LibGuides: U.S. Presidents: Franklin Roosevelt

Profile

Occupation	U.S. President (March 4, 1933 - April 12, 1945)
Date of Birth	January 30, 1882
Date of Death	April 12, 1945
Place of Birth	Hyde Park, NY
Place of Death	Warm Springs, GA
Education	Harvard University Groton Preparatory School Columbia University Law School
Nicknames	"FDR"
Parents	Sara Ann Delano James Roosevelt, I
Spouse	Eleanor Roosevelt
Political Party	Democratic
Number of Children	Six

Did You Know?

President Roosevelt...

...was the only U.S. President to be elected four times.
...was an unimpressive 'C' student at Harvard.
...and his wife Eleanor were fifth cousins.

Biography

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 to April 12, 1945) was the 32nd American president who led the United States through the Great Depression and World War II, greatly expanding the powers of the federal government through a series of programs and reforms known as the New Deal. Stricken with polio in 1921, Roosevelt (commonly known as FDR) spent much of his adult life in a wheelchair. A whole generation of Americans grew up knowing no other president, as FDR served an unprecedented four terms in office. Roosevelt’s social programs reinvented the role of government in Americans' lives, while his presidency during World War II established the United States' leadership on the world stage.

Quotes

“There is nothing I love as much as a good fight.”

—Franklin D. Roosevelt

“This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

—Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.”

—Franklin D. Roosevelt

“These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.”

—Franklin D. Roosevelt

“We know now that government by organized money is just as dangerous as government by organized mob.”

—Franklin D. Roosevelt

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”

—Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Freedom to learn is the first necessity of guaranteeing that man himself shall be self-reliant enough to be free.”

—Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Wealth in the modern world does not come merely from individual effort; it results from a combination of individual effort and of the manifold uses to which the community puts that effort.”

—Franklin D. Roosevelt

“There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.”

—Franklin D. Roosevelt