37 Facts About FDR

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945.

FDR won election to the New York State Senate in 1910, and then served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson during World War I Roosevelt was James M Cox's running mate on the Democratic Party's 1920 national ticket, but Cox was defeated by Republican Warren G Harding.

FDR served as governor from 1929 to 1933, promoting programs to combat the economic crisis besetting the United States.

FDR's administration oversaw the construction of The Pentagon, initiated the development of the world's first atomic bomb, and worked with other Allied leaders to lay the groundwork for the United Nations and other post-war institutions.

FDR then attended Groton School, an Episcopal boarding school in Groton, Massachusetts.

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FDR was not among the more popular Groton students, who were better athletes and had rebellious streaks.

FDR was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity and the Fly Club, and served as a school cheerleader.

FDR entered Columbia Law School in 1904 but dropped out in 1907 after passing the New York Bar Examination.

FDR was not always aware of when she visited the White House and for some time she could not easily reach him on the telephone without his secretary's help; Roosevelt, in turn, did not visit Eleanor's New York City apartment until late 1944.

FDR had the personality and energy for campaigning, and he had the money to pay for his own campaign.

FDR had then become more consistently progressive, in support of labor and social welfare programs.

FDR was without Wilson's support, as the president needed Tammany's forces for his legislation and 1916 re-election.

FDR learned that federal patronage alone, without White House support, could not defeat a strong local organization.

FDR sought to build support for a political comeback in the 1922 elections, but his career was derailed by illness.

FDR convinced many people that he was improving, which he believed to be essential prior to running for public office again.

FDR laboriously taught himself to walk short distances while wearing iron braces on his hips and legs by swiveling his torso, supporting himself with a cane.

FDR was careful never to be seen using his wheelchair in public, and great care was taken to prevent any portrayal in the press that would highlight his disability.

FDR usually appeared in public standing upright, supported on one side by an aide or one of his sons.

FDR issued an open letter endorsing Al Smith's successful campaign in New York's 1922 gubernatorial election, which both aided Smith and showed Roosevelt's continuing relevance as a political figure.

FDR never submitted it because his wife Eleanor Roosevelt was selected as a judge for the prize.

FDR's plan called for a new world organization that would replace the League of Nations.

FDR won the party's gubernatorial nomination by acclamation and again turned to Howe to lead his campaign.

FDR began holding "fireside chats", in which he directly addressed his constituents via radio, often pressuring the New York State Legislature to advance his agenda.

FDR became the first governor to publicly endorse the idea of unemployment insurance.

FDR's appearance was essential, to show himself as vigorous, despite the ravaging disease that disabled him physically.

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FDR's statements attacked the incumbent and included no other specific policies or programs.

FDR reconciled with the party's conservative wing, and even Al Smith was persuaded to support the Democratic ticket.

FDR reformed financial regulations with the Glass–Steagall Act, creating the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to underwrite savings deposits.

FDR won 86 percent of the Jewish vote, 81 percent of Catholics, 80 percent of union members, 76 percent of Southerners, 76 percent of blacks in northern cities, and 75 percent of people on relief.

FDR largely acquiesced to Congress's non-interventionist policies in the early-to-mid 1930s.

FDR was aided by the party's political bosses, who feared that no Democrat except Roosevelt could defeat Wendell Willkie, the popular Republican nominee.

FDR placed the Philippine military under American command and reinstated General Douglas MacArthur into active duty to command U S forces in the Philippines.

FDR assailed the President as a "tired old man" with "tired old men" in his cabinet, pointedly suggesting that the President's lack of vigor had produced a less than vigorous economic recovery.

FDR spoke while seated in the well of the House, an unprecedented concession to his physical incapacity.

FDR's death was met with shock and grief across the world.

FDR did appoint a "Black Cabinet" of African American advisers to advise on race relations and African American issues, and he publicly denounced lynching as "murder".

FDR created a new understanding of the presidency, permanently increasing the power of the president at the expense of Congress.