Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt [ ˈfɹæŋk.lɪn ˈdɛlənoʊ ˈɹoʊzə.vɛlt ] ( ) (born January 30, 1882 in Hyde Park , New York ; † April 12, 1945 in Warm Springs , Georgia ), often abbreviated with his initials FDR , was the 32nd President of the United States from March 4, 1933 until his death on April 12, 1945 . He belonged to the Democratic Party .
Roosevelt came from a well-known and wealthy family in New York State . He studied law and began his political career in 1910 as a member of the New York Senate . In the government of President Woodrow Wilson he was from 1913 to 1921 State Secretary ( Assistant Secretary ) in the Department of the Navy . In the US presidential election on November 2, 1920 , he ran as a running mate of James M. Cox for the office of US Vice President ; they lost the choice. In August 1921 he fell ill with polio ; from then on he was largely paralyzed from the waist down and could hardly walk on his own. He resumed his political career in 1928 and was elected governor of New York in the New York state election on November 6, 1928 . He held this office from 1929 to 1932, where he was able to implement important reforms to combat the Great Depression .
As his party's presidential candidate in the 1932 election , he defeated incumbent Herbert Hoover . After his first term in office, he was re-elected in 1936 , 1940 and 1944 - making him the only US president to hold office for more than two terms . His presidency is characterized by domestic political reforms under the catchphrase New Deal to combat the global economic crisis. His policy set the guideline for the regulatory intervention of the American government in economic affairs in order to enforce general interests. In addition, the introduction of social security and a nationwide minimum wage brought lasting changes in the state's social system.
The most important foreign policy event was the declaration of war by Germany and Italy on the United States on December 11, 1941, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7 , 1941, which led to the United States' entry into World War II . Despite the political and social differences to the Soviet Union , Roosevelt actively devoted himself to building the anti-Hitler coalition and played a decisive role in defining the Allied war aims against the Axis powers . Under his leadership, the hitherto largely isolationist US foreign policy was reoriented towards internationalism . With his policy, Roosevelt tried, instead of nationalism, to give validity to the idea of the global dependence of all on all. This was expressed through the founding of the United Nations (UNO) in 1945, which the President had been instrumental in promoting. However, Roosevelt did not live to see the end of the war in Europe or the surrender of Japan . Only a few weeks before the unconditional surrender of the German Wehrmacht , the poorly ill President died in April 1945 of a cerebral haemorrhage . He was succeeded as president by his deputy Harry S. Truman .
Roosevelt went down as one of the most formative presidents in American history and is one of the most important statesmen of the 20th century. In surveys of historians and the US population, he always ranks in the top three of the best US presidents (together with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln ). Both his progressive reform policy of the New Deal, combined with his charismatic appearance, which aroused confidence and optimism in the population despite the global economic crisis, and his acting as a political leader in World War II are rated very positively.
Life before the presidency
family
Franklin D. Roosevelt came from one of the wealthiest and most distinguished families in New York, whose ancestors came from the Netherlands . The Episcopal Christ was removed with the Republican 26th US President Theodore Roosevelt used ( Cousin 5th degree).
Father James Roosevelt , who lived the life of a "country gentleman", invested the profits from his 500 hectare estate in railroad construction and the steel industry and was a board member of several companies. He attached great importance to classic cultural and educational standards. His social activities were limited to supporting aid organizations. James did not pursue political ambitions; however, he was a regular Democrat voter . Mother Sara Ann Delano Roosevelt was 26 years younger than her husband James, for whom it was the second marriage. She came from one of New England's wealthy merchant families and brought a million dollar dowry into the marriage.
Franklin D. Roosevelt grew up well sheltered as an only child. Up to the age of 14 he had private lessons, including Latin, French, German and European history. The Roosevelts made frequent trips to Europe. Between 1891 and 1896 Roosevelt spent part of his childhood in Europe. Among other things, at the age of nine, he stayed for three months during a spa stay with his parents in Bad Nauheim in Hesse. He also attended school there for some time. During his stay in Germany he developed a negative image of Germany that shaped him throughout his life and that his father had already represented. Roosevelt spoke fluent German and French through the language lessons and his stay in Europe .
Since March 17, 1905, Franklin D. Roosevelt was married to Eleanor Roosevelt , a niece of Theodore Roosevelt. She later became a well-known public figure herself who was involved in numerous social projects. The relationship resulted in six children (one daughter and five sons) between 1906 and 1916, two of whom also embarked on a political career. The eldest son, James (1907-1991), was from 1955 to 1965 Congressman for California ; his younger brother Franklin Jr. (1914–1988) sat from 1949 to 1955 for New York State in the House of Representatives. Both failed with candidacies as governors of their respective states.
Roosevelt had a number of extramarital affairs . The longest and most famous was the relationship with Lucy Mercer , whom he met in 1914. Eleanor Roosevelt found out about Franklin's romance with her secretary in September 1918. Franklin himself was considering a divorce , but Lucy Mercer, a devout Catholic, was unwilling to marry a divorced man. His mother was more important. Sara Roosevelt warned her son about a divorce; this would end his political career and damage the family's reputation, it would also disinherit him. Although Franklin promised not to see his mistress again and the Roosevelts remained married, Eleanor never forgave her husband for adultery. From then on she devoted herself increasingly to her social commitment, which Franklin supported politically. From then on, however, the Roosevelts maintained more of a political partnership than a loving marital relationship. Shortly after discovering his affair with Lucy Mercer, Eleanor bought a second home in Hyde Park . The emotional break went so far that Eleanor refused to live fully with her husband again in 1942.
Roosevelt soon broke his promise by continuing to date Mercer. Especially after he took office as President, there were regular meetings; Mercer was also with the President when he died at his Warm Springs home in April 1945 . Before that, there had been more frequent dates since Mercer's husband died in March 1944. Roosevelt had asked his daughter Anna to arrange meetings with his lover without Eleanor's knowledge. His relationship with Mercer did not become public knowledge until the 1960s.
After the death of his father, Roosevelt's son Elliott stated that the president had also had a love affair with his secretary Marguerite LeHand for 20 years until she died in the summer of 1944.
School and university education
In 1896, Franklin D. Roosevelt entered the Groton School, northwest of Boston . In this elite school, which was founded on the English model and led by the episcopal clergyman Endicott Peabody , the focus was on educating a “Christian gentleman” who was to be fully committed to the people and the fatherland. The learning institution placed particular emphasis on the classical humanistic subjects, religiosity, ascetic lifestyle and sporting activities. Political or social issues were not included. Despite his ambition, Roosevelt was only mediocre in school and sport. However, he developed particular dedication in his charitable tasks.
In his younger years, two people made a special impression on Roosevelt: his relative, the Republican US President Theodore Roosevelt, who was considered the first progressive president (1901–1909), and the US Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan and his work “ The Influence of Sea Power upon History , 1660–1783 ”, which emphasized the importance of the fleet for a state's position as a world power.
From 1900 to 1904 Roosevelt studied at Harvard University in Cambridge , Massachusetts . At the most important educational institution in the country, Roosevelt, like his fellow students, was not primarily concerned with excellent academic achievements, but also with establishing networks and developing his leadership skills. Therefore, side activities played a major role. Roosevelt was a member of the student fraternity "Alpha Delta Phi" and was involved in the university newspaper "Crimson", of which he became editor-in-chief. After three years, he completed his studies, which consisted of various subjects (including economics , art history and rhetoric ), with a " Bachelor of Arts". Politically, Roosevelt was still undecided. He stood between the democratic tradition of his family and the Republican Theodore Roosevelt, whom he greatly admired.
