The 32nd President of the United States, elected four times to the presidency, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Franklin Delano Roosevelt) in the Hyde Park estate (New York) in a wealthy and respectable family of James Roosevelt and Sarah Delano Roosevelt.
His ancestors emigrated from Holland to New Amsterdam in the 1740s. Their descendants became the ancestors of two branches of this surname, which gave two US presidents - Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt. Roosevelt's father owned the Hyde Park estate on the Hudson River and substantial stakes in a number of coal and transportation companies. Mother belonged to the local aristocracy.
Until the age of 14, Roosevelt was educated at home. In 1896-1899 he studied at a privileged school in Groton (Massachusetts). In 1900-1904 he continued his education at Harvard University, where he received a bachelor's degree. Roosevelt attended Columbia Law School from 1905-1907 and qualified to practice as an attorney, starting with a well-established Wall Street law firm.
In 1910, Roosevelt began his political career. He ran for the Democratic nomination for New York State Senator and won.
In 1913-1920 he served as Assistant Minister navy in the administration of President Woodrow Wilson.
In 1914, Roosevelt made an attempt to get a seat as a senator in the US Congress, but failed.
In 1920, Roosevelt was nominated for vice president, paired with James Cox, who ran for the presidency of the Democratic Party. The Democrats lost the election, and Roosevelt returned to the practice of law.
In the summer of 1921, while vacationing on Campobello Island in Canada, Roosevelt contracted polio. Despite vigorous attempts to beat the disease, he remained paralyzed and was confined to a wheelchair.
In 1928, Franklin Roosevelt was elected governor of New York, where he served two terms. In 1931, at the time of the aggravation of the economic crisis, he created the Provisional Emergency Administration to provide assistance to the families of the unemployed.
In the presidential campaign of 1932, Roosevelt defeated Herbert Hoover, who failed to lead the country out of the economic crisis of 1929-1933 - the Great Depression.
"The New Deal" - this is how Roosevelt called his program to overcome the consequences of the Great Depression and solve social problems. The new course combined measures to strengthen state regulation of the economy with reforms in the social field.
In the first 100 days of his presidency, which began in March 1933, Roosevelt implemented a number of important reforms to restore the banking system, help the hungry and unemployed, refinance farm debt, restore Agriculture and industry. In 1935, important reforms were made in the areas of labor, social security, taxation, banking and other areas.
Roosevelt managed to generate public support for his program unprecedented in American history, he turned into a real leader of the nation.
Promising the continuation of the New Deal policy, Roosevelt won the presidential elections 1936. During his second term, Congress advanced the New Deal program by creating the United States Housing Authority (1937) to provide credit to local agencies and passing the Second Agricultural Adjustment Act in 1938 and the Fair Labor Act, which established a minimum wage for workers.
One of the foreign policy initiatives in the first months after Roosevelt came to power was the diplomatic recognition of the USSR in November 1933. In relations with countries Latin America the "policy of good neighborliness" was proclaimed, which contributed to the creation of an inter-American system collective security.
In October 1937, after the Japanese attack on northern China, Roosevelt insisted on the need to take measures to isolate the aggressor countries. At the beginning of 1939, in his State of the Union address, Roosevelt named the aggressor nations by name, indicating that they were Italy, Germany, and Japan. In 1938 and 1939, he succeeded in obtaining an increase in funding for the needs of the army and navy.
On November 5, 1940, Franklin Roosevelt won the next election and was elected for the first time in US history to a third term.
World War II and Roosevelt's third British election victory. In 1941, the president signed the Lend-Lease Law, under which the USSR was granted an interest-free loan in the amount of $1 billion.
Roosevelt sought to limit himself to arms deliveries as long as possible and to avoid large-scale US involvement in the war as much as possible. The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 came as a surprise to Roosevelt, who was trying to delay the war with Japan through diplomatic negotiations. The next day, the United States and Great Britain declared war on Japan, and on December 11, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. Roosevelt, in accordance with the constitution, assumed all the duties of commander-in-chief in wartime.
Roosevelt attached great importance creation of the United Nations to strengthen the anti-Hitler coalition.
It was he who proposed the name "United Nations" during the signing of the Declaration of the United Nations on January 1, 1942 in Washington, which consolidated this union in the international legal order.
For a long time, Franklin Roosevelt took a wait-and-see position on the issue of opening a second front. But at the Tehran Conference of the "Big Three" (1943), Roosevelt did not support Winston Churchill, who shied away from resolving questions about opening a second front.
Showing special attention to the issues of post-war peace settlement, Roosevelt for the first time at the Quebec Conference (1943) outlined his project for the creation of an international organization and the responsibility of the USA, Great Britain, the USSR and China ("four policemen") for maintaining peace. The discussion of this topic was continued at the Moscow conference, the Tehran conference and at the conference at the Dumbarton Oaks estate in Washington.
