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Birth
Franklin was born on January 30, 1882 in Hyde Park, NY. His parents are Sara Delano and James Roosevelt. His father died when he was 18, and his mother died when he was 59. He also has a half brother named James Roosevelt Roosevelt who lived from 1854-1927. -
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Franklin D. Roosevelt's Life
A timeline of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's life. -
Education
Franklin was tutored at home until in 1896 when he attended Groton, a highly esteemed preparatory school in Massachusetts. He receivd a BA degree in history at Harvard in 1903. -
Marriage
Franklin D. Roosevelt married Anna Eleanor Roosevelt on March 17, 1905, St. Patrick's Day. Eleanor was a niece of the former President Theodore Roosevelt. Together, they had 6 children, but only 5 who survived infancy. -
Politics
Franklin entered politics in 1910 and was elected to the New York State Senate as a Democratic party member. -
US Navy
He was appointed as Assistant Secretary of the Navy which he stayed as until 1920. -
Vice President of James Cox
Roosevelt's popularity and success in naval affairs resulted in his being nominated for vice-president by the Democratic Party in 1920 on a ticket headed by James M. Cox of Ohio. However, more people favored Republican Warren Harding, and he was elected the President. Roosevelt then returned to private life. -
Polio
While vacationing at Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Roosevelt contracted poliomyelitis (infantile paralysis) in the summer of 1921. -
New York Governor
In 1928, Franklin was elected the Governor of New York after the previous Governor Alfred E. Smith was nominated as the Democratic candidate for President. Mr. Smith lost the election, but Franklin still won the Governor spot for New York. He was re-elected Governor in 1930. After his re-election, Franklin begins campaigning for the Presidency. -
Re-Election as Governor and Campaign for Presidency
Following his reelection as governor in 1930, Roosevelt began to campaign for the presidency. While the economic depression damaged Hoover and the Republicans, Roosevelt's bold efforts to combat it in New York enhanced his reputation. It was also during this time that Mr. Roosevelt began his Presidential campaign. -
Elected President
FDR is nominated as the Democratic Party candidate for president and defeats Hoover in November by seven million votes. -
Inauguration
Mr. Roosevelt takes the oath of office on March 4, 1933. -
The First "100 Days"
Factory closings, farm foreclosures, and bank failures increased, while unemployment soared. He undertook immediate actions to initiate his New Deal programs. He closed the banks temporarily. Then he worked with a special session of Congress during the first "100 days" to pass recovery legislation which set up alphabet agencies. -
ABC Agencies
AAA - Agricultural Adjustment Act, 1933 CAA - Civil Aeronautics Authority (now Federal Aviation Administration), 1933 CCC - Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933 CCC - Commodity Credit Corporation, 1933 CWA - Civil Works Administration, 1933 EBA - Emergency Banking Act, 1933 EPA - Environmental Protection Agency, 1970 FAP - Federal Art Project, part of WPA, 1935 FCA - Farm Credit Administration, 1933 FCC - Federal Communications Commission, 1934 -
WPA
Another flurry of New Deal legislation followed in 1935 including the establishment of the Works Projects Administration (WPA) which provided jobs not only for laborers but also artists, writers, musicians, and authors, and the Social Security act which provided unemployment compensation and a program of old-age and survivors' benefits. -
2nd Term Re-election
Roosevelt easily defeated Alfred M. Landon in the 1936 re-election. -
Low Point
During the 1938 election he campaigned against many Democratic opponents, but this backfired when most were reelected to Congress. These setbacks, coupled with the recession that occurred midway through his second term, represented the low-point in Mr. Roosevelt's presidential career. -
Neutrality in WW2
When Hitler attacked Poland in September 1939, Roosevelt stated that, although the nation was neutral, he did not expect America to remain inactive in the face of Nazi aggression. Accordingly, he tried to make American aid available to Britain, France, and China and to obtain an amendment of the Neutrality Acts which rendered such assistance difficult. He also took measures to build up the armed forces in the face of isolationist opposition. -
3rd Term Re-election
Franklin is re-elected for a 3rd term, something not commonly done by previous Presidents. This later lead to an ammendment limiting the number of terms a President can serve. -
Lend-Lease Bill
With the fall of France in 1940, the American mood and Roosevelt's policy changed dramatically. Congress proposed a draft for military service and Roosevelt signed a "lend-lease" bill in March 1941 to enable the nation to furnish aid to nations at war with Germany and Italy. America, though a neutral in the war and still at peace, was becoming very active quite quickly in this war. -
Pearl Harbor and the Declaration of War on Germany
The Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, followed four days later by Germany's and Italy's declarations of war against the US, brought the nation into the war. Roosevelt exercised his powers as Commander-in-Chief, a role he actively carried out. He worked with and through his military advisers and took an active role in this. The next day on December 8, 1941, FDR delivers his "day of infamy" speech before Congress and asks for a formal declaration of war against Germany. -
4th Term Re-election
In 1944, Roosevelt is once again re-elected for Presidency. Up to this point, this has never been heard of before. -
Death
Franklin D. Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945 in Warm Springs, Georgia. The cause of death was determined to be a cerebral hemorrhage (a stroke). He was 63 years old. His death came on the eve of complete military victory in Europe and within months of victory over Japan in the Pacific. President Roosevelt was buried in the Rose Garden of his estate at Hyde Park, New York.