From 1904 Roosevelt studied law at Columbia University . The subject hardly aroused any enthusiasm in him. Despite only receiving a satisfactory final grade, he started working for a renowned New York law firm thanks to good contacts. The legal profession did not bring Roosevelt any fulfillment. So he decided to see his calling in politics and to follow suit with his famous cousin: to climb the political career ladder to the office of US president.
Start of political career and State Senator in New York
Politically, Roosevelt, like his distant cousin Theodore Roosevelt (the Republican President of the United States from 1901 to 1909), was a staunch progressive . His “progressive” attitude was not limited to domestic political reforms (strengthening democratic mechanisms, strengthening the common good, environmental protection), but also determined his foreign policy orientation: he was an “internationalist” who advocated an active role for the USA in world affairs. But the US did not seem ready for global power. The US Senate , with its Republican majority, rejected the Versailles Treaty and membership of the League of Nations , which was based on Wilson's idea. Roosevelt also welcomed the establishment of an international organization to resolve interstate conflicts peacefully. For the next 20 years, the "isolationists" should still determine the foreign policy course of the USA.
In 1910, at the age of 28, Roosevelt was elected to the New York Senate for the Hyde Park district in Dutchess County - which had not voted for a Democratic candidate since 1884 . The decisive factor for his electoral success (15,708 votes for Roosevelt and 14,568 votes for the Republican rival candidate John F. Schlosser) was not only the level of awareness of his family and his cousin Theodore, but also his unorthodox campaign style: he drove through the streets in a red car stocked with flags and spoke with them simple people. The fight against corruption in politics and administration was at the forefront of the election rhetoric. Although he and other Democrats could not break the power of the corrupt party bosses in his own party (→ Tammany Hall ), the internal "revolt" was a useful lesson in politics for the newcomer Roosevelt and contributed significantly to his popularity.
During his tenure as a senator (1910–1913) he campaigned for reforms in the formation of political will (direct election of senators at the federal level, women's suffrage ), fought the rigorous deforestation - the clearest legacy of his cousin Theodore - and stood for the improvement of the living conditions of farmers and workers.
As a senator, Roosevelt acquired the necessary political craft and the reputation of a "progressive democrat". Thus, in his political convictions, he was close to the “progressive movement”, which was regarded as the answer to the negative excesses of capitalism and which became a dominant mentality of the time. Thanks to his “progressive” convictions and his energetic support for the presidential candidacy of Woodrow Wilson in 1912 , the main representative of the “progressive movement” on the side of the Democrats, Roosevelt made the leap to Washington, DC
State Secretary in the Ministry of the Navy
In the spring of 1913, President Wilson named Roosevelt the youngest assistant secretary to date in the Department of the Navy - a crucial position in his career. Theodore Roosevelt had also held this office before his presidency; and Franklin also took over the office of governor of New York afterwards. Roosevelt rose in his position, expanded his position in the ministry and made important contacts with the military , shipbuilding companies and trade unions. Since he recognized the importance of the navy for the defense of the country, but also for the control of the economic routes, he advocated the expansion of the navy, which earned him the sympathy of the admirals.
Earlier than Wilson, whom Roosevelt admired, he advocated the entry of the United States into the First World War in order to guarantee the security of the markets and to "export" the liberal-democratic values of the United States to the world. In October 1918 Roosevelt even wanted to take up military service, but the end of the war prevented this.
Candidacy for vice-president in 1920
With the end of the Wilson presidency, Roosevelt also said goodbye to Washington. However, he did not want to be forgotten in the political arena. He made his name known among the Democrats through a high-profile speech in which he referred to the Republicans as the party of reaction and millionaires. They were counting on him as the new presidential candidate, but Roosevelt turned it down, realizing that the Democrats were not going to win right now.
He was at least set up as a vice-presidential candidate behind the Democratic presidential candidate James M. Cox in order to increase his popularity nationwide. In the election campaign of 1920 he presented himself as an energetic reformer and a globally oriented foreign politician. The massive - and predictable - Republican victory did not discourage Roosevelt; At the age of 38, all doors were politically open to him. He returned to New York that same year and opened a law firm. Among other things, he was vice president of a finance company.
illness
In the summer of 1921 Roosevelt fell seriously ill. His illness was considered poliomyelitis (polio) at the time. Recent research based on medical records at the University of Texas in 2003 indicated that it was possibly the then largely unknown Guillain-Barré syndrome - a rare nerve disease that, as in Roosevelt's case, can lead to paralysis. But this is controversial. Together with his friend and law firm partner Basil O'Connor , he set up two foundations to help people with polio.
In order not to give the public the impression that he was completely unable to walk, Roosevelt trained painstakingly to take a few steps in the years after his illness. Nevertheless, since then he has only been able to move with difficulty, even with walking aids , and has largely been dependent on the use of a wheelchair . Roosevelt made his short walking distances mostly with the help of relatives and security guards, whom he hooked with his arms; in addition, he often carried a walking stick with him. He also had to wear greaves to walk. However, Roosevelt often moved in a car. The president had the pedals of his car modified accordingly so that he could control the vehicle completely by hand, which gave him additional mobility. Despite being dependent on a wheelchair, he avoided being photographed in one; there are only a handful of photos showing him in a wheelchair. He also avoided being filmed walking; altogether only about twelve seconds of such film material exist. His illness and the resulting physical impairment were not fully known to the American public and thus to the electorate. In his address to Congress on March 1, 1945, a good month before his death, Roosevelt de facto publicly admitted his suffering by asking the MPs to understand that he should hold the speech while seated:
"This makes it a lot easier for me not to have to carry about ten pounds of steel around on the bottom of my legs."
"That makes it a lot easier for me not to have to carry ten pounds of steel on my legs."
Governor of New York
After the electoral defeat of 1920, also due to his illness, Roosevelt was not politically active for a few years. In 1926, however, he decided to resume his political career.
Roosevelt won the Democratic Party's primary election for governor of New York . The Republican government was responsible for the economic boom of the 1920s. Even so, Roosevelt won a narrow gubernatorial election in November 1928. Once again, he campaigned for a very active and unorthodox election and took up current issues that were irrelevant to the Republicans: improving the situation of farmers, reforms in the health, education and justice systems, creating a decent health system and old-age welfare, control of the energy companies and support for an active foreign policy. Roosevelt saw the solution to the longstanding crisis in agriculture primarily in increasing purchasing power. Roosevelt also won the hearts of voters with his appearances: despite his serious illness, he exuded optimism and joie de vivre.
He took up his new post as head of government of the most populous US state at the time. His first term of office was two years (it was not until 1938 that the governor's term was extended to four years). As governor, Roosevelt fought for the realization of election promises, but often failed because of the preponderance of Republicans in the New York Parliament. Many of the problems mentioned could only be solved at the federal level. Roosevelt relied on highly visible activism; together with his advisors he developed numerous bills. Vigorous public relations work - above all he relied on the new medium of radio - brought his political goals closer to a broad audience.
In 1930, Roosevelt was re-elected governor of New York by a majority of over 700,000 votes, defeating Republican candidate Charles H. Tuttle, revealing the popularity of Roosevelt's reformist zeal. For the next two years, Roosevelt fought the effects of the Great Depression . The emergency program passed in August 1931 was unique in the history of the United States up to that time: New York State took over the relief measures for the unemployed, income tax was increased by 50 percent and local relief programs were funded through bonds. However, the crisis could only be resolved more quickly and efficiently from Washington.