Re-elected in 1944 for a fourth term, Franklin Roosevelt made a significant contribution to the historic decisions of the Crimean Conference (1945). His position was dictated by the military-strategic and political situation in connection with the successful advance of Soviet troops in Eastern Europe, the desire to agree on the entry of the USSR into the war with Japan and the hope for the continuation of post-war American-Soviet cooperation. Upon his return from Yalta, Roosevelt, despite being tired and unwell, continued to engage in state affairs and prepared for the opening of the United Nations conference in San Francisco on April 23.
On April 12, 1945, the president died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia.
Since 1905, Roosevelt was married to his cousin in the fifth generation, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962). Her father was the younger brother of President Theodore Roosevelt, who was Franklin's idol. The Roosevelts had six children, a daughter and five sons, one of whom died in infancy. Eleanor Roosevelt played a significant role in political career husband, especially after 1921, when he fell ill with polio and no longer parted with a wheelchair.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
The life of every great person is shrouded in many secrets, conjectures, intrigues and understatements. FROM famous names always went side by side gossip and rumors, hidden facts and obvious absurdities. What, then, to speak of death, which in itself is the greatest mystery? The death of the 32nd US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt is one of the strangest and most mysterious stories of the 20th century, which does not cease to disturb inquisitive minds even today ...
Franklin Delano Roosevelt is the only person in US history to have been elected to the presidency for four consecutive terms. He became perhaps the greatest US president of the 20th century. His name was included not only in the American, but also in world history. Roosevelt's whole life was a life-affirming hymn to courage and a daily feat. He was naturally endowed with rare qualities - a frantic thirst for life and unquenchable optimism. These character traits helped his country, going through the incredibly difficult Great Depression, and then through the bloodiest world war regain lost confidence.
So, the circumstances of the death of this great man were so mysterious that the mere global and unconditional subordination of all media to authorities on the very “ highest level could hide them from the public. Adherents of mystical interpretations emphasize the fact that death overtook the president on Friday, the 13th. However, the secret should be sought, of course, in life ...
Franklin was born into the wealthy and respectable family of James Roosevelt, whose ancestors emigrated from Holland to New Amsterdam in the 1740s. Their descendants became the ancestors of two branches of this famous family, one of which showed the world US President Theodore Roosevelt, and the other - Franklin Roosevelt. His father owned the Hyde Park estate on the Hudson River and was a shareholder in a number of coal and transportation companies. Roosevelt's mother, Sarah Delano, also belonged to the local aristocracy. Parents often took their only son with them on trips to Europe, introducing him to the study foreign languages, history and art. Until the age of fourteen, the boy studied with teachers at home. He was fond of reading, collecting stamps, dreamed of sea voyages, fell in love with going on a yacht. In 1896-1899 he studied at one of the best private privileged schools in Groton (Massachusetts). He was accepted immediately into the third grade. At the same time, young Franklin forever learned clear moral principles: to achieve everything with his own hard work, constantly multiply the baggage of knowledge, never compromise with his own conscience and, to the best of his ability, fight any manifestation of evil. In 1900-1904, the future president continued his education at Harvard University, where he received a bachelor's degree. He then attended Columbia Law School and qualified to practice as an attorney, which he started at a reputable law firm.
While studying at law school, he marries Eleanor Roosevelt, his cousin in the fifth generation, the niece of Theodore Roosevelt, for whom Franklin had deep personal sympathy and respect. According to eyewitnesses, the president's wife was the "eyes and ears" of her husband, participated in election campaigns, published articles and books in the American and foreign press, and contributed in every possible way to the development of the women's movement. Eleanor Roosevelt played a significant role in her husband's political career, especially after 1921, when he fell ill with polio and no longer parted from a wheelchair. She herself went down in history as a prominent public figure. The Roosevelts had six children, one of whom died in infancy.
In 1910, an aspiring lawyer accepts a tempting offer from the US Democratic Party in his native administrative district to run as a senator for the New York State Legislature. He wins and vigorously sets to work. His political debut was brilliant. During the 1912 presidential election campaign, Franklin actively supported Democrat T. V. Wilson. In the administration of President Wilson, Roosevelt was offered the post of Assistant Secretary of the Navy and, without finishing his third term in the state legislature, he moved to Washington. With interest and passion, he deals with business, communicates with representatives of business and political circles from different states. The young energetic deputy minister is rapidly gaining authority. Having already been in this post for seven and a half years, at the most stressful time - on the eve and during the First World War - he advocated strengthening the fleet, strengthening the US defense capability and constructive foreign policy.
In 1914, he tries to get a seat in the US Congress, but fails. In 1920, at the convention of the Democratic Party, Roosevelt was nominated as a candidate for Vice President of the United States. The young politician clearly and clearly stated his position in one of his election speeches: “We are against the influence of money on politics, we are against the control of private individuals over the finances of the state, we are against treating a person as a commodity, we are against starvation wages, we are against power groups and clicks. But this time the Democrats lost. After the election, Roosevelt becomes vice president of one of the major financial corporations in New York.
