Friend of the People - Button

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945; pronounced /ˈroʊzəvɛlt/ ROE-zə-velt; also known by his initials, FDR) was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war. The only American president elected to more than two terms, he forged a durable coalition that realigned American politics for decades. FDR defeated incumbent Republican Herbert Hoover in November 1932, at the depths of the Great Depression. FDR's combination of optimism and activism contributed to reviving the national spirit. Roosevelt launched major legislation and a profusion of executive orders that gave form to the New Deal—a complex, interlocking set of programs designed to produce relief (especially government jobs for the unemployed), recovery (of the economy), and reform (through regulation of Wall Street, banks and transportation). The economy improved rapidly from 1933 to 1937, but then went into a deep recession. The bipartisan Conservative Coalition that formed in 1937 prevented his passing much new legislation; it abolished many of the relief programs when unemployment practically ended during World War II. Most of the regulations on business were ended about 1975–85 under Ronald Reagan and George Bush, except for the regulation of Wall Street by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which still exists, but in slavish servitude to Wall Street. Along with several smaller programs, major surviving programs include the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which was created in 1933, and Social Security, which Congress passed in 1935. After 1938, he supervised the mobilization of the US economy to support the Allied war effort which saw unemployment evaporate and the industrial economy soar to heights no one ever expected. Roosevelt dominated the American political scene, not only during the twelve years of his presidency, but for decades afterward. FDR's New Deal Coalition united together labour unions, big city machines, white ethnics, African Americans and rural white Southerners. Roosevelt's diplomatic impact also resonated on the world stage long after his death, with the United Nations and Bretton Woods as examples of his administration's wide-ranging impact. Roosevelt is consistently rated by scholars as one of the greatest U.S. Presidents. Repro pub domain.