The economic crisis should open the doors to the White House for Roosevelt . As a result of his presidential candidacy in 1932, he did not stand for re-election as governor. The previous Lieutenant Governor Herbert H. Lehman was elected as his successor, and Roosevelt resigned from office at the end of the day on December 31.
1932 presidential election
The stock market crash of 1929 ( Black Thursday ) was followed by the global economic crisis . In the US version it was referred to as the " Great Depression ". A reduction in economic output and mass unemployment were the result. Roosevelt's reforms as governor of New York made him a promising candidate for the 1932 presidential election in the face of the economic depression. When the Democrats held their nomination convention in July 1932 , Roosevelt was the clear favorite. He first faced the opposing candidates from Alfred E. Smith , his predecessor to the office of New York Governor and presidential candidate from 1928, and the Speaker of the US House of Representatives , John Nance Garner . Although Roosevelt received a majority of the votes in the first ballot, he was only able to secure the necessary two-thirds majority of the delegate votes in the fourth ballot. Garner withdrew his application after the third ballot and was subsequently put up as a candidate for the office of Vice President . To the progressive and left-wing liberal Roosevelt from the north-east of the USA, the Texan Garner seemed a sensible addition to pacify the conservative wing of the party.
The Republicans re-established incumbent President Herbert Hoover . But since Hoover had not been able to fight the economic crisis effectively with his policies, he was very unpopular with the population. Unlike Hoover, Roosevelt managed to spread optimism in the election campaign. In the presidential election on November 8, 1932, Roosevelt won with 57.4% of the vote, well ahead of Hoover, for whom 39.7% of the electorate had voted. Of the 48 states at the time, Roosevelt received a majority of the votes in 42. In doing so, he secured 472 electors , while his opponents accounted for 59 electors from six states.
On February 15, 1933, just weeks before he was sworn in, Roosevelt survived an assassination attempt in Miami . The Italian-American anarchist Giuseppe Zangara fired five shots in the direction of the elected president , who was sitting in an open car. Roosevelt himself was not hit, but five people were injured, including the mayor of Chicago , Anton Cermak , who died three weeks later as a result of the attack.
Presidency (1933–1945)
First term (1933–1937)
After his election victory, Roosevelt took office as the 32nd President of the United States on March 4, 1933. His first inauguration stayed in the collective consciousness of the public mainly because of the saying “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. His first inauguration was the last on a March 4th. Since 1937, this date has been set for January 20th after the election.
Roosevelt appointed a number of important figures to his cabinet who supported his political program. For the first time in American history, Frances Perkins , who was very committed to social projects, took over the office of Minister of Labor . She remained in her post throughout Roosevelt's presidency. Republican Party politicians were also represented in his cabinet; so in 1940 Henry L. Stimson was appointed Secretary of War , who had already held this office under William Howard Taft between 1909 and 1913 and held the post of Secretary of State in Hoover's government. In 1940, Frank Knox , who was also the vice-presidential candidate of Roosevelt's challenger Alf Landon , became Minister of the Navy in 1940 .
First New Deal
When Roosevelt moved into the White House , the country was in the deepest economic crisis in its history. Since the stock market crash of October 1929 , economic output had plummeted and unemployment was at a record level. Numerous banks and companies were bankrupt. Many people lost their jobs and even their shelter, and in isolated cases there were even deaths from starvation. Roosevelt's official acts were aimed at alleviating the misery in the population through swift action. In fact, within a few months he managed to bring a series of comprehensive reforms through Congress , in which his party now had clear majorities. The reforms implemented from March to June 1933 later became known as the “100-day program”. Due to the general longing to overcome the “ great depression ”, the new president was able to work through his program in an unprecedented climate of bipartisan approval. Roosevelt himself was very popular with the population; through his radio speeches, known as Fireside Chats, he turned directly to the American people to explain his policies.
As early as March 6, 1933, all banks were instructed to close for four days (bank holiday) . During this time, it was examined which banks could be bailed out by state lending and which had to close forever. During this time, the Emergency Banking Bill was passed, with which the banks were in future placed under the supervision of the United States Department of the Treasury . With these measures it was possible to restore the confidence of the citizens in the banking system in the short term: Immediately after the reopening of the banks, the deposit portfolio increased by one billion dollars. A number of other measures gave the American banking system an unprecedented level of stability: while even in the period before the Great Depression, more than five hundred banks collapsed each year, after 1933 it was less than ten a year. The Glass-Steagall Act was also passed. With this law a separate banking system was introduced. Commercial banks were banned from risky securities transactions. The commercial banks' lending and deposit business, which is important for the real economy, was to be separated from risky securities transactions that would in future be reserved for specialized investment banks .
Second New Deal and introduction of social security
The period from 1935 to 1938 is often referred to as the Second New Deal . During this time, the main focus was on long-term solutions. The measures taken so far by the President and his administration, as well as his optimistic demeanor, met with great approval from the Americans; so the Democrats were able to post further gains in the congressional elections of autumn 1934, which is rather unusual for the presidential party in midterm elections in a historical context.
Since the crisis had hit senior citizens particularly hard, by 1935 a number of state welfare programs had been topped up by the Roosevelt administration to alleviate the hardship. The lack of federal social security made the United States an exception among modern developed economies as humanitarian distress in the country continued to intensify. A commission headed by Labor Secretary Perkins then began to work out concrete plans for the introduction of social security, which would make a significant contribution to overcoming the humanitarian crisis. A corresponding bill was passed by Congress in the summer of 1935 and signed by Roosevelt on August 10th of that year. With the passage of the Social Security Act , the United States introduced the first federal social insurances (a number of states already had social insurances), such as Social Security , a widow's pension for dependents of industrial accidents and aids to the disabled, as well for single mothers. Federal subsidies were also introduced for the unemployment insurance schemes operated by the individual states. To finance this, a new tax (the payroll tax) was introduced, with which an employer's share and an employee's share are paid to the state treasury. Roosevelt had insisted on a separate tax so that the proceeds could not be used for other purposes. The original Social Security Act fell short of many European models, including because Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau had successfully intervened to ensure that farmers, domestic workers and the self-employed were not included in pension and unemployment insurance. Morgenthau argued that social security would become unaffordable if these sections of the population, as typical low-wage earners, also received insurance benefits. On the other hand, in fact 65% of all blacks in the US and between 70% and 80% in the southern states were not covered by social security. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People called social security a safety net that "was like a sieve, with holes just big enough for the majority of blacks to fall through." Domestically, the introduction of social security is considered one of Roosevelt's most important achievements.
Even the introduction of a public health insurance was initially not eligible for a majority. Roosevelt hoped, however, that the Social Security Act could be expanded at a later date. With this law - fiercely opposed by opponents - a state responsibility for social security was established for the first time in the United States. The payroll tax was levied from 1937, and due to the pay-as-you-go system , the first pension payments (after a three-year minimum contribution period) were made from 1940 onwards. Significant reforms in the health insurance sector were passed with Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 under President Lyndon B. Johnson and in 2010 under President Barack Obama . Both Johnson and Obama invoked Roosevelt's legacy. Roosevelt's successor Harry S. Truman and Bill Clinton in the 1990s also advocated expansion of social security in this area, but failed because of the conservatives in Congress.
