Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Roosevelt was born in 1882 into a wealthy family in Hyde Park, New York, and received a fine upbringing from an early age, attending Groton School and then Harvard University. He was a distant relative of the 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt, and took an interest in public affairs while young; after graduating he studied at Columbia Law School and worked as a lawyer.

His political career began in the New York State Senate, after which he served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in the Wilson administration and ran for vice president in the 1920 election. In 1921 he was suddenly stricken by illness and paralyzed in the legs, and his political career was for a time seriously affected; after several years of recovery he returned to public life and was elected Governor of New York in 1928.

In 1932, against the backdrop of the Great Depression, he was elected president. After taking office he carried out the set of policies known as the New Deal, addressing the economic crisis through legislation on banking, agriculture, industry, employment, and social security, and communicating with the public through radio “fireside chats.” These measures had a profound influence on America's economic and social governance in the years that followed.

As the late 1930s arrived, the international situation grew ever more tense. After the Second World War broke out in Europe, the United States at first stayed neutral; after the attack on Pearl Harbor, it formally entered the war. Roosevelt led the United States in wartime and took part in strategic coordination among the Allies, breaking precedent to be re-elected to third and fourth terms.

In early 1945 he attended the Yalta Conference, discussing with Allied leaders the postwar settlement and questions such as an international organization. That April he died at Warm Springs, Georgia, before he could see the war's end, and was succeeded by Vice President Truman. As the only U.S. president elected to four terms, he left a broad and lasting mark on both domestic affairs and the international order.