Franklin Delano Roosevelt
president of the United States from 1933 to 1945 (1882–1945)
Franklin D. Roosevelt: from New York reformer to wartime president
A political apprenticeship
Roosevelt entered public life as a New York state senator in 1910 and became assistant secretary of the Navy under Woodrow Wilson. After a disabling illness in 1921, he returned to politics and won the New York governorship in 1928. That comeback gave him a platform for responding to the economic crisis.
The New Deal years
Elected president in 1932, Roosevelt used federal programs to confront the Great Depression. His administration expanded relief, public employment and regulation, while Social Security became one of its most durable reforms. His radio addresses helped explain these changes directly to households, though the recovery remained incomplete before the war.
War leadership and a grave injustice
Roosevelt led the United States through most of World War II and won an unprecedented fourth presidential election in 1944. His record also includes Executive Order 9066, which enabled the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans. He died in April 1945, before the war ended.
Data and sources
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum — biography ↗