Withdrawal of Prohibition
In the 1932 election campaign, Roosevelt had spoken out in favor of withdrawing the prohibition that had existed since 1919 . The nationwide ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol was extremely unpopular among the population. The actual implementation also proved to be practically impossible; many restaurants still served wine , beer , sparkling wine or spirits in the illegal . In big cities like New York and Chicago a culture of restaurants in the basement developed. In late March, Roosevelt signed what became known as the Cullen-Harrison Act to repeal the Volstead Act and re-legalize the manufacture and sale of certain alcoholic beverages. On December 5, 1933, the ratification of the 21st amendment repealed the 18th amendment that banned alcoholic beverages.
Re-election in 1936
Roosevelt's position in the Democratic Party was unchallenged until 1936, when he was unanimously nominated for re-election that year. Vice President John Nance Garner was also appointed a second time to pacify the conservative party wing from the southern states, although he never really got warm with the New Deal. The Republicans entered the race with Alf Landon , the governor of Kansas . Roosevelt campaigned for a continuation of his New Deal. Landon, a moderate Republican, did not oppose the New Deal as a whole, but denounced what he saw as too big a bureaucracy . The incumbent nevertheless sharply attacked the Republicans, accusing them of wanting to reverse his reforms. He also portrayed the opposition as untrustworthy by blaming Republican politicians for the crisis through their policies of economic deregulation .
Opinion polls erroneously predicted a close election result at first, but on election day, November 3, 1936, Roosevelt won like a landslide. He received 60.8% of the vote; 36.5% of the voters voted for Landon. Roosevelt won in 46 of the 48 states, with the Republican challenger only gaining a majority in Maine and Vermont . This left Roosevelt with 523 electors and Landon only eight. This corresponded to a share of 98.49%; to date - apart from the unanimous elections of George Washington and James Monroe - it is the best result in Electoral College . The percentage of votes in the population was also the best result in a presidential election to date. Since then, only Lyndon B. Johnson has just exceeded this result with 61.1% in 1964 . In Congress, the Democrats expanded their dominance even further; since the civil war no other party has had such a large majority. Together with the 1964 elections , this election is considered to be the greatest triumph of the Democratic Party in a national election.
Roosevelt owed his re-election to widespread support from various sections of the population, which has long been known as the New Deal Coalition . These consisted of traditionally liberal and left-wing liberal forces, small farmers, the urban population , trade unions , Jewish communities and African-Americans from the northern states (those from the southern states were mostly excluded from voting by federal legislation). The mostly conservative south, traditionally a stronghold of the Democrats (which was later reversed), voted unanimously for him. The President interpreted the election result as a mandate for the continuation of the New Deal and its progressive policy .
Second term (1937–1941)
Roosevelt began his second term on January 20, 1937. It was the first swearing-in ceremony on January 20.
Domestic politics and intended judicial reform
In his second term in office, President Roosevelt concentrated more on consolidating and consolidating the reforms of the New Deal, and less on adding to new programs. The introduction of the nationwide minimum wage in 1938 was groundbreaking here (but the states are free to set higher minimum wages by law). The introduction of a minimum wage is shaped by an important quote from Roosevelt:
"No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country […] and by living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level - I mean the wages of decent living."
“Companies whose existence only depends on paying their employees less than a living wage should no longer have the right to continue doing business in this country. [...] With a wage sufficient to live on, I mean more than the mere subsistence level - I mean wages that enable a decent life. "
The Supreme Court was occupied by Roosevelt's government takeover largely with judges who were appointed by Republican presidents. The judges appointed for life have repeatedly declared progressive laws unconstitutional. Above all , Judges Pierce Butler , James C. McReynolds , George Sutherland and Willis Van Devanter consistently rejected Roosevelt's reform plans , all referred to in the contemporary press as the Four Horsemen of the Supreme Court based on the apocalyptic riders in the Bible . On May 27, 1935 ( Black Monday ) , the first New Deal laws - including the work of the National Recovery Administration - were declared unconstitutional. At the time, Roosevelt was still hoping that one of the judges would retire and that the majority structure could be changed by a new judge nomination.
After other laws, such as the New York State Minimum Wage Act, had been declared unconstitutional in 1936, Roosevelt came to believe that the Supreme Court would cash in on all essential parts of the New Deal and de facto undermine the principle of the separation of powers between the judiciary and the legislature in favor of the judiciary wool. Even former President Hoover criticized the decisions as too far-reaching interference with legislative powers. There was widespread public criticism (for example in the bestseller by Drew Pearson and Robert Allen with the title Nine Old Men ) that the judges, mostly over 70 years old, no longer recognized the problems of the present. Encouraged by the unequivocal electoral mandate Roosevelt received in 1936 and annoyed by Judge McReynolds' comment, "I will never retire while the crippled son of a bitch is still in the White House," Roosevelt decided to press ahead with judicial reform. For example, a law he proposed provided that the American president had the power to appoint additional new judges for every judge over the age of 70 who refused to retire. However, this plan not only met with fierce opposition from the opposition Republicans, a number of Democratic members of Congress also viewed the head of state's plans critically.
Ultimately, Roosevelt failed to get the push through the legislature. Nevertheless, even without the implementation of the bill, the public pressure on the judges increased. At this point, beginning on March 29, 1937 (White Monday) , there was a change in the case law of the Supreme Court. Judge Owen Roberts , who had previously voted frequently with the Four Horsemen , now voted with the progressive wing of the court. Among other things, the Wagner Act and the Social Security Act were declared constitutional. Washington State's minimum wage law also remained in place. Historian David M. Kennedy believes that increasing public criticism of the Four Horsemen's judicial practice and Roosevelt's landslide election victory in November 1936 played a role in changing the case law. Due to the voluntary resignation of some judges in the following years, the Supreme Court could largely be replaced by Roosevelt. There was now a longer phase of left-wing constitutional jurisprudence.
The later Supreme Federal Judge William Rehnquist summarized the constitutional change as follows:
"President Roosevelt lost the Court-packing battle, but he won the war for control of the Supreme Court ... not by any novel legislation, but by serving in office for more than twelve years, and appointing eight of the nine justices of the Court. ”
“President Roosevelt lost the battle for the Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937, but he won the war for control of the Supreme Court ... not by new legislation, but by being in office for more than twelve years and so on after) was able to appoint eight of the nine judges of the Supreme Court. "
Final phase of the New Deal
From 1937 tensions between the conservative wing of the party from the southern states and the progressive wing around the president intensified. Beginning in autumn 1937, there was a temporary decline in economic output and a renewed rise in unemployment. This has been referred to by the American public as "Depression within the Depression". Part of the responsibility for this phenomenon was the president's refusal to further increase state investments, as he stuck to a balanced state budget and rejected deficit spending . Furthermore, conservative politicians from both parties could not be won over to additional taxes, which Roosevelt favored for upper incomes (the top tax rate, however, was raised substantially in his first term in office).
Although the economic data improved somewhat from mid-1938 (an actual upswing did not begin until the beginning of the Second World War), Roosevelt's attempt to "purge" the Democratic Party of conservative opponents of the president in the run-up to the 1938 congressional elections failed Candidates who are willing to reform should be drawn up. In the 1938 congressional elections, the Republicans won six new seats in the Senate and were also able to win 71 seats in the House of Representatives. While the Democrats still held their majorities by a large margin, Republicans and Conservative Democrats from the South often formed a “ conservative coalition ” to fend off liberal White House bills.
From 1939 onwards there were no more major reform announcements from the Roosevelt administration. In view of the aggressive policies of the Nazi state and Japan, political attention began to focus more on foreign policy.
