Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd president of America

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the thirty-second president of the United States, who led the nation out of the Great Depression and later into World War II. Before he died, he established the United Nations. He was the only president elected to the office four times.
Franklin Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882 at Hyde Park, New York. He was the only child of James and Sara Delano Roosevelt. When Franklin was born, his father was 51 years old and his mother was 28.
At the age of 14 he went to Groton School. He studied in Harvard University where he was an editor of the Harvard newspaper.
Despite his mother’s opposition, Franklin married his cousin Eleanor on March 17, 1905. The couple had six children. In the same year he entered Columbia University Law School. He became a lawyer and entered a clerkship in the Wall Street firm of Carter, Ledyard and Milburn.

In 1910 Roosevelt was elected as a Democrat to the New York Senate. In 1912 he was reelected.
In March 1913 Woodrow Wilson appointed Roosevelt assistant secretary of the navy. Roosevelt helped lead the Navy to victory over German sea forces.
In the summer of 1921 he became mysteriously ill. His disease, poliomyelitis, was not immediately diagnosed. He was almost totally paralyzed. In fact, he never recovered the use of his legs.
In 1928 and again in 1930 Roosevelt was elected governor of New York.
In 1932 he won presidential elections. In November 1936 Roosevelt was reelected. Roosevelt’s second term began with a struggle between himself and the Supreme Court. In 1940 he determined to break with tradition set by George Washington and run for a third term.
In March 1941 Roosevelt ordered the navy to fire at German submarines, and in August 1941 he met with the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on a battleship off Newfoundland, Canada. Roosevelt worked with British leader to plan the war effort. Later, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin joined them.
Roosevelt and other world leaders also began planning the United Nations, a new organization to maintain world peace.
In the 1944 presidential election Roosevelt won again standing for a fourth time.
Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945. His grave is marked by a plain marble slab, and his wife is buried beside him.

Interesting facts
– Roosevelt was not only a great politician, but also a writer. In 1945 he tried to revive the image of the famous literary character invented by Arthur Conan Doyle. He wrote an essay, A Baker Street folio : five letters about Sherlock Holmes from Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
– Roosevelt’s wife, Eleanor, was known as a very active woman, who participated in political and public life of America. Once she went to prison with charitable purposes and forgot to tell her husband about the visit. When the husband woke up he asked about Eleanor. The answer was: “She is in prison”. Roosevelt said: “It does not surprise me. And what did she do to get there?”
– Roosevelt was an avid philatelist. He had a great collection of stamps from various countries.
– Between Manhattan Island and Long Island there is a piece of land, which is called “Roosevelt Island”.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt – 32nd president of America