Franklin And Theodore Roosevelt Essay, Research Paper

I n t r o d u c t i o n

Throughout the ages there have been many great leaders. These leaders are powerful in many ways, with a strong control over the people, and a place in history. But who would have guessed that two cousins would be some of the greatest government figures ever? Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt, both American presidents, both American Heroes. Without these dignitaries, the American advancement into the present day would be incomplete and/or impossible. They gave people hope through hard times and the spirit to protect their country and one another.

“ S p e a k s o f t l y… C a r r y a b i g s t i c k ”

Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt was born into a rich New York family in 1858. His childhood was filled with sickness. He soon became interested in wildlife and nature. In 1880 he graduated Harvard. Happy with his new accomplishments he took on a wife, Alice Lee Roosevelt. Unfortunately, his mother passed away on the same day as the marriage. Heartbroken, Roosevelt moved west to the Dakota territories to hunt and explore. His first marriage was over soon afterwards. A few years later he ventured to Paris, France were he met his second wife. Back in America the Spanish- American War for the Southwest was in formation. Roosevelt, wife and all, headed back home.

Enlisted and prepared, Roosevelt headed South. On the path to victory, Roosevelt met up with Leonard Wood, together the created the Rough Riders Regiment (RRR). In 1898,the RRR, under the control of Roosevelt and Wood, lead the battle against San Juan, Puerto Rico to come out victorious. Both men returned home to a hero’s welcome happy to be alive.

It was the dawning of the 20th century. William McKinley was President and Roosevelt: Vice President. Under McKinley, he learned about the responsibilities of being a president.

Suddenly without warning McKinley was shot and killed. In 1901, at 42 Roosevelt became the youngest president to serve office. He disagreed with how the nation’s economy was being controlled by Big Business. In his term he set about “trust busting” by initiating some 40 lawsuits against big businesses.

It was said once that while hunting, Roosevelt came upon a bear cub. Despite the demands of his hunting partners, Roosevelt refused to kill the cub. This story touched the heart of millions. Soon cartoon strips, newspaper articles, posters, needlepoint’s, prints and toys told the story of Teddy’s bear. This spawned forth the Teddy bear, something that is still around today.

In 1904 Roosevelt was re-elected for a second term in office. In 1906, he passed the Pure Food and Drug act. This group of laws protected American consumers from harmful food, drugs, and cosmetics. Roosevelt took advantage of his presidential powers to bust into foreign affairs in Latin America and resolved the Russo- Japanese war. This valiant act earned him a Nobel Peace Prize.

Roosevelt felt strongly about trade throughout the world. In 1904 the Isthmus of Panama was first broken by American shovel. After months of negotiation, the Latin American government allowed the creation of the Panama Canal. The U.S. military and other volunteers did most of the work. But because of Yellow Fever and Malaria , few workers returned. In 1914 the Canal Zone was finished and for the first time the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans were flowing together.

As Roosevelt’s second term was coming to an end, he picked William Howard Taft as his successor. Taft preached his ideas to the public, criticizing Roosevelt in his speeches. Roosevelt, hearing about his partner’s insulting speeches, broke from the Republican’s and formed a third party which he called the Progressive Party. The two duked it out in “The most remarkable political joust that the United States has ever seen…” Meanwhile, very quietly, Woodrow Wilson, under the Democratic Party was campaigning. Realizing the benefits that Roosevelt and Taft were dishing out, Wilson campaigned harder and ended up winning. Roosevelt earned a place in the top 5 for third party candidate votes.

In the years after 1912, Roosevelt gradually returned to his former Republicanism. He became a critic of Wilson’s foreign affairs and watched the war in Germany closely. He wrote his acclaimed autobiography in 1913. Roosevelt fell ill in 1918 and died at Sagamore Hill, his Oyster Bay home, on Jan. 6, 1919.

“L e t m e a s s e r t m y f i r m b e l i e f , t h a t t h e o n l y t h i n g w e h a v e t o f e a r… I s f e a r i t s e l f…”

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, son of Iacebus Roosevelt of the Hyde Park Roosevelts, was born Jan 30th 1882. He lived sheltered youth, his life revolving about the Hyde Park family house in Dutchess County, trips to Europe, athletics (especially swimming and boating), and hobbies, such as stamp and bird collecting. In 1904 he graduated Harvard University and then went to the Columbia Law School. In 1905 he married Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, a distant cousin of relation to Theodore Roosevelt and the Roosevelt’s of Oyster Bay. He dropped out of law school and worked for a Wall Street law firm from 1907 to 1910. Following in his uncle’s footsteps, FDR went into politics at an early age. At the 1912 Democratic National Convention he backed Woodrow Wilson in a bitter contest for the party’s presidential nomination. The Roosevelt name and image won him nomination for the 1920’s Vice President working with the newspaper publisher Gov. James M. Cox of Ohio. Unfortunately, he lost.