Foreign policy
In the inaugural address given to Congress in March 1933, he announced his foreign policy vision of the " Good Neighbor Policy ". Roosevelt was convinced that the global imperialist overstretching of the USA ran counter to the original revolutionary ideals of his country. In 1933, the Soviet Union was recognized, which had not been the case under the previous governments since the October Revolution of 1917.
The cooperative, good neighborly, and equal exchange relationships between the rural communities of America were the model according to which the United States under Roosevelt wanted international relations to be established. For this pragmatic, from the "common sense" ( Common sense embossed) approach out foreign policy has always been a direct function of a society based on compensation, development and justice for human Roosevelt social policy at home.
This inevitably made the President a natural antagonist of the European dictators Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, as well as the Japanese Empire . In his worldwide sensational quarantine speech on October 5, 1937 during the inauguration of the “Outer Link Bridge” on Chicago's “Lake Shore Drive”, Roosevelt called for the German Reich, Italy and Japan to be put under political “quarantine”. He did not explicitly name these states. In 1938, at the time of the Munich Agreement , he told his cabinet members that all of Germany's neighboring states would have to unite to bomb the Germans from the air so that their morale would be broken. As early as 1939, in view of the aggressive foreign policy of the Third Reich, he declared that the United Kingdom and France were allies of the United States. In view of the isolationist mood in Congress and the population that had prevailed since the end of the First World War, however, he refused to allow his country to participate directly in the event of a war.
Instead of narrow nationalism , Roosevelt tried to enforce the idea of global dependence of all on all (“One World”) in his foreign policy. The global industrial and financial interests of American corporations should also subordinate themselves to this:
"We now realize, as we have never realized before, our interdependence with each other - that we cannot merely take but we must give as well."
"We are now finding, as we have never noticed before, that we depend on one another - that we not only can take, but must also give."
A few months before the end of the war, Roosevelt wrote:
“[...] that we cannot live alone, at peace; that our own well-being is dependent on the well-being of other nations - far away. We have learned to be citizens of the world, members of the human community. We have learned the simple truth of Emerson that 'the only way to have a friend is to be one.' ”
“[...] that we cannot live alone in peace; that our own well-being depends on the well-being of other nations - nations far away. We have learned to be citizens of the world, members of the human community. We have learned the simple truth from Emerson that the only way to have a friend is to be one. "
With these words Roosevelt summed up his vision of international relations and US foreign policy in the most concentrated manner .
On August 24, 1939, Roosevelt was informed of the Hitler-Stalin Pact signed the night before . As Charles E. Bohlen wrote in his memoir (Charles Bohlen, Witness to History: 1929-1969 Norton, 1973), the German diplomat Hans-Heinrich Herwarth von Bittenfeld was the one who gave him the Hitler-Stalin Pact at nine o'clock in the morning together with the contents of the secret additional protocol in his office in the German embassy in Moscow. The contract was signed by the Reich Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and the Soviet People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov in the presence of Josef Stalin and the German Ambassador Friedrich-Werner at two o'clock the previous night on August 24 (dated August 23, 1939) in Moscow Graf von der Schulenburg signed. According to Bohlen, the documents were immediately forwarded to President Roosevelt. However, Roosevelt was not informed about a division of the states of Eastern Europe planned by Hitler and Stalin.
After the attack on Poland by the German Wehrmacht in September 1939, he intensified his relations with the British government, especially with Winston Churchill , who became Prime Minister of his country in May 1940. Churchill and Roosevelt began a lively correspondence, especially after the invasion of the Third Reich in Denmark , the Netherlands and France, to discuss possibilities of cooperation against Hitler. Both statesmen developed a close personal relationship in the years that followed, although differences arose over questions of British colonial policy. So Roosevelt always saw himself as an opponent of an imperial policy (especially that of the British); an attitude that he had already expressed through his Good Neighbor Policy towards the countries of Latin America.
The German invasion of France and the fall of Paris in June 1940 shocked the American public, and support for isolationist foreign policy gradually began to wane. But nor was Roosevelt, especially in view of the upcoming elections, unwilling to intervene militarily even mentioning, although he in 1938 a gradual upgrade of the US forces had authorized. From the spring of 1940, large parts of both parties agreed to further arm the military.
The 1940 election
During the winter of 1939/1940 there was speculation among the American public whether Roosevelt would break with tradition and run for a third term in the fall of 1940 (the 22nd amendment to the Constitution , which provides for a legal limit to two terms , was not passed until 1951) . However, by 1940 no president had served more than two terms in office, primarily due to the first president, George Washington , who recommended that all successors rule no more than two terms . Until spring Roosevelt made no binding statement as to whether he would run again. However, the worsening foreign policy situation prompted him not to rule out an application entirely. After the German invasion of France , the president announced that he would accept the Democratic nomination should his party decide to re-establish it. Many Democrats had now come to the conclusion not only that Roosevelt was best suited to lead the country in times of global political tensions, but that the president, who remained very popular with the people, also had the best chance of helping his party win again . Although there was occasional criticism from within the party, Roosevelt prevailed at the party congress in the summer of 1940 without any problems, although his hope of being unanimously nominated was not fulfilled. As a vice-presidential candidate, the previous Agriculture Minister Henry A. Wallace was nominated, who, unlike Roosevelt's previous deputy, John Nance Garner, was an avowed liberal . Garner, who rejected Roosevelt's third candidacy, had fallen out with the president since 1937 due to differences over the New Deal and was striving for the party's candidacy himself, but had to admit defeat to Roosevelt in a clear decision at the party congress.
The Republicans surprisingly put on the political career changer Wendell Willkie , who had never held a political office before. The lawyer and businessman Willkie - himself a democrat until 1938 - was known for his liberal views, which made him controversial within the party. During the election campaign, Willkie therefore spoke out in favor of retaining the New Deal, although he wanted to make it less bureaucratic, more efficient and more business-friendly. He also called for an internationalist orientation in foreign policy, which also met with a divided response within the party. Willkie mainly attacked the president for seeking a third term. During the campaign, Roosevelt referred to the domestic political successes of his reforms. Meanwhile, he promised to give the European allies more military support. At the same time he promised not to send any US soldiers to war in Europe. Willkie accused the president of not adequately preparing the country for the Axis threat.
On election day, November 5, 1940, Roosevelt won with 54.7% of the vote. Meanwhile, 44.8% of the voters had voted for his challenger. Although the Republicans recovered from their heavy losses in 1936, Roosevelt was again able to assert himself clearly. Since he won in 38 of the 48 states, he secured a clear majority on the electoral committee with a ratio of 449 to 82 votes. Roosevelt was particularly successful in the big cities; he won in every city with a population of more than 400,000 except Cincinnati . The Republicans scored particularly well in the Midwest and parts of New England, while most of the rest of the country voted for the incumbent. As the only US President, Roosevelt was thus elected for a third term, which he began on January 20, 1941. Roosevelt commented positively on Willkie after the election. A few days after the polls, he said to his son James : “I'm happy I've won, but I'm sorry Wendell lost” , but regret that Wendell lost ”). Willkie himself supported Roosevelt in the following years again on some issues, so he undertook a number of diplomatic missions on behalf of the President.
Third term (1941–1945)
Domestic politics
Roosevelt's third term was overshadowed by World War II , so domestic politics did not play as prominent a role as it did in the early years of his administration. Due to the rapid armament and the accompanying increase in industrial production, the US economy was finally pulled out of the Great Depression. This development was particularly evident on the labor market: the 7.7 million unemployed in the spring of 1940 fell by around half within two years. A prosperous armaments industry developed, especially along the west coast , which also triggered an extensive population migration towards the west (especially California). In view of the rapidly expanding economy again, Roosevelt made several attempts during his third term in office to increase the top tax rate in order to be able to finance not only social programs but also the war-related armament. Congress rejected such advances with the votes of conservative South Democrats and opposition Republicans.
