Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt is among the most remembered U.S. Presidents. Serving as President for more than twelve years, he was the only President to be elected four times. Roosevelt led the United States through its worst depression and its worst war. He tried his best to stay optimistic with our country and the decisions he made. In Roosevelt's first inaugural address, he asked for faith in America's future. He told the country, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" (Burns 1970, p. 238). That is the lesson that he taught our country to live by.

Franklin was born on January 30, 1882, in Hyde Park, New York. He was the only child of James and Sara Roosevelt. Born into a very wealthy family, he grew up on his father's estate called Springwood. Being an only child, his parents adored him, but brought him up with a loving firmness. His father taught him that "being wealthy also brought with it the responsibility of helping people who were not so lucky" (Johnson 1967, p. 38).

Franklin D. Roosevelt was always a very smart and educated young man. Growing up, Franklin's parents took him on many trips to Europe, where he studied and learned how to speak many different languages. He graduated from Harvard University in 1903 and then went on to get a degree from Columbia University Law School. But he never seemed to show an interest with doing legal work. In 1905, he married his distant cousin, Eleanor Roosevelt, whom he had been courting for some years before that. Franklin and Eleanor had six children together. Franklin took much pride and companionship in them. It wasn't until this time that Franklin decided to get involved with politics.

In 1910, Roosevelt accepted an invi...

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... individuals. For he once told his nation, "True individual freedom cannot exist without security and independence" (Freedman 1990, p. 494). That quality was his real claim for being known as the man that he was.

Bibliography:

Abbott, P. (1990). The Exemplary President and the American Political Trust, University of Mass. Press, Boston.

Burns, J. (1970). Roosevelt, the Soldier of Freedom, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., New York City.

Freedman, R. (1990). Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Clarion Books, New York City.

Johnson, G. (1967). Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Portrait of a Great Man, William Morrow and Co., Englewood Cliffs.

Schuman, M. (1996). Franklin D. Roosevelt: The Fourth Term President, Enslow Publishers, Inc., Springfield.

Sullivan, W. (1970). Franklin Delano Roosevelt, American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc., New York City.