Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945)
32nd President of the United States
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882 in Hyde Park, New York to James and Sara Roosevelt, both from wealthy old New York families. He grew up in a privileged home, going to boarding school and later to Harvard. After graduating from Harvard he went on to Columbia Law School (1905) until 1907 when he passed the New York Bar Exam and started work in corporate law.
On March 17, 1905, Roosevelt married Eleanor, with his 5th cousin (and Elanor’s uncle) President Theodore Roosevelt standing for her. They had 6 children, with Franklin Jr. dying before he was 1.
In 1910 FDR was elected to the New York State Senate (Democrat) where he was elected for two consecutive terms. In 1913 he resigned to become Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson. Here he founded the US Navy Reserve and developed a life long affinity for the Navy. He resigned from this post in July 1920 for a failed bid for Vice President of the United States. After the defeat he went back to private law practice.
In August 1921, Roosevelt contracted an illness, at the time believed to be polio, which resulted in his total and permanent paralysis from the waist down. He refused to be held down by this and after he became President helped to found the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (now known as the March of Dimes). His leadership in this organization is one reason he is commemorated on the dime.
In 1928, Roosevelt was elected Governor of New York for two terms(1929-1932).
FDR’s dog, Fala, also became well-known during his time in the White House, and was called the “most photographed dog in the world.”
(This entry is a work in progress and will be routinely updated. Please feel free to send any suggestions that you feel should be added about FDR.)