On January 11, 1944, Roosevelt spoke in a radio address of his vision of a "Second Bill of Rights" to modify the economic and social system. He specifically emphasized the right of every individual to a job, a wage sufficient to live on, decent accommodation, health insurance protection, social security in old age and a good education. Roosevelt planned to continue the New Deal reform policy after the end of the war.
One of the most important laws of Roosevelt's third term was the so-called G. I. Bill , which the President signed on June 22, 1944. This law provided extensive financial aid to relatives of soldiers who served in World War II. Substantial programs were also initiated for returning soldiers, which provided for social reintegration and training assistance (a number of states also launched such programs).
Foreign policy developments 1940/1941
Even before the presidential elections in 1940, the Roosevelt government had not only begun a slow build-up, but in October 1940 the president also enacted military service for all men between the ages of 21 and 35. Yet he was hesitant about military aid to the British even before the elections. Both his election victory and the fact that his Republican opponent Wendell Willkie spoke out in favor of an internationalist foreign policy, he interpreted as a mandate to massively increase aid to the United Kingdom . In his “fireside chat” on December 29, 1940, the President declared that the Axis powers were also a serious threat to the USA, thereby legitimizing the drastic increase in aid to Great Britain. According to Roosevelt, the Western powers under the leadership of the United States must be “the arsenal of democracy” in this global political situation. In his State of the Union Address of January 6, 1941, he specified these goals by naming the " four freedoms ":
“From the future, which we want to make a future of security, we hope for a world based on four decisive human freedoms.
- The first freedom is freedom of speech and expression - anywhere in the world.
- The second freedom is everyone's freedom to serve God in their own way - anywhere in the world.
- The third freedom is freedom from want. From a world point of view, this means economic understanding that ensures a healthy, peaceful life for every nation - everywhere in the world.
- The fourth freedom is freedom from fear. This means, from the point of view of the world, worldwide disarmament, so thorough and so extensive that no people will be able to attack any neighbor by force of arms - anywhere in the world.
This is not a vision of a distant millennial kingdom. It is a solid foundation for a world that can already be realized in our time and for our generation. This world stands in the deepest contrast to the so-called 'New Order' of tyranny, which the dictators are trying to establish by crashing the bombs. "
In addition to his demand for the "four freedoms", Roosevelt also proposed to Congress a law on lending and leasing to provide military aid to other states threatened by the Nazi regime . This proposal was accepted within a short time; Roosevelt signed the law on March 11, 1941. It allowed the President to lend or lease military equipment to any state he saw threatened without immediate payment. The United Kingdom in particular benefited from this; after the German invasion of June 1941, however, the Soviet Union also received considerable aid. The American supplies made an important contribution to the warfare of the Allies. By 1945, armaments valued at over 42 billion US dollars were made available to the allies on this basis. Roosevelt hoped that the extensive military aid would initially prevent the USA from participating in the war and thus be able to save the lives of American soldiers.
Already after the German attack on the Soviet Union ( Operation Barbarossa ) in June 1941, Roosevelt assured the Soviets every conceivable support in terms of war material to repel the attack. Adolf Hitler pursued a defensive policy towards the USA until autumn 1941. His aim was to prevent the United States from intervening in the European theater of war so as not to have to wage war on two fronts . The increasing support of the Soviet Union and Great Britain as well as the increasing counter-attacks of the US Navy against German submarine attacks in the Atlantic led to a rethink in Berlin.
Roosevelt began building the anti-Hitler coalition intensively , not only increasing his correspondence with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill , but also exploring the possibilities of closer cooperation with the Soviet Union. In the summer of 1941 he sent his close confidante and advisor Harry Hopkins to Moscow, who held personal talks with the Soviet dictator Josef Stalin about more intensive cooperation between the two states. Despite the fundamental contradictions in the political, economic and social system between the USA and the Soviet Union, Roosevelt was convinced that the Axis powers (Germany, Japan and Italy) could only be defeated together with the Soviets. He was also of the opinion that future world peace depended primarily on good relations between the two new superpowers . In this way he differed in a certain way from his ally Churchill, who viewed the cooperation with Moscow as a purely expedient alliance. Contrary to what was later commonly assumed, however, Roosevelt's relationship with Churchill was by no means characterized by complete agreement on all subjects. Roosevelt, who always advocated the right of peoples to self-determination, saw himself as an opponent of British colonialism . There were repeated differences between the two heads of government on these issues.
Pearl Harbor and the entry into World War II
Since 1937 Japan waged the Second Sino-Japanese War in China . The United States was initially neutral, but in the years that followed, because of the Panay incident and increasing reports of Japanese atrocities, it tended to favor China, which was increasingly supported with American material supplies. When Japan stationed troops in Indochina in July 1940 despite an American warning , Roosevelt restricted American exports of oil and steel to Japan in September 1940 (at that time Japan obtained 80% of its oil from the USA). When this did not have the desired effect and Japan stationed further troops in Indochina in July 1941, the President, with the approval of Congress, imposed a complete oil embargo on Japan on July 25, 1941 and frozen all Japanese assets. As the UK and the Dutch East Indies joined in, Japan lost 75% of its foreign trade and 90% of its oil imports. In the months that followed, tensions between the two countries intensified.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, in which over 2,400 Americans were killed, the United States was finally drawn to war. The very next day the Congress declared war on the Japanese Empire; three days later, the Nazi regime, allied with Japan, declared war on the USA, which in turn responded to this declaration of war . As a consequence of the attack, a majority of US citizens now advocated active intervention by their country in the war. Roosevelt's campaign promise not to actively intervene in the conflict, including the use of combat troops, had now become obsolete. Although Japan had destroyed much of the American navy with the attack, the raid proved fatal for Japan in the long run. In view of the enormous industrial potential of the USA, the tide was decisively turned in favor of the Allies .
The majority of historians disagree with various conspiracy theories that claim that Roosevelt and other members of his government knew of the impending attack by the Japanese, but deliberately allowed it to legitimize the United States' active entry into the war.
On February 19, 1942, Roosevelt issued an order ordering all people of Japanese descent living on the west coast to be temporarily relocated to offshore camps . This was done to prevent a possible Japanese conspiracy. This decision was extremely controversial at the time.
Course of the war and Roosevelt's war aims
The US government's strategic war planning began immediately after Pearl Harbor . In Europe, a second front was to be opened by American and British troops, while the Soviet Union, thus relieved, was to attack the German Reich from the east. However, public opinion in the USA favored a counterattack on Japan, so that from 1942 troops were sent to the Pacific . The US armed forces were supported by Chinese units, which, led by Chiang Kai-shek , opposed the Japanese occupation of Manchukuo and large parts of the Chinese coastal region. In the Pacific theater of war, however, the US units, which were supported by Chinese as well as British units, initially found it difficult to gain significant ground. The Japanese turned out to be extremely uncompromising opponents, which led to many war crimes on both sides. In the Battle of Midway in June 1942, the Americans achieved a significant victory, which was of great importance both in military terms and for the morale of the US armed forces.