August 1921 turned out to be fatal for a promising politician. During a summer vacation on a yacht, Franklin took a dip in cold water, after which his legs gave out. A few days later, the doctors announced the verdict: polio. Roosevelt was partially paralyzed. According to the testimony of relatives, he did not give up, showed remarkable willpower and daily made great efforts, doing exercise. But he was unable to walk on his own again. They made special orthopedic devices for his legs, and only after that, with the help of a cane and with the support of one of his sons, he was finally able to move around without a wheelchair. But at the same time, those around him did not feel his illness. Roosevelt remained friendly, active, open to communication, making no allowances for himself either in work or in life. A terrible illness that suddenly befell him did not moderate his thirst for life and did not limit the circle of his interests. Roosevelt has an extensive correspondence with politicians of the Democratic Party, is engaged in business and along with this he holds various public posts.
His prestige and popularity are steadily growing. In 1928 he was elected governor of New York. After serving two terms in this post, Roosevelt acquired very valuable experience, which was very useful to him during the years of the presidency. The famous "fireside conversations", for example, originate precisely in the days of his governorship. Already as president, Roosevelt sat down in front of the microphones of radio stations in the room of the White House, where there was a fireplace, and leisurely began a conversation. He skillfully knew how to create the impression in all who listened to him that he spoke to everyone as an equal, as with a close friend, he spoke in a simple, accessible language. Tens of millions of Americans sincerely perceived the president's words as an appeal to them personally and as a nation as a whole.
In the 1933 presidential election, Roosevelt received an overwhelming majority of votes and became the 32nd president of the CTTTA. No US president has ever received such a heavy legacy. America was going through the deepest and most massive economic crisis in its history. At the time Roosevelt took office, the US banking and financial system was a complete fiasco. And during his second term as president, the bloodiest war in the history of mankind begins - the Second World War.
After months of intense work, in April 1945, Roosevelt decided to take a break in his beloved Warm Springs. There, on a sunny spring day, he died, according to the official conclusion, from a brain hemorrhage. On Thursday, April 12, 1945, at 5:45 p.m., the CBS radio network (Columbia Broad Casting Systems) began broadcasting the popular radio series Desert Road as usual. But almost immediately, the transmission was interrupted by the famous radio columnist John Dali, who, in a voice choked with excitement, transmitted a stunning message - President Roosevelt had died.
In the book “In Memory of Franklin Roosevelt”, published already on April 18, 1945, the following is described: “Eleanor Roosevelt summoned Vice President Truman to the White House and herself informed him of the death of her husband. "How can I help?" Truman asked her. And the widow Roosevelt sadly but firmly retorted: “No, how can I help you?” Then the mother informed the children about the incident: “The President fell asleep forever tonight. He did his duty to the end and would like you to do the same. With love. Mother".
On the morning of April 14, Roosevelt's coffin was delivered to Washington. At the station, it was hoisted onto a gun carriage, covered with a star-striped flag, and seven gray horses dragged the mourning chariot through the streets of the capital, crowded with people, to the White House. According to the police, the gathering of people was unprecedented - 300-400 thousand. In the air above funeral procession warplanes patrolled. At 10.45 the cortege arrived at the White House, eight officers removed the coffin from the carriage and carried it into the building. He was taken to the East Hall, where relatives, friends, associates, and envoys of foreign leaders gathered. They were joined by the new President Truman and the widow of President Wilson. Roosevelt's empty wheelchair stood next to the coffin - a symbol of a serious illness that caught up with him, but did not defeat him.
At 4 pm, a moment of silence was declared throughout America, and the Bishop of Washington began a memorial service. After 23 minutes, Mrs. Roosevelt, standing stoically at her husband's coffin, without shedding a single tear, was the first to leave the hall, followed by the others. The coffin was again placed on a carriage, and he made his way back to the station and was loaded onto a special train, which departed at 10 pm for the Roosevelt estate of Hyde Park.
The next day, in clear sunny weather, the coffin with the body of the late president was lowered into the grave, the location and design of which he specified in detail in his will, drawn up back in 1937. The cadets of West Point Academy fired three volleys, the band played a funeral march, the cadets holding the state flag over the grave folded it and gave it to the widow. At 10.00 a cannon salute broke out: a battery fired, placed in the garden near the library. The guard of honor froze. Airplanes flew over the grave. The priest served a short memorial service, and at 10.45 it was all over.”
In general, everything looks decent and decent. However, questions immediately arose about some inconsistencies and inconsistencies. That is why, having generously filled the book “In Memory of Franklin Roosevelt” with speeches of various statesmen, journalists and ordinary people, the compilers for some reason did not even name the artist in whose presence Roosevelt allegedly died. There is no medical certificate of death - the family allegedly considered the cause of death to be obvious. Nowhere is the opinion of Roosevelt's personal physician, Admiral McIntyre, given. The behavior of people at the funeral also seems very strange, in particular, the widow of Roosevelt, who did not allow the coffin to be opened for farewell.
