32nd president of the USA, b. 30 January 1882 (New York, USA), d. 22 April 1945 (Warm Springs)
Franklin Roosevelt was born into a family of wealth and luxury and a member of the North American ruling elite. His parents, who lived in the Hudson valley near New York and in European resorts, maintained the social code of the first European settlers that out of good fortune grows responsibility towards the less fortunate. The young Franklin travelled with his parents, and his private education in his parents house emphasized responsibility and service to the public.
Franklin studied law at Harvard University but showed little enthusiasm for it. He was impressed by president Theodore Roosevelt, a distant relation of his, and wanted to enter politics, too. In 1910 he campaigned for the state senate of New York; his name and connection with the presidency guranteed his victory. In 1913 he was appoined assistant secretary of the navy.
In 1921 Roosevelt was afflicted by poliomyelitis and was severely paralized. He continued in politics, sending his wife Eleanor to meetings and gatherings on his behalf and building an effective team with her. In 1927, still walking on crutches, his friends talked him into running for Governor of New York, and he won.
Roosevelt concentrated on tax relief for farmers and cheaper public utilities. The world economic crisis of 1929 made these measures essential for the survival of many, and Roosevelt was re-elected in 1930. As the crisis developed into the Great Depression of the 1930s he began to develop instruments of state relief. The Temporary Emergency Relief Administration of New York was the first of the state relief agencies.
In March 1933 Roosevelt became president. He had won the election by promising farm assistance, public development of electricity, a balanced budget, and government monitoring of economic power - in his words, "private economic power is ... a public trust as well." At the beginning of his presidency the USA had 13 million unemployed, its economy stood at 56% of its 1929 level, and most farmers faced ruin. Roosevelt established the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps, which employed 500,000 young men in reforestation and flood control. He introduced mortgage relief and offered loans to small businesses.
Roosevelt's "New Deal", as his programme became known, could not negate the laws of capitalism, but it could reduce the suffering of most people by reigning in the power of industry and bank capital. The latter fought most of the New Deal in the Supreme Court, forcing Roosevelt to constantly modify and reshape his legislation. A lasting result of the New Deal is the Tennessee Valley irrigation system, which turned an impoverished flood-prone region into a fruit bowl.
Roosevelt was re-elected in 1936 and thus was president when World War II broke out in 1939. In a special session of Congress he had the Neutrality Act changed, so that the USA could sell arms to France and Britain. In the presidential election of 1940 he stood by a policy of non-participation in the war, but his support to Great Britain found favour with a public that wanted to oppose Hitler's expansionist policy, and he was re-elected to a third term.
The USA did not enter the war until December 1941, when Japan bombed Pearl Harbour in Hawaii (on 7 December). The years 1939 - 1941, when Europe's infrastructure was destroyed while industry in the USA was running at fullest capacity, laid the foundation for the USA's growth into a "superpower" after the war. Roosevelt knew that Japan was preparing for war. Most sources say that he did not expect an attack on the USA but possibly the Philippines (then a colony of the USA). Recent new evidence suggests that he may have known Japan's plans better but considered that a surprise bombing of Pearl Harbour would shock the public into accepting involvement in the war. Roosevelt's thoughts and insights may never be fully known; but war on Germany, Italy and Japan was declared on 8 December.
Roosevelt met with Churchill on several occasions to plan the Atlantic Alliance for the period after the war. In February 1945 he met with Churchill and Stalin in Yalta (Crimea) to discuss the definition of areas of interest between the emerging superpower USA and Europe on one side and the emerging communist superpower on the other side. He won the presidency for a fourth term in 1945 but suffered a cerebral hemorrhage shortly after his first address to Congress.
Roosevelt's popularity with the common people is beyond doubt - no other president was elected for more than two terms of office. There can also be no doubt that he valued the contribution of the ordinary men and women to society and felt a moral obligation to look after their welfare; in his own words, "the presidency ... is pre-eminently a place of moral leadership." In the end, however, he was instrumental to the establishment of the USA as a superpower. It is ironic that he had to fight the representatives of capital in the Supreme Court to achieve this.