Whatever you say, but the role of personality in history can be difficult to underestimate. This applies to all states without exception, and not just our country. The United States is not something special in this regard. Roosevelt Franklin was one of the most prominent American figures. The biography of this man shows how much a statesman can do when he is in the right place at the right time.
Basic information
Roosevelt Franklin is the 32nd President of the United States (since 1933), who was the candidate of the Democratic Party. Known for complex reforms, which were called the "New Deal". It was Roosevelt's government that established normal diplomatic relations with the USSR in 1933. What else is Roosevelt Franklin known for? His biography confirms that from the first days of the German attack on the Soviet Union, he passionately advocated the creation of a workers' anti-Hitler coalition. gave a hugeimportance of diplomatic relations between the victorious states.
More will tell us about how Roosevelt Franklin lived his life, biography. His nationality (and Roosevelt's ancestors were Dutch Jews) suggests that he was a thoughtful, enterprising, intelligent and pragmatic person. Is it so? To answer the question, you need to trace the entire life of Franklin.
The beginning of life's journey
The future American president was born on January 30, 1882. State of birth - New York. He is Aquarius by zodiac sign. Until now, he is the unofficial leader in the list of all US presidents, as he has held this post for four terms in a row. By the way, this record will never be broken. Why? Everything is simple. Two years after Roosevelt's death, another amendment to the Constitution was adopted, which expressly forbade running for the presidency for the third time in a row.
In the US itself, his name is strongly associated with the Second World War, the creation of the anti-Hitler coalition, as well as the creation and implementation of the "New Deal", due to which the situation of American workers was greatly facilitated.
Family
James Roosevelt's family, where Franklin was born, was old and rich. Their ancestors sailed from Holland as early as the 1740s. Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt are two presidents at once, which America received thanks to this venerable family. Franklin's father owned large stakes in many mining companies in the state.
Sarah Delano, his mother, also came from a we althy family with longstandingaristocratic roots. It was for this reason that little Roosevelt was taken every summer on long sea voyages, during which the family visited almost all of Europe. At the same time, Franklin "fell ill" with the sea, the craving for which he retained throughout his subsequent life.
Getting an education
Up until the age of 14, he was educated at home. From 1896 to 1899 he studied at one of the elite schools located in Groton (Massachusetts). From 1900 to 1904, Roosevelt was educated at Harvard, graduating with a bachelor's degree. From 1905 to 1907, Roosevelt (a brief biography is described by us in the article) had an internship at Columbia Law University, which gave him the right to independently practice advocacy. It is not surprising that after graduation, the future president "moved" to Wall Street.
In 1907, he marries Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), who was Franklin's very distant relative. In this marriage, six children were born, but one of them died in infancy. The wife played a very significant role in Franklin's life, because after 1921, when he fell ill with polio and was, in fact, an invalid, she took on a huge amount of clerical work.
How did the career of a politician begin?
How did Roosevelt Franklin get into big politics? His biography in this role begins with the fact that in 1910 he accepts an offer from the Democratic Party and withsuccessfully running for Senator of his native state. In 1912, he actively supported the contender for the presidency of the United States, Thomas Woodrow Wilson. When he was in the chair of the head of state, he offered Franklin a good post in the Department of the Navy. Soon he moves to Washington.
Until 1921, he pursues a policy in this post, which will then become America's "calling card". Strengthening the fleet, an active foreign policy and diplomatic contacts - this was his strong point.
Failure and sickness
In 1914, Roosevelt (a brief biography is given in this material) makes an attempt to become a senator in Congress, but it fails. In 1920, he raises the bar, trying to win the presidency. His "partner" was J. Cox. But the Democratic Party in this period is defeated, and the disease dooms Roosevelt to a forced break from work.
The path to success
But in 1928, when Franklin succeeded in becoming governor of an influential home state, his career took off sharply. He served in this post for two terms at once, having acquired the most valuable skills, which were useful to him during his work as president. In 1931, when the economic situation in the country became very difficult, the future head of state "rose" quite well by organizing gratuitous assistance to the unemployed and starving. It was by that time that his popularity was growing among ordinary voters, with whom the president subsequently had regular conversations.
