President Franklin Roosevelt

Roosevelt was born in Hyde Park New York on January 30, 1882.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt's mother forced him to wear a dress until he was five years old.

Genealogists have determined that FDR was related to: George Washington, John Adams, James Madison, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Harrison, Theodore Roosevelt, and William Howard Taft.

Roosevelt loved to swim and was a college football player. While at Harvard, Franklin worked on the student newspaper call "The Crimson." It is still being published.(http://www.thecrimson.com/)

He later entered law school at Columbia University.

He was influenced by his uncle Teddy Roosevelt and followed his career path as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Governor of New York and finally the presidency.

On March 4, 1905, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt attended Theodore Roosevelt's presidential inauguration.

In 1908, Eleanor and Franklin's son died.

One of his first jobs after college was as a law clerk. He saw that as a beginning to a political career.

He wanted to run for the state house, but that job was filled with a popular representative, so he ran for the state senate. The democrats had only held that office once in his district. He was not a favorite to win, but he did.

In 1933, FDR declared that "Home on the Range" was his favorite song.

Franklin enjoyed sailing his yacht the Half Moon.

He enjoyed snacking on Fruit Cake. He also enjoyed eating pancakes, fish, cabbage, sweet potatoes with toasted marsh mellows.

After losing in the 1920 election, Franklin sent the men who had worked with him on the campaign a set of cuff links engraved with their initials and Franklin's initials. It was the beginning of the "Cuff Link Club." He continued the tradition of giving his close supporters a set of cuff links after every election.

Franklin D. Roosevelt held the record for the number of times he met with the press: 998 times.

President Roosevelt contracted polio at 39. Through rigorous exercise, he learned to stand with braces.

Franklin Roosevelt defeated Herbert Hoover in 1932 to become President.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was the only person who was elected President to four terms: 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944.

Franklin Roosevelt was the fourth cousin once removed of Ulysses Grant, fourth cousin three times removed of Zachary Taylor, fifth cousin of Theodore Roosevelt

FDR served hot dogs to the King and Queen of England when they came for a visit. And his dog, Major, once bit the British Prime Minister, Ramsey McDonald.

In 1935, all plane flights over the White House were barred because they were disturbing President Roosevelt's sleep.

He his dog was a black Scottie name Fala. He was perhaps the most famous of all White House pets. Fala can be seen in several photos of Roosevelt.

Roosevelt smoked cigarettes. Sometimes he would smoke a pack a day. (20 cigarettes in a pack.) You will often see pictures of him smoking with a cigarette holder.

After his inauguration in 1937, FDR watched the parade from a reviewing stand in front of the White House built to look like Andrew Jackson's Tennessee home.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first president to fly in an airplane. He did it in 1943.

FDR was the first president to have his own airplane, the first to travel through the Panama Canal, the first to visit a foreign country during wartime (6-10-43).

He was the first president to name a woman to his Cabinet, Frances Perkins, Secretary of State.

I'd Rather Be Right was a humorous play that opened on November 2, 1937. It satirized the highest office of the land as it related to FDR.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first President to have air conditioning in the White House.

President Roosevelt vetoed 935 bills passed by congress. Congress only overrode nine of his vetoes.

Franklin threatened to pack (add more members) the Supreme Court because the court declared so many of the acts of congress unconstitutional.

FDR requested that the White House Easter Egg Roll be discontinued, which it was, for 11 years. Dwight D. Eisenhower brought the tradition back in 1953.

FDR started the presidential library tradition in 1939 when he donated his papers to the U.S. and asked the National Archives to administer them. His presidential library was the first to be dedicated.

Franklin D. Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945 in Warm Springs, Ga. He was 63 years and 72 days old. He is buried in a family plot in Hyde Park, N. Y.

Every time an artist dies part of the vision of mankind passes with him.
1941, As FDR Said, p. 161

"People who are hungry and out of a jobs are the stuff of which dictatorships are made."

Franklin D. Roosevelt
1933 - 1945
32nd President

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Franklin D. Roosevelt 1933 - 1945 32nd President

Franklin D. Roosevelt
1933 - 1945
32nd President