Franklin D. Roosevelt

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"Men will thank God on their knees a hundred years from now that Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the White House," the New York Times editorialized at the time of his death. "It was his hand, more than that of any other single man, that built the great coalition of the United Nations. It was his leadership which inspired free men in every part of the world to fight with greater hope and courage. Gone is the fresh and spontaneous interest which this man took, as naturally as he breathed air, in the troubles and the hardships and the disappointments and the hopes of little men and humble people."

Although born against a background of millions in riches, Franklin Delano Roosevelt dedicated his life to improving the welfare of the little fellow--to the protection of millions of under-privileged fellow Americans from economic injustices. He was the champion of the oppressed--of the underdog.

This 1939 poster celebrated the efforts of the Children's Bureau, which was
the federal agency responsible for the health and welfare of America's children.

Physically crippled by polio, he exuded confidence and vitality as he led the country through many of its darkest hours. And the nation responded in kind, re-electing him to office by wide margins of victory--even when, in 1944, his failing health suggested that he might not live long enough to complete his term. As long as the U.S. remained at war with Germany and Japan, the American people were determined to stick by their commander-in-chief
He was the only man to be elected president of the United States four times, and he did it while presiding over two of the greatest crises in American history, the Great Depression and World War II. His policies in office dramatically changed the country socially and economically, while altering the nature of the presidency itself. If ever a man was made for the times, it was Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

1^st   Inaugural Address (with audio)
2^nd Inaugural Address (with audio)
3^rd   Inaugural Address
4^th   Inaugural Address

By March 1945, with victory in Europe nearly at hand, Franklin Roosevelt had been president for more than twelve years, but the war and the office were taking their toll on his health. Recognizing his ailing condition, Roosevelt decided to leave for a vacation to the Little White House in Warm Springs, Georgia, a spot that usually improved his health. He arrived there on the afternoon of March 30.

The Little White House, Warm Springs, Georgia

The Georgia air seemed to invigorate the President, and soon he settled into a balanced routine of work and pleasure.
On Monday, April 9, Lucy Rutherford, accompanied by her painter friend, Elizabeth Shoumatoff arrived to spend the final week of the vacation with the President. Lucy and Roosevelt met when he was assistant secretary of the navy, and FDR became quite smitten with her. Lucy brought Shoumatoff with her to paint a portrait of Roosevelt during their stay.
On April 11, Roosevelt worked on a draft of his upcoming Jefferson Day speech, well-crafted words and sentiments that would mirror his faith in the American spirit: "The only limit to our realization of tomorrow, will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith."
At noon the following day, Elizabeth Shoumatoff began work on FDR's portrait. The President sat in the living room dressed in a double-breasted gray suit and crimson tie. Surrounded by Lucy and several others, Roosevelt sifted through a stack of papers as Shoumatoff sketched.

Shoumatoff's unfinished portrait

At around 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time, the butler brought FDR and his party their lunch. At that moment, Roosevelt seemed agitated and flinched in his chair. An assistant asked the President if he needed help. FDR's head went forward. He gripped his head with his left hand and said, "I have a terrific headache." They would be his final words. The President collapsed and lost consciousness.
The President's physician, Dr. Bruenn, who had accompanied him to Warm Springs, was summoned to the President's bedroom, where he had been moved. Roosevelt struggled to survive, but his breathing had stopped. Despite desperate attempts at artificial respiration and a shot of adrenaline into his heart, the President was pronounced dead at 3:35 p.m.
By 5:30 p.m., Vice President Harry Truman arrived at the White House. When Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt told him of the President's death, he asked her if there was anything he could do for her. Knowing the magnitude of the job before him, she reciprocated, "Is there anything we can do for you?" Within ninety minutes, the Cabinet had been assembled, and Harry S. Truman became the thirty-third president of the United States.
Meanwhile, the nation began to hear of the tragic news with flashes starting at 5:47 p.m. eastern time. Tom Mix listeners on the Mutual Broadcasting System and children listening to the Daniel Boone serial Wilderness Road on CBS were jolted by broadcast interruptions announcing Roosevelt's death. People of every walk of life struggled to come to terms with it. For the millions who adored him, an America without Roosevelt seemed almost inconceivable. The New York Times was munificent in its editorial statement: "Men will thank God on their knees, a hundred years from now, that Franklin Delano Roosevelt was in the White House... in that dark hour when a powerful and ruthless barbarism threatened to overrun civilization..."
FDR's battles were over, and within a month, the country he served for so long would end its long fight by claiming victory in Europe.
On January 3, 2000, FDR was named 1^st runner-up (behind Albert Einstein) as Time Magazine's Man of the Century.