As Churchill and Roosevelt had already agreed with the reluctant consent of Stalin at the end of December 1941, British and American units were to land in Morocco in order from there to grapple with the German Africa Corps in Libya from the west. This invasion (November 1942) under the leadership of US General Dwight D. Eisenhower ended with a clear victory for the Allies within a few weeks. Roosevelt had initially urged that this operation be completed before the upcoming congressional elections , but this proved impossible for military reasons. Churchill now proposed attacking the German Empire from the Mediterranean , in order to first bring down Italy, which was allied with the Nazi regime. At the meeting of the two at the Casablanca Conference in January 1943, the President was unwilling to approve this endeavor. Stalin, too, who had to decline an invitation to the conference for reasons related to the war, was not particularly impressed by the British Prime Minister's proposal. Like Roosevelt, he called for an attack on the Germans directly from the Atlantic. Stalin therefore proposed an invasion of the Western powers in France . Above all, he wanted to relieve his own armed forces, which were engaged in an extremely brutally fought positional war with the German Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front (the Soviet Union had the highest blood toll for both soldiers and the civilian population, with 27 million war victims ). Roosevelt, although like Stalin wanted to attack the Germans on the French Atlantic coast , delayed this invasion for two reasons: firstly, very detailed planning was required for such an invasion on the coast, which was very well protected from a military point of view; on the other hand, he was aware that the heavy losses on the Eastern Front would spare the lives of American soldiers. Meanwhile, from 1943 onwards, the US and UK armed forces began widespread air strikes against targets in Germany and Japan. Above all, the superiority of the American Air Force showed great success here. However, the bombing of large cities resulted in high civilian populations in both Germany and Japan. In contrast to the First World War , the Allies had agreed to continue the war until the Axis powers surrendered unconditionally.
While the war on the Pacific scene dragged on despite the growing successes of the USA, more and more military successes could be achieved in Europe. The Red Army was also increasingly able to push the Germans back. On June 6, 1944, the Americans and British, supported by Canadian troops, began the D-Day invasion of Normandy ( Operation Overlord ). Roosevelt had entrusted General and later US President Dwight D. Eisenhower with the military planning and implementation of the undertaking. Despite high losses on both sides, the operation turned out to be a complete success: A second front against the Wehrmacht had now been opened; Both the British and the Americans, as well as the Soviets, could now quickly push back the German units. The western allies succeeded in liberating Paris as early as August of that year .
First post-war planning
From autumn 1943 the victory of the Allies gradually became apparent; the Germans were increasingly on the military defensive. This inevitably raised the question of the post-war order. From November 28 to December 1, 1943, the heads of government of the "Big Three" met in the Iranian capital Tehran for the so-called Tehran Conference to discuss the political future of the European continent. It was the first personal encounter between Roosevelt and the Soviet ruler Josef Stalin. While Churchill expressed concern to Roosevelt that Stalin might establish a totalitarian system in the areas occupied by his army, he appeased the prime minister:
“I just have a hunch that Stalin is not that kind of a man. [...] I think that if I give him everything I possibly can and ask for nothing from him in return, noblesse oblige, he won't try to annex anything and will work with me for a world of democracy and peace. "
“I have a feeling that Stalin is not that kind of man. [...] I think if I give him everything I can and don't ask anything in return, noblesse oblige, he won't try to annex anything and work with me for a world of democracy and peace. "
During the talks in Tehran, Stalin insisted on keeping the Polish territories that he had seized by force in the course of the Hitler-Stalin Pact of 1939. Roosevelt agreed to this in order to get Stalin to agree to the establishment of the United Nations (UN) . Roosevelt and Churchill had been discussing such plans since 1941. The president's vision was to create a worldwide organization with the help of which future conflicts could be resolved through diplomatic channels. The United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, France and the Republic of China were to play a key role in this, by granting them a right of veto on the UN Security Council , the highest body of the institution. Stalin gave his approval as membership in the UN Security Council gave his country a place at the table of the most powerful nations. Roosevelt was also able to coax the Soviet ruler into agreeing to take part in the war against Japan. The plan was that the USSR would declare war on the Japanese Empire no later than three months after the German surrender and invade Japanese-occupied Manchuria in order to relieve American troops in the Pacific. Roosevelt lured Stalin with Japanese areas along the Pacific mainland coast of Asia.
Roosevelt's finance minister, Henry Morgenthau , suggested converting Germany into an agrarian state after the victory of the Allies, in order to prevent Germany from ever starting another war of aggression. However, the Morgenthau plan did not reach a concrete planning stage. Although President Roosevelt agreed to the complete disarmament of Germany and the destruction of the entire arms industry, the President rejected the Morgenthau Plan in October 1944. Roosevelt emphasized as early as 1944 that his government's intention was not to "enslave the German people" . Instead, according to the President, the ideology of National Socialism should be destroyed, the Nazi officials punished for their actions and Germany should become a democratic and peaceful constitutional state . In order to achieve lasting peace on the continent, he spoke of the necessity of the European unification process . After the war ended, Roosevelt's successor, Harry S. Truman, replaced Morgenthau as Treasury Secretary.
The post-war plans of the “big three” were made more concrete with the resolutions passed at the Yalta Conference in February 1945 (details in the section on the fourth term of office). Among other things, it was agreed to divide Germany into four occupation zones (France was also granted a zone).
"Manhattan Project"
The discovery of nuclear fission by Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann in Berlin in 1938 raised awareness of a nuclear threat in the American scientific community. In August 1939, Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd wrote a letter to Roosevelt in which the two warned of a "new type of bomb" that the Third Reich could develop and use. Therefore, they appealed to the President to advance the research and development of an American atomic bomb. Roosevelt took these fears very seriously, whereupon the top-secret Manhattan Project was launched a little later . In fact, the construction of a nuclear weapon in Germany never reached a concrete stage of development; During the turmoil of the war, Hitler had dropped such a project. However, American research, in which the United Kingdom was closely involved, was successfully completed with the construction of nuclear weapons . However, Roosevelt himself did not live to see the test of the first atomic bomb (July 1945), and neither did the use of the bomb against Japan under Harry S. Truman. Whether Roosevelt would have been prepared to use the weapon against Japan if he had survived is one of the much debated questions in historical science.
1944 presidential election
Unlike 1940, in the run-up to the 1944 presidential election, there was no doubt about Roosevelt's renewed candidacy. Despite some reservations from the conservative wing of the southern party, especially against Roosevelt's supposedly friendly policies towards Afro-Americans , no Democratic politician openly challenged the president for the party's candidacy. The Democratic Party Congress in July 1944 re-elected Roosevelt, who continued to meet with widespread popular support, as its candidate again by a large majority. The Missouri Senator Harry S. Truman was nominated as a vice-presidential candidate after there were significant reservations within the Democratic party leadership against incumbent Henry A. Wallace , who was considered by many to be too left-leaning . Roosevelt eventually agreed, although Truman was not a close confidante of the president in the Senate. However, the senator had loyally supported the politics of the White House in recent years and also made a name for himself through his anti-corruption measures.
The Republican challenger was the domestically moderate governor of New York Thomas E. Dewey . At 42, Dewey was one of the youngest entrants to a major party. In terms of foreign policy, there were few differences between the two adversaries; During the election campaign, Dewey denounced the supposed inefficiency of the New Deal and called for more economic deregulation . He also portrayed the President as a "tired old man" surrounded by a cabinet full of "tired old men". In his July 1944 nomination speech, Roosevelt characterized his challenger as too inexperienced and immature for president in these critical times of war. As the most important goals of his government in a fourth term, he named defeating fascism , building an international peace institution (the UN) and building a prosperous post-war economy. Roosevelt warned that if they triumphed, Republicans would revise much of the successful New Deal reforms.
