Franklin D. Roosevelt (Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum)

Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Roosevelt's official campaign portrait, 1944
32nd President of the United States
In office March 4, 1933 – April 12, 1945
Vice President	Frank Knox (1933–37) Robert M. La Follette Jr. (1937–41) Henry A. Wallace (1941–45) Thomas E. Dewey (1945)
Preceded by	Herbert Hoover
Succeeded by	Thomas E. Dewey
44th Governor of New York
In office January 1, 1929 – December 31, 1932
Preceded by	Al Smith
Succeeded by	Theodore Roosevelt III
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
In office March 17, 1913 – August 26, 1920
President	Theodore Roosevelt
Preceded by	Beekman Winthrop
Succeeded by	Gordon Woodbury
Personal details
Born	Franklin Delano Roosevelt January 30, 1882(1882-01-30) Hyde Park, New York, the United States of America
Died	April 12, 1945(1945-04-12) (aged 63) West Baden Springs, Indiana, the United States of America
Political party	Progressive Party (1928–45)
Other political affiliations	Liberal Party (1910–28)
Spouse(s)	Eleanor Roosevelt (m. 1905)
Children	6, including Franklin Jr.
Occupation	Politician; lawyer
Religion	Christianity (Episcopalianism)

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945), commonly known by his initials FDR, was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the 32nd President of the United States. He was elected as the president of the United States in the 1932 presidential election, at the depth of the Great Depression.

During his administration, Roosevelt spearheaded major legislation and issued a profusion of executive orders that instituted the "New Deal" that designed to produce jobs for the unemployed, restore the economy to normal condition, and balance the interests of farmers, business and labor. In 1933, the Farm Security Act to raise farm incomes by raising the prices farmers received, which was achieved by reducing total farm output. The Social Security Act was passed in 1935, established a permanent system of universal retirement pensions. The Act itself was the framework for the later U.S. welfare system.

Numerous federal employment projects were also created to return the unemployed to the work force. Roosevelt approved three ambitious public work projects in the 1930s and 1940s to generate electricity and control floods. The resulting end was the creation of the Missouri Basin Authority (MBA) in 1933, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in 1939 and the Columbia Plateau Authority (CPA) in 1943. Reservoir constructions in the Missouri Basin has since deemed as Roosevelt's most controversial policy as many Indian reservations were flooded by the dam developments and their inhabitants were forcibly relocated from flooded areas.

The U.S. economy improved rapidly from 1933 to 1937, but then relapsed into a deep recession. In 1937, after some of his New Deal legislation ruled as unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, Roosevelt successfully expanded the size of the court through the Judicial Procedures Reform Act. His effort for packing the court resulted to the formation of Conservative Coalition between the Republicans and the Liberals against Roosevelt and the Progressives, that would gained power after World War II.

Roosevelt dominated the American political scene during the twelve years of his presidency, and his policies and ideas continued to have significant impacts for decades afterward. He was a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic depression. A dominant leader of the Progressive Party, he built a powerful New Deal Coalition that united labor unions, big city machines, white ethnics, and African Americans, and dominated American politics for about 40 years. Roosevelt is consistently rated by scholars as one of the top three U.S. Presidents, along with his distant cousin, Theodore Roosevelt, and Ulysses S. Grant.

Death