White House
In 1932, Franklin Roosevelt (his brief biography is described in ourarticle), who actually provided assistance to the population in the period 1929-1933. (Great Depression), in general, without much difficulty he was able to bypass Hoover, who could not lead the country out of such a difficult period. It was then that Franklin announced a plan to carry out comprehensive reforms, which later became known as the New Deal. It is still studied in American schools and universities as an example of a correct, competent and adaptive economic policy.
First reforms
In just the first one hundred days of his presidency, he introduced a number of extremely important and indeed useful reforms. First, the entire banking system was completely restored. Secondly, a special law was passed guaranteeing assistance to all people below the poverty line. Farm debt was fully refinanced, and a law on the restoration of the agricultural sector was also adopted, which, among other things, provided not only for state control over the volume of production, but also for sending targeted assistance to the most needy producers.
Roosevelt himself considered the measures taken to restore industrial potential to be the most successful and promising transformation. In addition, in 1935 he passed a whole set of laws that regulate almost all aspects of the social and business life of the country.
In 1936, he wins an impressive election victory, by a wide margin beating all his competitors. It is for this reason that he applies in 1937-1938. considerable efforts to maintain the labor sphere, "working out"limit the confidence of their voters. What did Roosevelt Franklin do during this period? His biography shows that all these innovations met with a serious rebuff from the big industrialists. They did not like the "excessive" guarantees of a social nature that the state gave to the poor and unprotected segments of the population.
What else struck compatriots Roosevelt Franklin (biography)? Women in his life, for example, played an important role (it is worth remembering only his active wife). It is not surprising that during the presidency of Roosevelt, the whole beautiful half of the country began to idolize. The fact is that it was this president who began to pursue a policy of equality and equal payments to women in production, in the army, and other structures. However, he cared for all categories of the population, regardless of gender differences.
In particular, in August 1935, he signed a resonant law on social insurance, providing for guaranteed payments of two types at once: for disability (in all cases) and for the needs of medical care. Until that time, nothing like this existed in the country of the "American dream", and it was almost impossible to get high-quality medical care for a person who did not have a decent amount in the account.
Pre-war policy
This is the most controversial period of his reign. On the one hand, Franklin Roosevelt, whose brief biography is given here, behaved like a realist. On the other hand, he acted very infantile and indecisive, obviously fearingnegative reaction of their own henchmen from industrial and financial circles. Oddly enough, but it was this politician who established quite benevolent diplomatic relations with the USSR in 1933. Even in relation to Latin America, he pursued a policy of "good neighborliness", almost for the first time in the history of the United States, talking with the politicians of these countries on an equal footing.
But this is only one side of the coin. The fact is that he avoided exacerbation of processes in every possible way. Simply put, his foreign policy was distinguished by the desire to avoid all really difficult situations, and often Roosevelt, whose biography is striking in his "reversals", did not distinguish between victims and aggressors at all.
However, it was he who, after the atrocities perpetrated by the Japanese army in China (this was in 1937), began to insist on the complete international isolation of those countries that conduct military operations with such cruelty and destroy millions of civilians. But few Western politicians at that time showed any interest in the events unfolding so far in the East. This allowed Japan to strengthen its position as much as possible, and Hitler provided significant assistance to the Mikado.
For example, precisely because of his policy of suspension and non-intervention, the legitimate governments of Italy and Spain at one time were deprived of the opportunity to purchase weapons. Only when the fire of war broke out in Europe did he lift his embargo. But even in this you should not look for excessive altruism: just in this case, America could help out a lotmore money by selling weapons simultaneously to all parties to conflicts. How did Roosevelt behave during World War II? His biography in this case contains many curious moments.
World War II
In 1940, he once again wins the election, after which British military assistance is gaining momentum. At the very beginning of the next year, he signs the decree "On Mutual Assistance", which, among other things, introduces the concept of lend-lease. It was due to him that the Soviet Union was provided with an interest-free loan in the amount of one billion dollars.
Historians still argue how big a role this money and supplies played in the struggle of the Soviet Union against the fascist aggressor, but in any case it was real and tangible help, which significantly strengthened relations between the two countries in a difficult time for us.
