Franklin Delano Roosevelt-Larger than Life

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born January 30 1882 in Hyde Park New York. To say that FDR was born with a silver spoon in his mouth would be an understatement at the least. He was born with the entire sterling place sitting in his mouth. Which is one of the factors that makes the actions and programs he put forward as President all the more surprising. That Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the hero of the poor and downtrodden is a remarkable American story. At the time of his death in Warm Springs Georgia on April 12 1945 there was a whole generation of young Americans who had grown up knowing no other President than Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He had been elected to the White House four times.

History tends to place Franklin Roosevelt in the 3rd place on the list of Great American Presidents and I have to agree with that evaluation. FDR belongs right up there on the pedestal with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln in my opinion.

FDR's influence was such that I feel that America's History in the 20th Century can be divided into a Before FDR and After FDR time frame.Before FDR there was no Social Security,there wasn't any form of unemployment insurance. The list goes on. FDR's effect can be felt to this day in the programs and the policies his put forward.

I'm not one of those who blame Herbert Hoover for the Depression. The roots of the Great Depression go back many years before the Hoover Presidency. But I do feel that Hoover was the wrong man for the job once the depression set in.

When Roosevelt entered office in March of 1933 he began a furry of activity aimed at battling the economic nightmare facing our country. While not all of his programs were successful, most Americans were just happy to see the government trying something,anything to come to the aid of the millions of people who had fallen upon hard times in America. The CCC, TVA,WAP, and other agencies with three letter acronyms for names became well known throughout the United States.

That's not to say that FDR always made the right choices. Being human he made mistakes.He also met opposition to many of his policies from within his own party. FDR and his trusted assistant Harry Wallace pushed hard for the hiring by agencies such as the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) of minorities. At this time in the Senate there was what was known as the Solid South. Since Reconstruction had ended in the Southern States, the South had elected only Democrats to the Senate. So as a rule a Democratic President could count on this powerful block of Southern Senators for support.By pushing the issue of hiring of minorities FDR was putting this support at risk. And that was just the beginning of his troubles as President. His attempt to change the count of the Justices on the Supreme Court in what became known as The Court Packing Scheme was just one of the things FDR tried that didn't work out at all in the manner his had hoped. His administration's early battles with the Supreme Court over many of the programs FDR was promoting in an attempt to battle the depression are well documented in the history books for all to read.It's some interesting reading too.

The fact that Franklin Roosevelt was the President during the darkest part of the great depression and he was also the man who led The United States through the Greatest War America ever fought only adds to his legend.

If you really want to read about the subject I would strongly recommend reading Freedom From Fear- The American People in Depression and War 1929-1945 by David M Kennedy published by the Oxford Press