Here is what was written about the circumstances of the president’s death in Douglas Reed’s book The Controversy of Zion: “Despite the president’s long illness, the death that overtook Roosevelt at his Warm Springs estate in Georgia, where Henry Morgenthau accompanied him, was completely unexpected. The death certificate, signed by one M.D. Brunn of the Bethesda Naval Hospital... listed the cause of death as "cerebral hemorrhage" as a consequence of "arteriosclerosis." But American laws, both federal and individual states, prescribe an autopsy in case of unexpected death, especially when it comes to officials, not to mention presidents. In addition, according to American tradition, the bodies of deceased presidents are exhibited in an open coffin to say goodbye to them. After the death of Roosevelt, neither an autopsy nor the exposure of the body followed. The President's corpse was transported in a sealed coffin to Roosevelt's other estate, Hyde Park in New York State, where he was buried. The coffin was accompanied by armed soldiers who received orders to shoot anyone who tried to open the coffin. After the burial, the grave in Hyde Park was guarded day and night for several months by armed guards, apparently to prevent possible exhumation.
Already in 1948, in the book by E. Josephson “The Strange Death of Franklin D. Roosevelt,” details of the death of the president were reported along with truly sensational, but detailed information from the close circle of the president, in whose hands he was. The diagnosis of arteriosclerosis and the stroke allegedly caused by it, signed by a certain Dr. Brunn of the Bethesda Naval Hospital, from whose window on the 16th floor four years later Secretary of Defense Forrestal would "throw out", is completely refuted by the testimony of the President's personal physician, Vice Admiral Dr. Mack -Intyre, who did not accompany Roosevelt to Warm Springs on that fateful day: "Regular examinations of the president did not show any signs of sclerosis of the cerebral arteries."
Josephson is convinced that the reason for preventing the autopsy and exposure of the body is obvious: according to the testimony of a priest who was in Warm Springs that day, the president was killed by a bullet in the back of the head, most likely an explosive one, which disfigured the entire face as it exited the skull. The president's wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, explained to everyone that the body was not exhibited by the fact that it allegedly "was not in the custom of the Roosevelt family." This is categorically not true. After all, the body of Roosevelt's mother, Sarah Delano, was put up for parting by order of Franklin himself! Forgetting her statement, Eleanor would write years later in the Saturday Evening Post that the day after the burial, their son Jimmy found personal instructions from the president in the safe, which specifically stipulated that, in the event of death, his body should be exhibited in Capitol in Washington. She will write that “in a strange way” all the other posthumous orders of the president, except for this one, were carried out verbatim ... Incredibly, but not only the leaders fascist reich, who sat underground in the center of burning Berlin, but also the president’s closest associates, with whom he once launched the New Deal, rejoiced and indulged in copious libations after the death of President Roosevelt. They began to feast already on the funeral train, which was coming from Hyde Park after the burial of the chief. Chief Correspondent at the White House M. Smith writes: “Alcohol flowed like a river in every compartment and every saloon. The curtains on the windows were drawn, and from the outside the train looked like any other carrying mourning guests home. But behind these curtains, Roosevelt's henchmen were having fun at full speed ... Waiters rushed along the corridors with trays of spilling glasses. Not being familiar with the public in the salons, one could mistake her for fans returning home from the football field ... "
The above makes us suspect some mystery connected with the last minutes of Roosevelt's life and the circumstances that actually forced him to leave this world.
Almost immediately after the death of Roosevelt, a version was put forward, immediately recognized as ridiculous and implausible.
In February 1945, after the Yalta Conference, an American delegation headed by Roosevelt flew to Egypt, where the heavy cruiser Quincy was waiting for her. At it, the President met with three leaders of the Middle Eastern states: Egyptian King Farouk, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie and King Saudi Arabia Ibn Saud. Roosevelt was struck by a conversation with the king of Saudi Arabia. By his own admission, he learned more about Palestine from Ibn Saud in five minutes than in his entire life.
Initially, the president was going to convince Ibn Saud to agree to the resettlement to Palestine of several tens of thousands of restless European Jews expelled from their homes. Ibn Saud responded with a categorical refusal, stating that "there is already a Palestinian army of Jews armed to the teeth, not going to fight the Germans, but clearly aimed at the Arabs." Then Roosevelt suddenly made a statement that, according to some historians, put his life in danger: he guaranteed Ibn Saud that, as President of the United States, he would never take any action hostile to the Arab people.
The first sign that he did something wrong and violated some secret condition was the behavior of the closest aide to the president, Harry Hopkins, who served Franklin faithfully for ten years. The key to this faithful service was the fact that Roosevelt, in the words of Hopkins, "committed himself - officially, privately and by his own conviction - to the promotion of Zionism." Hopkins was amazed, shocked by the president's promise. He immediately left the negotiations, locked himself in his cabin, and three days later got off in Algiers, informing the president through a third party that he would reach America by another route. After that, their paths with Roosevelt diverged forever. Formerly a betrayed shadow of the President, Harry Hopkins never met him again until his death!