What is Lend-Lease?
By the way, what does the concept of "Lend-Lease" mean in general? This is a system by which debt deliveries of weapons, food, ammunition, raw materials, etc. are carried out. Officially, deliveries were made to all countries that were part of the anti-Hitler coalition. Unofficially, loans were also issued to Nazi Germany, and the Krupp factories were converted with this money.
President Roosevelt, whose biography we are considering, tried to limit himself to the policy of “skimming cream” for as long as possible, sending convoys to Europe. This continued until the autumn of 1941, when German boats began to be increasingly noticed in the coastal areas. Then the policy was proclaimed, which subsequentlycalled "Undeclared War".
That's when the US allows the armament of its ships, gives them the right to pass through the areas immediately covered by the war, and announces that all German and Italian ships that appear in the American zone of responsibility will be fired upon and sunk.
Japan attack
When did F. D. Roosevelt, whose biography is interesting to many, moved to more active actions? Perhaps he would have been in time for the section of the "European pie" only in 1944, but here the Mikado played a role.
In early December 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in the Pacific. It must be said that for the president himself, this event turned out to be an extremely unpleasant surprise, since he tried in every way, if not to prevent, then to delay the war with Japan. Already on December 8, the United States declares war on Japan, and a few days later on Germany, Italy and other allies of the fascist regimes.
The biography of F. Roosevelt at this moment is poorly covered, since he worked hard, taking on, in accordance with the Constitution, the post of Commander-in-Chief. Roosevelt worked hard in the field of creating an anti-Hitler coalition.
Expectation and real action
Alas, but most of this work was purely paper. None of the members of this coalition, with the exception of the USSR alone, conducted large-scale military operations against the Nazis. Great Britain did host Rudolf Hess, the details of the negotiations with which are still the greatest secret.those times.
On January 1, 1942, a declaration was signed that laid the foundation for the creation of the UN. But things did not go further than this - the second front, which I. V. Stalin repeatedly asked for, the US President and his allies were in no hurry to open. When did F. Roosevelt, whose brief biography you already know, nevertheless change his mind?
Only after the USSR broke the back of Germany's armored power by destroying its strike core near Kursk, only after Stalingrad, in which Paulus' armies were crushed, did he begin to take the Soviet Union seriously and realized that he would have to talk with the Russians and after the war. At the conference in Tehran, he no longer supported Churchill, who by all means "denied" the start of a military operation in Europe.
Meeting in Tehran
For the first time, Roosevelt outlined his vision of the development of the world in the post-war period at a conference in Quebec (1943). He called the USA, the USSR, China and Great Britain "policemen of the world", responsible for maintaining a normal world order. In Tehran, F. D. Roosevelt, whose brief biography you probably already understand, also continued to discuss this issue with Stalin and Churchill.
In 1944, Franklin was re-elected for a fourth consecutive term. His speech at the Crimean Conference in Y alta played an important role in the post-war arrangement of the world. His realistic position on this matter was caused, if viewed broadly, both by the successfully continuing offensive of Soviet troops in Eastern Europe, and by the desire to involve the Soviet Union in the procedure for "solving the Japanese question."In addition, he showed Stalin in this way that the United States was also interested in further cooperation in many areas, including military.
After Y alta, an old illness and general overwork that has accumulated over all the hard times of the war makes itself felt. Despite this, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whose biography is already coming to an end in our article, continued to intensively prepare for the conference. She was supposed to go to San Francisco. But this was not to be.
On April 12, 1945, this eminent politician died of a cerebral hemorrhage. He was buried in his native Hyde Park. Americans zealously honor the memory of this president, placing him on a par with Lincoln and Washington. It should be emphasized that Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whose brief biography we have reviewed, did a lot to normalize relations between the two countries. It is not his fault that his descendants, with the exception of Kennedy, held dangerously rigid beliefs that could lead to nuclear war many times over.
Roosevelt is remembered by many as an unusually pragmatic yet firm politician. He always tried to find a common language even with those whom he decidedly did not understand, and preferred peace to a "glorious fight." It was his reign that was marked by the solution of many social problems and contradictions, which in the modern United States are increasingly clearly indicated again.
