FDR correctly understood that Japan and Germany threatened the United States, which in turn endangered the cherished freedoms Americans enjoyed at home.
With the onset of war in , FDR ably guided America's efforts to aid its allies without formally entering into hostilities. When Japan and Germany forced his hand in December , Roosevelt rallied Americans in support of a massive war effort, both at home and abroad. FDR hoped that the war would produce a more secure and peaceful postwar world, and he became a major proponent of a postwar United Nations, in which the United States would be a leading member.
FDR, however, left to his successors the thorny problem of relations with the Soviet Union, which quickly replaced Germany and Japan as America's chief global adversary. Nonetheless, a sea change had occurred in American foreign relations under FDR. By , the United States had become a global power with global responsibilities—and its new leaders both understood this new reality and had the tools at their disposal to shape the world accordingly.
FDR also reshaped the American presidency. Through his "fireside chats," delivered to an audience via the new technology of radio, FDR built a bond between himself and the public—doing much to shape the image of the President as the caretaker of the American people.
Under FDR's leadership, the President's duties grew to encompass not only those of the chief executive—as implementer of policy—but also chief legislator—as drafter of policy.
And in trying to design and craft legislation, FDR required a White House staff and set of advisers unlike any seen previously in Washington. The President now needed a full-time staff devoted to domestic and foreign policies, with expertise in these areas, and a passion for governance. In sum, President Roosevelt greatly increased the responsibilities of his office. Fortunately for his successors, he also enhanced the capacity of the presidency to meet these new responsibilities.
Within three years he was practicing law again. Before the decade was over, he had become governor of New York. When Roosevelt ran for president in , the nation was in the middle of the greatest economic crisis in its history: the Great Depression. One-fourth of all workers were unemployed. Homeless people roamed the country looking for food and work. Families who had lost their homes lived in shacks in temporary settlements known as "Hoovervilles," named after the current president, Herbert Hoover.
Roosevelt promised to improve the country with a "new deal for the American people. As soon as Roosevelt took office, he began working to keep his promise.
In his first hundred days, he signed 14 laws to help the country recover. These laws were part of a bigger plan—called the New Deal—that Roosevelt hoped would help the country. Among other things, the laws created jobs for people who needed work.
During this time, he formed an alliance with Louis Howe, who would shape his political career for the next 25 years. Roosevelt was re-elected to the state senate in and served as chair of the agricultural committee, passing farm and labor bills and social welfare programs. During the National Democratic Convention, Roosevelt supported presidential candidate Woodrow Wilson and was rewarded with an appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, the same job Theodore Roosevelt had used to catapult himself to the presidency.
Roosevelt was an energetic and efficient administrator. He specialized in business operations, working with Congress to get budgets approved and systems modernized, and he founded the U.
Naval Reserve. But he was restless in the position as "second chair" to his boss, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, who was less enthusiastic about supporting a large and efficient naval force.
In , Roosevelt decided to run for the U. Senate seat for New York. The proposition was doomed from the start, as he lacked White House support. President Wilson needed the Democratic political machine to get his social reforms passed and ensure his re-election. He could not support Roosevelt, who had made too many political enemies among New York Democrats.
Roosevelt was soundly defeated in the primary election and learned a valuable lesson that national stature could not defeat a well-organized local political organization. Still, Roosevelt took to Washington politics and found his career thriving as he developed more personal relationships. At the Democratic Convention, he accepted the nomination for vice president, as James M.
Cox's running mate. The pair was soundly defeated by Republican Warren G. Harding in the general election, but the experience gave Roosevelt national exposure. Roosevelt repaired his relationship with New York's Democratic political machine. He appeared at the and Democratic National Conventions to nominate New York governor Al Smith for president, which increased his national exposure.
When Eleanor discovered the affair, she gave Franklin an ultimatum in to stop seeing Lucy or she would file for divorce. Roosevelt agreed to stop seeing Mercer romantically, but years later began secretly see Mercer again.
She was, in fact, with him at the time of his death. In , at the age of 39, Roosevelt was diagnosed with polio while vacationing at Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada. At first, refusing to accept that he was permanently paralyzed, Roosevelt tried numerous therapies and even bought the Warm Springs resort in Georgia seeking a cure.
Despite his efforts, he never regained the use of his legs. He later established a foundation at Warm Springs to help others and instituted the March of Dimes program that eventually funded an effective polio vaccine.
For a time, Roosevelt was resigned to being a victim of polio, believing his political career to be over. But his wife Eleanor and political confidante Louis Howe encouraged him to continue on. Over the next several years, Roosevelt worked to improve his physical and political image. He taught himself to walk short distances in his braces. After Roosevelt returned from Yalta, he was so weak that he was forced to sit down while addressing Congress for the first time in his presidency.
In early April , he left Washington and traveled to his cottage in Warm Springs, Georgia , where he had long before established a nonprofit foundation to aid polio patients. Roosevelt suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage and died on April 12, He was succeeded in office by his vice president, Harry S. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present.
Theodore Roosevelt unexpectedly became the 26th president of the United States in September after the assassination of William McKinley. Young and physically robust, he brought a new energy to the White House, and won a second term on his own merits in Roosevelt, a Franklin Pierce , the son of a onetime governor of New Hampshire, entered politics at a young age. He served as speaker of the state legislature before winning election to the U. House of Representatives in After two terms in the House and one in the Senate, Roosevelt was distantly related to both his wife and 11 other presidents.
An only child with maternal roots dating back to the Mayflower, Franklin D. Roosevelt spent a privileged childhood in Hyde Park, New York, prior to attending an elite Massachusetts boarding school.
First lady Eleanor Roosevelt , wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt , the U. The niece of President Theodore Roosevelt ,
0コメント