But Roosevelt lost his sense of reality. On February 28, he arrived in Washington. On March 28, Ibn Saud sent him a letter confirming in writing his warnings about dangerous consequences which will become inevitable if the US supports the Zionists. On April 5, Roosevelt sent an answer to Ibn Saud, confirming the oral version: "As head of the American government, I will not take any action that could be hostile to the Arab people." With this, the president signed his own death warrant. A week later he was dead.
Another of the likely versions that explained some of the oddities associated with the death of Roosevelt was the need to preserve family secrets. Presidential aide J. Daniel in 1966 published a book about Roosevelt's carefully concealed novel during his lifetime. In 1913, his wife took on a beautiful young woman, Lucie Mercier, as her secretary. Franklin was smitten at first sight. Lucy's beauty captivated him. When their connection opened, Franklin was ready to leave his family and start a new life with his beloved. But this was prevented by Roosevelt's mother, threatening in this case to deprive her son of financial support. And Lucy, probably, was afraid to connect her life with the father of five children. In 1920, she marries, and the life of the Roosevelts seems to be gradually getting better.
But few were aware that the passionate romance did not end in 1920. Arriving after the death of her husband in Warm Springs, Eleanor immediately stumbled upon facts that had nothing to do with what was subsequently told to journalists and the public ...
Going to rest in his beloved Warm Springs, Roosevelt, as usual, invited Lucy, and she took her friend, the artist Elizaveta Shumatova, with her. The reason was the president's desire to present his portrait to his daughter Lucy. Knowing how busy the president's schedule is, prudent Shumatova took with her a photographer, Russian émigré N. Robbins.
April 12 was no different from ordinary days. Nothing foretold tragedy. The artist painted a portrait of Franklin. They were going to have breakfast, and Roosevelt reminded Shumatova: "We have fifteen minutes left." I lit up. He suddenly rubbed his forehead and neck. He jerked his head. He complained: “I have a terrible headache,” and lost consciousness. Two hours later, without regaining consciousness, he died. Eleanor Roosevelt arrived in Warm Springs, where she discovered the shocking truth - all these years, the hated Lucy was invisibly next to her husband ...
So how did he complete his life path Franklin Delano Roosevelt? There are many guesses, but the truth has remained hidden. Will we ever know it, or will the mystery of the death of this great man remain unsolved, enticing and bewitching new generations from the depths of a bygone age with its seeming simplicity and inaccessibility ...
The content of the article
ROOSEVELT, FRANKLIN DELANO(Roosevelt, Franklin Delano) (1882–1945), 32nd President of the United States, was born in Hyde Park (New York) January 30, 1882. Received primary education under the supervision of private teachers, he often visited Europe with his parents. He attended a preparatory school in the elite Groton. After graduating from Harvard University in 1904 he moved to New York, where he studied at Columbia Law School. In 1907, he passed the exams for the right to practice law and entered the service of a well-known New York law firm.
In 1910, Roosevelt ran for the State Senate from his Hudson River constituency. He won because he campaigned hard, and the Democrats were universally successful that year. In Albany, he led a small group of them that opposed the party political machine in order to block the election of one of the leaders of Tammany Hall to the Senate by the state legislature. Soon after that, he organized a group of Democrats opposed to Tammany in support of V. Wilson.
He served from 1913 to 1920 as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in Wilson's cabinet. In 1914, Roosevelt sought a nomination to the Senate from the state of New York, but was defeated. Cooperation with the Wilson administration and belonging to the Roosevelt family played a role in the decision of the Democrats to nominate him in 1920 as a running mate of presidential candidate J. Cox. Although Republicans Harding and Coolidge won a landslide victory, Roosevelt made important contacts across the country and rose to prominence in the party.
In 1921 he contracted polio and was partially paralyzed. Limited physical abilities did not narrow the range of his interests. Roosevelt maintained an extensive correspondence with Democratic Party politicians and tried to enter into entrepreneurial activities. At the national conventions of the party in 1924 and 1928, he nominated New York Governor A. Smith for the presidency.
In 1928, Roosevelt was already able to refuse crutches in his public appearances. When Smith began to persistently suggest that he run for governor of New York, Roosevelt hesitated for a long time, but then agreed. As governor, Roosevelt anticipated many of the political moves of his future New Deal. He fought for the conservation of natural resources and the rational use of the land fund, for state control over utilities and the adoption of social security laws. He approved unemployment insurance and declared in the state legislature on August 28, 1931 that the government should not consider helping the unemployed as a charity, but as a duty to society. Roosevelt founded the state's first department of social assistance, headed by G. Hopkins, who later became his closest adviser.
