Basic Information
Name: Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Nickname: FDR, King Franky, The American Emperor, Wheeler and (New) Dealer, Fireside Frank
Born: January 30th, 1882
Died: April 12th, 1945
Nationality: U.S.A.
Hometown: Hyde Park, New York
WORK & EDUCATION
Occupation: President of the United States, Governor of New York, Politician, Lawyer
Education: Columbia Law School, Harvard College
FAMILY & FRIENDS
Parents: James Roosevelt I, Sara Roosevelt
Siblings: None
Spouse: Eleanor Roosevelt
Children: Anna Eleanor, James II, Franklin (died in infancy), Elliott, Franklin Delano Jr., John Aspinwall
Friends: John Nance Garner (1st Vice President), Henry A. Wallace (2nd Vice President), Harry S. Truman (3rd Vice President), Dwight D. Eisenhower, Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, the American people
Foes: Herbert Hoover, Adolf Hitler, Japanese-Americans, Emperor Hirohito, Constitutional sticklers
Analysis
One Man to Rule Them
FDR was the closest America ever got to having a king. And we're saying that as a statement of fact rather than a judgment—it's like us saying that Prince was the closest American ever got to having, well, a prince. Those are just the facts.
Franky D. holds the record for the longest active President of the United States, bucking the two-term trend that was in place since George Washington's reign. Clocking in at twelve years as President (that's four back-to-back won elections, y'all) Roosevelt has been called everything from a saint to a…dictator.
Whatever history thinks of him, one thing is for sure: he permanently changed the United States in terms of economics, social reforms, and what it means to be a leader. After all, this is the guy who told America "there is nothing to fear but fear itself" (1933). (Oof—that's a good line.)
He addresses that fear in "First Fireside Chat," and again in future speeches too. There's a bunch of good and bad to Roosevelt's rule depending on your perspective, so let's get into it.
From Riches to…Riches
FDR was not a rags-to-riches guy. He was less Jay Gatsby and more Daisy Buchanan.
He was born into a wealthy family, and spent most of his life in politics. Which is funny, considering that when Frank was five years old he met President Grover Cleveland, who told him "I have one wish for you, little man, that you will never be President of the United States." (Source)
There's some historical irony for you. (Also: why on earth is the president of the United States using a five year old as a confessional sounding board? You're weird, Grover.)
Roosevelt went from New York Senate to Assistant Secretary of the Navy to candidate for Vice President to Governor of New York to 32nd President of the United States…to being re-elected as Prez three times. He married Eleanor Roosevelt (who would be very active in humanitarian work), and he fought a constant battle against polio, which plagued him from 1921 until his death (from the disease) in 1945.
Dictator in Chief?
As President through both the Great Depression and World War II, you could say that Roosevelt saw it all. He was a man of action ("First Fireside Chat" was given on his eighth day in office, after all), and in the first one hundred days of his presidency he made huge changes to both the laws of the country, and to his power as president.
He is often criticized for increasing the power of the president, because the same thing was happening across the Atlantic—Adolf Hitler was consolidating power in Germany. Hitler chose to use his power to murder millions; Roosevelt mainly just put people to work in national parks. So yeah: not exactly a fair comparison.
This quote may help you understand Roosevelt's position on government:
"Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country." (Source)
A New Deal for the American People
You've probably heard of the New Deal, which was Roosevelt's plan to turn the country around during the depression. He created jobs for the unemployed, putting people to work on construction projects, roads, bridges, and national parks as mentioned above. He made big changes to the way business is done in America, with heavier government regulation of Wall Street and the banks.
He supported farmers with government tax money, and got rid of Prohibition in order to boost economic growth through taxes gained from alcohol sales…as well as the mad cash to be made by selling hot wings to drunk people at 3 a.m.
Lastly, he created Social Security—the government payment plan that helps the elderly keep on truckin' in their later years, so that the burden of support doesn't fall on their families.
FDR was more or less successful in battling the Great Depression, although it would take World War II for America to completely free itself from the disaster. Towards the end of the 30s and into the war, Roosevelt made a couple moves that might make you squint with a "what are you up to" look on your face.
The first was stacking the Supreme Court—Roosevelt's attempt to expand the country's most powerful court—and many took this action as his way of getting judges who would vote his way into power. This maneuver ultimately failed, but it certainly raised suspicions about FDR's use of power.
The second controversial action was Roosevelt's "Order 9066," which began after Pearl Harbor and placed a great number of Japanese-Americans into concentration camps in the western desert states. America was fearful of Japan after Pearl Harbor was hit, and many people thought anyone of Japanese descent couldn't be trusted.
The controversial move uprooted and ruined thousands of Japanese-American lives, and it wasn't until the 1980s that the government issued a formal apology.
Remembering King Frank
So how should we remember President Franklin Delano Roosevelt? We're not here to tell you what to think, that's for you to decide. But it's important to realize that the decisions made in the past, good or bad by today's standards, should be judged within their own context.
For what it's worth, FDR often ranks in the top three United States presidents of all time (alongside Honest Abe and George "Dollar Bill" Washington).
A thought-provoking question to leave you with is this: had FDR survived until the end of World War II, would he have made the same decision as President Truman to drop two atomic bombs on Japan? What do you think, based on his policy-making during his twelve years in office?