By Cayla
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on January
30th, 1882 in Hyde Park, NY. As a child, he loved the outdoors, and spent
much of his time fishing, ice boating, and wandering through the woods
and fields of his father’s estate. His family also had a summer cottage
in Campobello Island, Canada, and spent winters in a town house in New
York City. A the age of fourteen Roosevelt was sent to Groton, a
boarding school in MA, after being taught at home by a governess and private
tutor. He next went to Harvard, where he received a BA, and afterward to
Columbia University Law School. He then spent three years practicing law
as a junior clerk at Carter, Ledyard, and Milburn, a prominent NYC law
firm. On March 17, 1905, Roosevelt married his distant cousin, Anna Eleanor
Roosevelt. At their marriage Theodore Roosevelt, who was president at the
time and much admired by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, gave Eleanor away in
place of her father. Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt had six children, one
of whom died in infancy. Eleanor helped Roosevelt throughout his political
career.
In 1910 Roosevelt left his law career for
politics and ran for New York State Senate. He won the election, as well
as the reelection in 1912. To his delight, he was appointed Assistant Secretary
of the Navy in 1913. However in 1920 he left the Navy Department to run
as vice president for the Democratic Party with James M. Cox. They lost
the election to the Republicans, but Roosevelt was not disappointed, for
he had gained much experience.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt then returned to
law practice, and in the summer of 1921 he took a vacation at his family’s
cottage in Campobello Island, Canada. There he was stricken with polio.
Roosevelt refused to accept his disability, and worked hard to try to regain
the use of his legs. He swam, exercised, and did everything he could think
of. However, he was never able to walk unaided again. In 1927 he established
the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation for victims of polio, and was so absorbed
in it that he forgot about politics for a while.
In 1928 Roosevelt returned to politics, and
worked hard to campaign and to convince people not judge him by his disability.
As a result, he was elected governor of New York. He was very successful
in helping the many people who had lost their jobs during the Great Depression.
He also gained many admirers, which would help him later in his career.
On March 4, 1933 Franklin Delano Roosevelt
became the 32nd president. He said in his Inaugural Address, “the only
thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Immediately he began work to improve
the nation. In his first “hundred days” in office he authorized 15 major
laws and began the “New Deal”-a series of financial procedures meant to
help put an end to the effects of the Great Depression. He also started
“fireside chats” where he spoke over the radio telling the nation what
he was doing. All of these actions helped him gain the trust of the American
people, enough that he was elected to a total of four terms as president.
When WWII began FDR insisted on helping England, although his
advisors protested. He continued American arms shipments to England. When
the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt declared war. He worked remarkably
hard to try to end the war, along with an outstanding team of generals
and admirals that he assembled.
In the spring of 1945, FDR went to Warm Springs,
Georgia for a well-deserved rest. On April twelfth, while posing for a
portrait, he said he had a headache, slumped in his chair, and passed out.
He was soon pronounced dead due to a cerebral hemorrhage. The nation mourned
the loss of their president, and Roosevelt never saw the end of the war.