In the fourth ballot at the Chicago Democratic Convention in 1932, Governor Roosevelt was nominated as a presidential candidate. Under the able leadership of J. Farley, his candidacy received the largest number of votes in each of the voting rounds, but, according to the then rules of the Democratic Party, a two-thirds majority was required for nomination. It was received when W. Hurst and Speaker of the House of Representatives J. Garner provided Roosevelt with the votes of California and Texas. Garner ran for vice president.
The 1932 elections were America's reaction to the misfortune that befell the country. The anger and frustration of an energetic people forced to idle and live in misery as a result of the economic depression drove the Republican Party out of power. Roosevelt won in 42 states, received 472 electoral votes to 59 cast (exclusively in the northeastern states) for Hoover. The advantage of the winner was more than 7 million votes.
It was in the first hundred days after the inauguration, at the insistence of the White House, that a significant part of the New Deal bills was passed by Congress, and after this period, Roosevelt turned into a real leader of the nation. He managed to generate public support unprecedented in American history for a program that aimed to achieve what its initiators called "a more democratic economic and social system."
Before campaigning for re-election in 1936, Roosevelt added to the accomplishments of the New Deal the Congressional approval of the devaluation of the dollar and the regulation of the stock market (1934), as well as the system social insurance and the Wagner Labor Relations Act (1935). Promising the continuation of the New Deal policy and condemning the "economic royalists" for establishing economic tyranny, Roosevelt and Garner inflicted a crushing defeat on Kansas Governor A. Landon and Illinois publisher F. Knox, winning in all states except Maine and Vermont.
By 1936, Roosevelt had brought many of those who had previously voted Republican or had not taken part in the election into the Democratic Party. He enjoyed the support of almost all groups of the population, except for representatives of big business. During Roosevelt's second term, Congress advanced the New Deal program by creating the United States Housing Authority (1937) for the purpose of lending to local agencies and passing the Second Agricultural Adjustment Act in 1938 and the Fair Labor Act, which established a minimum wage for workers.
Supreme Court declared unconstitutional some of the New Deal laws, including the first agricultural regulation act and the National Industrial Recovery Act. Roosevelt decided to change the composition of the court. He asked Congress to give him the right to appoint new judges when members of the court reach the age of 70. This proposal caused widespread protest and was rejected. But before it was overturned, the Supreme Court itself recognized the constitutionality of the Wagner Labor Relations Act and the Social Security Act.
Roosevelt's position was complicated by the fact that at the end of 1937 the economic situation deteriorated sharply. By 1938 the number of unemployed had risen to 10 million. The president managed to get $5 billion from Congress to create new jobs and carry out public works. At the end of 1938, the economic situation improved, but unemployment remained high until the outbreak of World War II, when large-scale purchases of American goods by Britain and France began, and the army began to rearm. Roosevelt's attempt in 1938 to force a few conservative Democrats out of Congress almost entirely failed, while the Republicans achieved significant success in the midterm elections.
The president's foreign policy course received recognition in Congress much later than his domestic policy. The only exception was the approach to Latin American countries. As a follow-up to President Hoover's efforts to improve relations with nations south of the US borders, Roosevelt proclaimed the "Good Neighbor Policy." Via secretary of state K. Hull and his assistant (and then deputy) S. Wells, interference in the affairs of Latin American countries was stopped. In 1933 the texts of new treaties with Cuba and Panama were worked out, changing their status as US protectorates. Parts of the marines were withdrawn from Haiti. The Monroe Doctrine was transformed from a unilateral US policy to a multilateral policy for the entire Western Hemisphere.
From 1933, Roosevelt used the White House podium to influence public opinion. Through his speeches and speeches at press conferences, he gradually convinced the public that Germany, Italy and Japan posed a threat to US security. In October 1937, after the Japanese attack on northern China, Roosevelt insisted on the need to take measures to isolate the aggressor countries. However, the public reacted negatively, and the president had to again convince the country of the importance of moving from a policy of isolationism to a policy of collective security. Meanwhile, in 1938 and 1939 he succeeded in obtaining an increase in funding for the needs of the army and navy.
In April 1940 Germany occupied Denmark. On May 10, her divisions invaded Holland. Five days later, German troops breached the French defense line and within a week reached the English Channel, cutting off the Belgian and British troops in Flanders. On June 10, Italy joined Germany in an attack on France. France capitulated 12 days later. Massive raids on London began in September. The most important steps taken by the president to help the allies were taken by means of the executive branch. He returned military aircraft to their manufacturers so that they could sell them to the UK. In August 1940, Roosevelt and British Prime Minister W. Churchill reached an agreement that for the supply of 50 American destroyers of the First World War, Great Britain would provide the United States with 8 naval and air bases in British possessions from Newfoundland to South America.
During the Battle of England, Roosevelt ran for an unprecedented third term in office. The nomination of his candidacy caused rather widespread, but impotent irritation of the conservative-minded Democrats, who were also dissatisfied with the nomination of Secretary of Agriculture G. Wallace for the post of vice president. Roosevelt was opposed by W. Wilkie, a lawyer and businessman who snatched the Republican nomination from the hands of Senator R. Taft from Ohio, Senator A. Vandenberg from Michigan and T. Dewey from New York. Roosevelt won the election by a landslide.