In 1921, while vacationing on Campobello, FDR fell Ill with Poliomyelitis. Though he never recovered, at one point in his life he once again regained movement in his legs. The diagnosis was that he had pushed himself too far while hiking, swimming, and doing other various activities around the Island. Roosevelt’s mother, after hearing the sad news, urged her son to return to Hyde Park to relax. But, of course, Roosevelt was pulled back into politics, as determined as ever. From then on he spent most of his time in a wheelchair, rarely walking with crutches or cane and leg braces. FDR spent a great deal of time in his second home, Warm springs, Georgia, this is where he could swim and work his muscles out. This disease, though life crippling, didn’t stop his fire to work.

Against the advice of his wife, FDR ran for governor of New York State. Knowing that his urban outlooks and thoughts about Prohibition would weaken his chances in rural areas, Roosevelt won by a close 250,000 out of 4.5 million votes cast.

In October of 1929, the Stock market crashed sparking the beginning of the Great Depression. FDR suddenly found himself with more work to do. In 1930 he was once again elected to serve as New York’s governor. A few years passed and the depression continued on ward. Now 1932 Roosevelt was looking at a new job offer: President.

As an energetic governor and a leading progressive reformer who was also head of the nation’s most populous state, FDR was automatically a leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1932.

The opposition was never able to get their hands on some good dirt to ruin his chances. With his Vice President, John Nance Garner, FDR headed off to the Democratic Convention. In weeks to follow, he told the people about The New Deal. The term New Deal came to describe Roosevelt’s domestic policies, under which the government became much more directly involved in national social and economic affairs than ever before. FDR found that he hardest part was getting the Democratic nomination. He won a resounding victory, losing only six states out of a total of 48. Of the six, four were in traditionally Republican New England.

Now as president, he set out to do something about the six million unemployed Americans. First he started to give hope by broadcasting over the radio and promising changes, which, at the time, came as some comfort to the millions crippled by the economic plague. Roosevelt called for an immediate meeting of congress instead of waiting for the regular annual meeting in December. During the period of about a month, legislation passed a remarkable number of bills. This period in time is what the people called the Hundred Days.

The New Deal proved unconstitutional. The public was left with Social Security, The National Recovery Administration and the Public Works Administration. FDR also organized a Census to poll how many people were out of jobs, and in what areas. Then, taking the results organized jobs for people, so they could make some sort of living. Now, with his term over, Roosevelt’s popularity among the people pulled him back into a second term where he continued to finish what he started and he was elected to a third term. Now the depression, which was ending gave way to World War II.

Knowing that someday the USA would have involvement in this battle, Roosevelt extended the aid to Britain and began a Land Lease to build up more U.S troops to fight. Then the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. FDR threw himself into the role of wartime leader with determination and enthusiasm. He was convinced that the security of the United States depended on the defeat of Germany, Italy, and Japan. He was also certain that the greatest threat came from Germany. Even before Pearl Harbor he had spoken with Prime Minister Churchill in a naval vessel off Newfoundland, Canada, and had joined in issuing the Atlantic Charter on August 14, 1941. This document denied any desire for any territorial changes not desired by the peoples concerned. Using all efforts to direct the war into a stable path, FDR talked with Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, and Chiang Kai-Shek. Together these dignitaries formed the United Nations.

Roosevelt did not live to see the end of World War II. During the war years he had not appeared often in public, but during his campaign for a fourth term in 1944 many who saw him said that he looked pale, thin, and old. The election, which resulted in his victory over New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, was a strain on the president. In the early spring of 1945 he went to Warm Springs, Georgia, in an effort to recapture his flagging energy. There he died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage on April 12, 1945.

In conclusion I believe that Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a greater impact on the American Society than his cousin, Theodore Roosevelt. FDR did so much in his lifetime as president that without someone like him to get us through hard times like the Depression or World War 2, and supply new improvements in the way life is conditioned. We wouldn’t be as successful as we are today. Theodore Roosevelt was also a great man, I am not saying otherwise. But FDR has the addition of four presidential terms. In fact being the only president to carry out four terms he created the cause for the 22nd amendment even after death. In turn with the addition of these two men in history we have not only changed the world but ourselves.