Franklin Delano Roosevelt
By Luke P
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882 to a wealthy family and his second cousin was a former president. Studied history at Harvard and then began to study law at Columbia University. Married Anna Eleanor in 1905 and go on to have 6 children. Entered politics in 1910 as a member of the Democratic Party and is elected to the New York senate. Woodrow Wilson promoted him to assistant secretary of the navy which he holds until 1920. In 1920, he entered politics full time and is chosen as a Vice Presidential candidate but are defeated. In 1921, he contracted polio and is paralyzed from the waist down. In 1932, the Democratic Party elects him as its presidential candidate and is inaugurated as the 32nd president. He was able to get elected a president by showing support for isolationism and promising economic reforms. Later he would renounce his isolationist policy and call on the nationalism and strength of the American people in order to gain further support for both him and the war effort. He implements the "new deal" which imposed social and economic reforms across the nation. He is re-elected in 1936. He then wins a historic third term as president and makes the "four freedoms speech." In March, 1941, Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease bill which provided armaments and financial help to the allied nations. On December 8th, he delivered his infamy speech to congress and urged them to declare war on the Japanese. In 1943, him and Churchill meet at Casablanca and decide that they will accept only unconditional surrender. At the Quebec conference, he and Churchill planned the Normandy landings. Died on April 12, 1945 after suffering a massive cerebral hemorrhage and died at the "little White House" in his cottage in Warm Springs, Georgia.