By December 1940 Britain was unable to pay cash for military goods. Speaking on radio and at press conferences, Roosevelt actively promoted the Lend-Lease program, according to which the United States could lease military equipment to Great Britain and receive payment for it after the end of the war. In March 1941, the relevant law was approved by a large majority in both houses of Congress. America's economic resources began to be used to defeat the Axis. Roosevelt also extended the use of American warships escorting merchant ships as far as Iceland and ordered American warships to open fire on Axis ships caught in those waters.
During these months, Roosevelt's opponents, who created the America First Committee, accused the president of preparing the nation for war. In public debate, Roosevelt refused to discuss the issue and insisted that we are talking about the security of the country. At the same time, he did everything through diplomatic channels to avoid war with Japan, which took advantage of the position in Europe to invade French Indo-China as a springboard for the subsequent advance to Singapore and the Dutch East Indies. Negotiations were still ongoing when, on December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked US forces at Pearl Harbor. Four days later, on December 11, 1941, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.
Two weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Churchill arrived in Washington. As a result of his negotiations with Roosevelt, a decision was made to organize joint Anglo-American military and economic planning and joint management various types activities. The difference between the positions of the United States and Britain manifested itself in the question of actions in Europe. Roosevelt advocated a massive offensive across the English Channel as the quickest route to victory in the war. The British preferred an offensive through the Balkans - "the soft underbelly of Europe." This strategy was of a military-political nature and aimed not only to defeat Hitler, but also to block the road to the Balkans for the Soviets. Ultimately, at the Quebec Conference in August 1943, the British were forced to agree that the invasion of Europe through Normandy was more important than operations in Italy and the Mediterranean. Both Western leaders met with Stalin at the Tehran Conference in 1943 and at Yalta in February 1945.
Much was said in favor of convening the Yalta Conference and the meeting of the Big Three. It seemed expedient to agree on coordinated actions against Germany and Russia's entry into the war against Japan. In addition, the "Big Three" needed to agree on the structure of the UN, the attitude towards states liberated from Hitler's tyranny, and the question of the future of defeated Germany. By that time, Western troops had not yet crossed the Rhine. Moreover, the German counter-offensive in December 1944 pushed the Allied forces back to the Meuse River and prevented the implementation of plans for the spring offensive. Meanwhile Soviet troops occupied all of Poland, most of the Balkan Peninsula and cut off East Prussia from the rest of Germany. The advanced units of the Russian army were only a hundred kilometers from Berlin.
Western leaders persuaded Stalin to agree to free elections in Poland and other Eastern European countries liberated by the Soviet army. Under the agreement on the Far East, Russia regained the territory that had passed to Japan after the end of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), and also received Kurile Islands. Such was the result of pressure from the American chiefs of staff, who demanded that the USSR be involved in the war with Japan. No one at that time had any idea of the real power of atomic weapons, and the chiefs of staff believed that without Russia's entry into the war, it could last another two years and cost the United States 1 million human lives.
At Yalta, the Russians agreed to take part in the San Francisco conference establishing the United Nations and withdrew some of their demands after Roosevelt said the US would not agree to them. There is no doubt that Roosevelt overestimated the possibilities of post-war cooperation with the USSR. His hopes that strong borders and membership in a well-functioning world organization would put an end to Russian expansion did not materialize.
Roosevelt's health became a national concern during the re-election campaign in 1944, when he and Vice Presidential candidate Missouri Senator H. Truman defeated New York Governor T. Dewey and Ohio Governor J. Bricker by a margin of 3.5 million votes, receiving 432 electoral votes against 99 votes cast for rivals. Upon his return from Yalta, Roosevelt addressed Congress, and in early April he went on vacation to Warm Springs, Georgia. Roosevelt died in Warm Springs on April 12, 1945.
APPENDIX
F. D. ROOSEVELT'S "NEW DEAL"
F.D. ROOSEVELT'S MESSAGE TO CONGRESS
Before the end of the special session of Congress, I recommend that we take two further steps in our national campaign to put the people to work.
My first request is that Congress provide for the establishment of a mechanism necessary for the concerted implementation throughout the industry (with a view to achieving greater employment) of the reduction of the working week, while maintaining sufficient pay for the shortened week, and to prevent unfair competition and fatal overproduction [...].
Another proposal gives the executive branch the authority to launch a major "direct employment" program. Careful study convinces me that approximately $3,300 million can be invested in useful and necessary community building and at the same time provide employment to as many people as possible.
Printed by: A Documentary History of American Economic Policy since 1789. N. Y., 1961, pp. 364–365.
