Franklin D. Roosevelt: Campaign Address at Madison Square Garden

About the Author

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882, in Hyde Park, New York. His was an “old-money” landed family, not nearly as wealthy as the new millionaires of the Gilded Age but prosperous enough for Roosevelt to be educated by tutors at home, then at the elite Groton Academy, and later at Harvard. The only child of his mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt, and distant in years from his older half-brother, James, Roosevelt developed an optimistic and confident personality. His easy way with people became one of his important political assets. Roosevelt attended Columbia Law School, passed the bar, and joined a Wall Street law firm but eventually chose politics as his career. Having learned from his parents the idea of service to others and being a good steward of the land, Roosevelt developed a liberal philosophy. He was influenced by the climate of opinion in the Progressive Era; by the Reverend George H. Peabody, headmaster of Groton; and by his distant cousin, President Theodore Roosevelt, whose advocacy of an active strenuous life of service inspired him. Another important influence was his wife, the social reformer Eleanor Roosevelt. The niece of Theodore Roosevelt, Eleanor was Roosevelt's distant cousin. The Roosevelts were married in 1905 and had six children. Roosevelt's unfaithfulness led to the deterioration of their intimate bond and nearly ended their marriage in 1918, but the couple remained political partners.

Roosevelt was elected to the New York state senate in 1910 and served as assistant secretary of the navy during the administration of Woodrow Wilson, whom Roosevelt greatly admired. A year after an unsuccessful campaign for the vice presidency in 1920, Roosevelt was struck by poliomyelitis, an event that contributed to his identification with those in need. Roosevelt worked hard to regain strength in his arms and back, was able to present the illusion that he was walking with the use of leg braces, and resumed his political career. He was elected governor of New York in 1928, was reelected to the post in 1930, and was elected president in 1932. Facing the challenge of the depression, Roosevelt brought in an array of diverse figures to help chart New Deal programs and provide jobs, relief, and assistance to farmers and those faced with losing their homes. Roosevelt also sought to produce economic recovery and, especially during the Second New Deal, to introduce fundamental reforms, such as the Social Security Act and the National Labor Relations Act. He was reelected to the presidency in 1936, 1940, and 1944. During his second term World War II began, and Roosevelt led the country to a policy of building up its defenses and aiding Great Britain. During his third term, the United States aided the Soviet Union when it was attacked by Nazi Germany and then entered the war directly after it was attacked by Japan. Although Roosevelt's focus during World War II was national unity to win the war, in January 1944 he called for an expansion of the New Deal by establishing an economic bill of rights. Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, less than one month before victory was achieved in Europe.