Franklin D. Roosevelt
Learn about FDR — the president who led America through the Great Depression and World War II, reshaping the role of government.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) was the 32nd President of the United States, serving an unprecedented four terms (1933–1945). He led the nation through the Great Depression and most of World War II, fundamentally transforming the role of the federal government in American life and shaping the postwar international order.
Roosevelt's New Deal (1933–1939) was the most dramatic expansion of federal government power in American history. Faced with 25% unemployment and a banking system in collapse, he created public works programs (the CCC, WPA), financial regulations (the SEC, Glass-Steagall), and social safety nets (Social Security) that provided relief and recovery while permanently expanding the government's role in the economy. The New Deal did not end the Depression — that required wartime spending — but it prevented total social collapse and restored public confidence.
As a wartime leader, Roosevelt guided American strategy, built the 'Arsenal of Democracy,' forged the alliance with Britain and the Soviet Union, and planned the postwar order — including the United Nations. His death on April 12, 1945, just weeks before Germany's surrender, denied him the chance to see victory. Roosevelt's legacy is debated — critics point to the internment of Japanese Americans and his failure to bomb the railways to Auschwitz — but his impact on American governance and international institutions was immense.
Lessons covering this topic
Browse all lessons →The Roaring Twenties & the Great Depression
Boom, bust, and global economic crisis.
The Global Conflict
From Blitzkrieg to the Pacific — war on every front.
Turning Points of WWII
Stalingrad, Midway, D-Day — the tide turns.
Hiroshima & the End of WWII
The atomic bomb and the dawn of a new era.