New York
Died: April 12, 1945, in Warm Springs, Georgia
Father: James Roosevelt
Mother: Sara Delano Roosevelt
Married: Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), on March 17, 1905
Children: Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (1906-75); James Roosevelt (1907-91); Elliott Roosevelt (1910-90); Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jr. (1914-88); John Aspinwall Roosevelt (1916-81)
Religion: Episcopalian
Education: Graduated from Harvard College (1903); Attended Columbia Law School
Occupation: Public official, lawyer
Political Party: Democrat
Federal Offices Held In Other Administrations:
Presidential Election Results:
| Year |
| Popular Votes | Electoral Votes |
| 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt
Herbert C. Hoover
| 22,809,638
15,758,901
| 472
59 |
|
| 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt
Alfred M. Landon
| 27,752,869
16,674,665
| 523
8 |
|
| 1940 | Franklin D. Roosevelt
Wendell L. Willkie
| 27,307,819
22,321,018
| 449
82 |
|
| 1944 | Franklin D. Roosevelt
Thomas E. Dewey
| 25,606,585
22,014,745
| 432
99 |
Vice President: John N. Garner (1933-41); Henry A. Wallace (1941-45); Harry S. Truman (1945)
Cabinet:
- Secretary of State
- Cordell Hull (1933-44)
- Edward R. Stettinius, Jr. (1944-45)
- Secretary of the Treasury
- William H. Woodin (1933-34)
- Henry Morgenthau, Jr. (1934-45)
- Secretary of War
- George H. Dern (1933-36)
- Harry H. Woodring (1937-40)
- Henry L. Stimson (1940-45)
- Attorney General
- Homer S. Cummings (1933-39)
- Frank Murphy (1939-40)
- Robert H. Jackson (1940-41)
- Francis B. Biddle (1941-45)
- Postmaster General
- James A. Farley (1933-40)
- Frank C. Walker (1940-45)
- Secretary of the Navy
- Claude A. Swanson (1933-39)
- Charles Edison (1940)
- Frank Knox (1940-44)
- James V. Forrestal (1944-45)
- Secretary of the Interior
- Harold L. Ickes (1933-45)
- Secretary of Agriculture
- Henry A. Wallace (1933-40)
- Claude R. Wickard (1940-45)
- Secretary of Commerce
- Daniel C. Roper (1933-38)
- Harry L. Hopkins (1939-40)
- Jesse H. Jones (1940-45)
- Henry A. Wallace (1945)
- Secretary of Labor
- Frances Perkins (1933-1945)
Presidency Highlights:
1933
- During his first 100 days as president, Roosevelt launched New Deal relief measures, revived the banking industry, and delivered the first of 30 "Fireside Chats."
- In December, the 21st Amendment, ending Prohibition, was ratified.
1934
- Became the first president to visit Latin America.
1935
- The Social Security Act was passed.
- The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was established.
- The Wagner Act, creating the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), was enacted.
1936
- Reelected in a landslide over Alfred M. Landon.
1937
- The president's plan to "reform" the Supreme Court was criticized and rejected.
1939
- Hitler overran Poland, and war was declared in Europe.
1940
- Reelected to a third term.
1941
- Congress lend-lease, giving the president power to supply military equipment to U.S. allies.
- On December 7, Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Congress declared war the next day.
1944
- June 6, D-Day: Allied forces landed on the Normandy coast of France.
- Reelected to a fourth term. The only president to be elected to four terms.
1945
- The Yalta Conference was held in the Crimea in February. Roosevelt, Britain's Winston Churchill, and the USSR's Joseph Stalin discussed the terms of peace and the postwar world.
Historical Documents:
- First Inaugural Address (1933)
- Second Inaugural Address (1937)
- Third Inaugural Address (1941)
- Fireside Chats (1933-44)
- The Lend Lease Act (1941)
- Four Freedom's Speech (1941)
- Atlantic Charter (1941)
- Declaration of War on Japan (1941)
- Declaration of War on Germany (1941)
- Statement on North African Policy (1942)
- Fourth Inaugural Address (1945)
- Yalta Conference Agreements (1945)
Fast Facts:
- Roosevelt was the vice-presidential candidate on James M. Cox's ticket in 1920. He was the first defeated vice-presidential candidate to be elected president.
- Roosevelt was related by blood or marriage to 11 former presidents.
- In 1921, at the age of 39, Roosevelt contracted polio which left him without the use of his legs. He is the only president permanently confined to a wheelchair while in office.
- A stamp collector, FDR received the first sheet of every new commemorative issue.
- In 1939, he became the first president to appear on television.
- He was the first president in office to visit an overseas war zone.
- During World War II, Mrs. Roosevelt visited Japanese-American internment camps to show her sympathy to the internees.
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Last Updated: Tuesday, January 21, 1997 8:36:16 AM by Matthew Esget