LAW ON THE RECOVERY OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMY
It is hereby acknowledged that the country is in a state of general calamity, which is fraught with further widespread unemployment and industrial disorganization, which in turn weighs heavily on interstate and foreign trade, damages the people's welfare, and undermines the standard of living of the American people. It is also hereby declared that Congress will pursue a policy designed to remove the difficulties that stand in the way of the free development of interstate and foreign trade, which helps to ease this tense situation; to achieve the general welfare by encouraging the organization of industry and the joint action of various professional groups; to encourage and support the joint action of labor and entrepreneurs on the basis of their equal recognition by the government and under its supervision; to eliminate unfair business practices; to encourage the fullest use of available production capacities; to avoid unnecessary restrictions on production (except in cases where this is temporarily necessary); to increase the consumption of industrial and agricultural products by increasing the purchasing power of the population; to reduce unemployment and provide the necessary assistance here and to improve working conditions; as well as by any other means to strive for the improvement of industry and the preservation of natural resources. [...]
Art. 3(a). Upon the receipt of appropriate petitions by the President from one or more professional or industry associations or groups, the President may approve a code or codes of fair competition for a given profession or industry, or individual organizations thereof, in accordance with the proposal submitted by the applicant or applicants, if he finds: 1 (a) that these associations or groups do not place unequal restrictions on the admission of their members to anyone and that they are indeed representatives of the professions or industries or organizations referred to in the application; 2) that the proposed fair competition code or codes are not intended to promote monopolies or to destroy or suppress small businesses, and that they will contribute to the implementation of the policies provided for by this law. [...]
Upon approval by the president of any of the aforementioned fair competition codes, the provisions of that code will be considered as governing fair competition practices for a given profession or industry or its member organizations. Any violation of these rules in or affecting any interstate or foreign trade business transaction will be treated as unfair commercial competition, as the term is understood to be in current Federal Trade Commission rights law. [...]
All codes of fair competition, and agreements or licenses approved, entered into or issued under this law, must provide: 1) that all employees have the right to organize and bargain collectively through their own chosen representatives and that employers or their representatives may not interfere, exert pressure or otherwise restrict their joint actions in the choice of their representatives or self-organization for the purpose of negotiating a collective agreement or taking other measures of mutual assistance or protection; 2) that no one working or job seeker an employed person shall not be made a condition of his employment by joining one or another company union or refraining from joining, organizing or assisting a labor union chosen by him at his own discretion; 3) That employers agree to maximum hours, minimum wages, and other conditions of employment as approved or prescribed by the President. [...]
With a view to the enforcement of this Act, the President is hereby authorized to establish an Emergency Federal Public Works Administration, the full powers of which shall be exercised by the Federal Emergency Public Works Administrator. [...]
Printed by: Reader on modern history, vol. 1. M., 1960.
Roosevelt Franklin Delano (1882-1945), 32nd President of the United States (1933-1945).
Born January 30, 1882 in Hyde Park (New York). The heir to a wealthy old family who had already given America President T. Roosevelt, Franklin Delano was preparing for a political career from his youth.
He received his law degree from Harvard and Columbia Universities. He married a girl of his circle (1905). He stubbornly made his way to the White House: he was elected to the New York State Senate (1910), worked as an assistant to the Secretary of the Navy (1913-1920), ran for vice president from the Democratic Party.
In the midst of such a successful advance, Roosevelt was suddenly stricken with paralysis. For six years he
spent in the fight against the disease. In 1928, he appeared before the voters in a wheelchair and won, becoming the governor of the state of New York. To citizens immersed in the abyss of the Great Depression, the image of this politician spoke of the need to restore faith in their own strength.
A brilliant orator and journalist, Roosevelt turned to American history, arguing that the state can and should help everyone. It has become a symbol of uniting Americans for the victory of the country, which will conclude a new social contract, or "new deal." It should, Roosevelt urged, "believe in America, believe in our tradition of personal responsibility, believe in our institutions, believe in ourselves - and recognize the new terms of the old social contract."
When Roosevelt took office in March 1933, America was crushed by a financial disaster and was waiting for a revolution. Congress handed emergency powers to the head of state, which the president did not have during the war either. In the first 11 days, Roosevelt and his associates pushed more legislation through Congress than in the previous 70 years since the Civil War.
In 100 days, he created a comprehensive reform program to improve the economy - the New Deal.
By the 1936 election, Roosevelt had led the United States out of the worst crisis in its history and was re-elected with 62 percent of the vote. In his next term, he passed a law on the fair employment of labor and attacked the corporations robbing the people, and after another re-election in 1940, he was forced to switch entirely to foreign policy. The Second World War began.
America's stubborn neutrality toward Italian and German authorities and Japanese militarism was shaken when the Germans entered Paris and bombed London.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, America entered the war. Fighting Japan and cooperating with W. Churchill and J. V. Stalin in the anti-Hitler coalition, Roosevelt, with his characteristic energy, created a powerful military machine and ensured minimal losses for his country, so that as a result of the war the United States would become the main and, as he hoped, sole winner.
