Fdr Essay, Research Paper

FDR

I. Introduction

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano (1882-1945), 32nd president of the United States (1933-1945). Roosevelt served longer than any other president a total of four terms. No other president will ever have a chance be in office that long ever again; the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, passed after his death, denies the right of any person to be elected president more than twice.

Roosevelt held office during two of the greatest crises ever faced by the United States: the Great Depression of the 1930s, followed by World War II. His domestic program, called the New Deal, introduced reforms within the free enterprise system that paved the way for what is often called the welfare state. His leadership of the Democratic Party transformed it into a political vehicle for American liberalism. Both in peacetime and in war his impact on the office of president was enormous. In Roosevelt s 12 years in office strong executive leadership became a basic part of United States government. He made the office of president the center of diplomatic initiative and the focus of domestic reform.

II. Entry into Politics

Roosevelt formally entered politics in 1910, when he became a candidate for the New York State Senate in a district composed of three upstate farming counties. Democratic leaders had approached young Roosevelt because of his name and local prominence and because he might be expected to pay his own election expenses. The 28-year-old Roosevelt campaigned hard, stressing his deep personal interest in conservation and other issues of concern in an agricultural area and also his strong support of honest and efficient government. In the first good year for Democrats since the early 1890s he was narrowly elected. He was only the second Democrat to represent his district after the emergence of the Republican Party in 1856.

C A R E E R 1911-1913 Served as a New York state senator1913-1920 Served as assistant secretary of the Navy.1921-1928 Served as vice president of Fidelity and Deposit Company.1924 Managed New York governor Alfred E. Smith’s campaign for Democratic presidential nomination1929-1933 Served as governor of New York.1933-1945 President of the United States.

III. Becoming President

Roosevelt had more difficulty in winning the Democratic nomination in 1932 than he had in defeating President Hoover. In spite of Hoover s unprecedented efforts to use the power of the federal government to overcome the Great Depression, he was completely identified with the policies of former U.S. presidents Warren Harding (1921-1923) and of Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929), since he had served as secretary of commerce in both administrations. Roosevelt s task was essentially a simple one: to convince the American people that because the Republicans had claimed full credit for the prosperity of the 1920s, they should receive full blame for the depression. Roosevelt was spectacularly successful. He had an exuberance as a campaigner, a glowing confidence, and a warmth that was transmitted to his listeners. He toured widely by train, making brief appearances to cheering crowds and delivering carefully prepared speeches nearly every night. He promised to a despondent people a New Deal in manner and in spirit. Roosevelt won a resounding victory, losing only six states out of a total of 48. Of the six, four were in traditionally Republican New England.

IV. President of the United States

Roosevelt served the presidency from 1933 1945, during that time he had three different vice presidents, John Nance Garner who served two terms with Roosevelt, as vice president Garner helped attain early New Deal legislation. In 1940 Garner campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination, actively opposing Roosevelt s bid on a third term. The second of the three was Henry Agard Wallace, Wallace originally a Republican, served President Roosevelt from 1933 1940 as the Secretary of Agriculture. After his vice presidency he went on to become Secretary of Commerce where under then President Harry S. Truman, he resigned his position after giving a speech castigating American foreign policy; Upon which Truman demanded his resignation. His third and final vice president was Harry S. Truman, who succeeded him when Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, Truman was vice president for only 82 days before he became president.

Some of Roosevelt s greatest accomplishments were launching the New Deal , a wide-ranging domestic reform and recovery program to deal with the effects of the Great Depression. Signed the Lend-Lease Act of 1941, this authorized the government to provide military and economic to nation s fighting against the Axis powers in World War II. Declared war against Japan and the other Axis powers in December 1941 after Pearl Harbor was attacked. In the early spring of 1945 eh 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. Harry Truman took the oath of office to become president the same day.