Nick+F.+-+FDR+-+FA11

Franklin D. Roosevelt January 30, 1882- April 12, 1945 1st term 1933-1937 VP John N Garner 2nd term 1937-1941 VP John N Garner 3rd term 1941-1945 VP Henry A Wallace 4th term 1945 VP Harry S Truman Theme: Culture During FDR’s first term in office he was thrust into the great depression where the culture of Americans can only be described as black and white. There was no color, or hope, anywhere to seen. Within Roosevelts first 100 days in office he created many economic sanctions that would strengthen our economy like reform of the stock market, giving government jobs to unemployed, and creating recovery plans to support economic growth. By the end of his third term the depression was over, unemployment was at 2% and the color had returned to the black and white America. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the only president to serve more than 2 terms so there is much that went on during his presidency. I would have to give him an A+ for getting the country out of the great depression and for leading us during the Second World War. The goal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt was extremely for most of his time in office: Get the country out of the depression. Within his 1st 100 days in office he and congress made huge progress in getting out of it with the creation of the FERA, CCC, AAA, and EBRA. Those were all made in his 3 R’s for relief, recovery, reform. FDR was a very influential figure during his time as President and was in charge of calming millions of people. In his first inaugural address he spoke a few words that still live in infamy today, and went straight to the hearts of millions during the speech: “The only thing to fear, is fear itself.” FDR’s relationship with congress was a very easy one as the majority of congress were democrats. This was crucial in his 1st 100 days in office because without a democratic majority, most of his legislations would not have passed. During the main economic growth period with congress, he created the FERA which gave 3 billion dollars to the unemployed, EBRA which gave the president control of banks, the CCC which provided government jobs to 3 million men who most likely otherwise would’ve turned to crime, and the AAA which created millions of dollars for farmer to pay their mortgages. He also created social security which provided funds to the unemployed, the sick or disabled, and the old. As most know, FDR was President during the Second World War. During that stint in the war our unemployment dropped to 2 % and we had men and women much better off than before. I think the leadership role he took with the allies was the most impressive part of his presidency. He worked hand in hand with Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill to develop a way to finish the war. Even being disabled like he was, he managed to meet with the two men and help put an end to the greatest bloodshed our world had ever seen. The thing I feel FDR did wrong was trying to throw 6 more Supreme Court justices onto the Supreme Court. It showed how he had no other way of dealing with the men who were the judges of America. When he tried putting a new judge for every judge over 70 it blew the peoples minds and showed a different side of FDR, desperation. Although he still had huge support of the country, republicans jumped on his mistake and made to exploit for the rest of his presidency. The decision FDR made to join the allies in WWII was by far his most important decision and affected so many lives. In WWII over 54 million lives were lost, the US in total lost around half a million. But without those sacrifices, Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan would never have been stopped. If he had not joined the war effort when he did there is a strong possibility we could waving a Swastika flag instead of the one we have today. As I said before, at the end of his life the country had 2% unemployment, the economy was working again, and people had jobs. He successfully pulled the country out of the Great Depression, and although he was not around to see it, led our great nation and the allies to victory of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. So for doing all that, FDR deserves an A+