To prevent rumors that his health was deteriorating, Roosevelt insisted on a vigorous election campaign. He traveled extensively across the country, gave several speeches and drove through the cities in an open car to shake hands. Roosevelt's counterattack on the Republicans' trumped- up allegation that the president forgot his dog Fala during a troop inspection trip to an island in the Aleutian Islands and sent a destroyer of the United States Navy to pick him up, which cost the taxpayer several million dollars , made a particular impression . Roosevelt ridiculed the Republican accusations with his skillful rhetoric at a lecture on September 23, 1944, which made the audience laugh:
“These Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or my wife, or on my sons. No, not content with that, they now include my little dog, Fala. Well, of course, I don't resent attacks, and my family don't resent attacks, but Fala does resent them. You know, Fala is Scotch, and being a Scottie, as soon as he learned that the Republican fiction writers in Congress and out had concocted a story that I'd left him behind on an Aleutian island and had sent a destroyer back to find him —At a cost to the taxpayers of two or three, or eight or twenty million dollars — his Scotch soul was furious. He has not been the same dog since. I am accustomed to hearing malicious falsehoods about myself […]. But I think I have a right to resent, to object, to libelous statements about my dog. "
“These Republican leaders did not stop at attacking me, my wife, and my sons. No, that's not all, now it's against my little dog too, Fala. I don't resent attacks, of course, and neither do my family, but Fala resents them. You know Fala is a Scot. When Fala found out that the Republican novelists in Congress and elsewhere had concocted a story that I forgot about him in the Aleutian Islands and sent a destroyer to find him at the expense of the taxpayer of two or three or eight or twenty million dollars , his Scottish soul was badly hit. He hasn't been the same dog since then. I am used to hearing vicious lies about myself that I am old, worm-eaten, or portraying myself as indispensable [...]. But I think I have the right to be angry with defamatory claims about my dog and to contradict them. "
The decisive question in the election campaign was which political leader was most likely to be trusted to cope with the critical months of the approaching end of the war. The successes of the allies, who were advancing further and further, in the European theater of war gave the already popular president a great advantage. In the presidential election on November 7, 1944, Roosevelt then prevailed again. Despite a slight loss of votes compared to the election four years earlier, 53.4% of voters still voted for him; Dewey received 45.9% of the vote. Roosevelt and Truman won in 36 states, while Dewey and his running mate John W. Bricker were only successful in twelve states (like Willkie in 1940, mostly in the Midwest and parts of New England ). The state of New York , in which both candidates lived, fell just barely to Roosevelt. In the Electoral College, the result was again clearly in Roosevelt's favor, with 432 to 99 voters. The Democrats received a particularly large number of votes from the big cities and the democratic south of the USA. At the same time, the Democrats won additional seats in the congressional elections, which were held in parallel, after the party's majorities were only very tight as a result of the 1942 congressional elections.
Due to the ongoing state of war and Roosevelt's poor health, the fourth inauguration of the President on January 20, 1945 was not held on the steps of the Capitol with a grand celebration, but in a very simple ceremony on the terrace of the White House. Roosevelt's address to his compatriots lasted only about five minutes.
Fourth term: last months and planned post-war order
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When Roosevelt assumed his fourth term in office in January 1945, the victory over Hitler's Germany was only a matter of a few months. The Wehrmacht was pushed back further and further on both the Eastern and Western fronts. Shortly after he was sworn in, the president set out on a trip to Yalta on the Soviet Crimean peninsula in the Black Sea , where the three Allied heads of state held a conference on post-war order from February 4 to 11, 1945. At the Yalta conference , Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill agreed to divide Germany and Austria into four zones of occupation (in addition to the three main allies, France was later granted a zone). There was also agreement that Germany should be completely demilitarized and that reparations should be made. The other occupied countries from Italy to Czechoslovakia to the Baltic States and practically the entire Balkans were to form a security ring of satellite states around the Soviet Union. Churchill and Roosevelt only partially responded to this. Italy was added to the western sphere of influence , while Czechoslovakia and the Baltic states were left to Stalin. However, there was consensus in the endeavor to found the United Nations . Stalin also gave his final approval for Soviet participation in the war against Japan, which was to take place within three months of defeating Germany.
The real test case for the unity of the Allies was Poland , about which, like the German eastern territories, no agreement was reached. Stalin's intention was to install a Moscow-dependent communist regime in Warsaw. Roosevelt stressed that a future Polish government should not be hostile to the USSR, but at the same time he and Churchill demanded free elections in the country. At the conference, however, Stalin agreed to reorganize the provisional ( communist ) government of Poland by means of elections. With regard to Poland, there had already been upheavals within the anti-Hitler coalition in the previous year after Polish fighters rose up against the occupation by the Germans in August 1944 ( Warsaw Uprising ). Although Red Army troops were already a few kilometers from the city limits, Stalin refused to allow his armed forces to intervene (in the case of Paris, the British and Americans had come to the aid of the insurgents and thus liberated the French capital). Stalin officially justified this with logistical problems. The Soviet armed forces did not enter the city until October 1944, after the Wehrmacht had bloodily suppressed the uprising. In fact, the Soviet dictator feared that the Polish fighters would oppose a Soviet occupation just as they would the Wehrmacht. He had also refused arms deliveries from the USA and Great Britain to the Poles; because this could only have taken place through the use of Soviet airfields by American and British machines. Roosevelt (as well as Churchill) was annoyed with his advisors about Stalin's behavior on the matter. Ultimately, however, he gave up his project in September 1944 in order not to endanger the unity of the Alliance against Hitler.
On his return trip from Yalta to the United States, Roosevelt made a detour across the Red Sea . It was there on February 14, 1945, on board the USS Quincy, for a historic meeting between him and the Saudi King Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud . They signed a treaty for an American military base in the Persian Gulf and held talks on the question of Palestine and on a military alliance. During the Second World War, Saudi Arabia declared itself neutral, but actively supported the Allies. Roosevelt also held talks with Egypt's King Faruq . After his return from Yalta, the President reported the conclusions of the conference to the Congress on March 1. At the same time, he still saw a long way to go before defeating Japan: “ It is still a long, tough road to Tokyo ” (German: “It's still a long, difficult road to Tokyo”), according to Roosevelt.
In the weeks leading up to Germany's surrender, the ideological differences between the Western powers and the Soviet Union became more and more apparent, although Roosevelt was not yet ready for a major confrontation with Stalin. In private discussions after the end of the conference, the president was initially convinced that Stalin would keep the essential promises made by Yalta, but a few weeks later W. Averell Harriman , the US ambassador in Moscow, reflected on the situation in Eastern Europe to Roosevelt in a memorandum : “ We must come clearly to realize that the Soviet program is the establishment of totalitarianism, ending personal liberty and democracy as we know it. ”(German:“ We must clearly recognize that the Soviet program is the establishment of totalitarian regimes, the end of personal freedom and democracy as we know them ”). Privately, the president admitted a few days later that his view of Stalin had been too optimistic, and he agreed with Harriman. In March 1945, Roosevelt sent telegrams to the Soviet rulers to adhere to the Yalta resolutions and to hold free elections in Poland. When Stalin, for his part, accused the British and Americans of secretly wanting to negotiate a peace agreement with the German Reich without Soviet involvement, Roosevelt replied a few days before his death with an armored message: “I cannot avoid a feeling of bitter resentment towards your informers, whoever they are, for such vile misrepresentations of my actions or those of my trusted subordinates. " do not hide ").
Health and Death of the President
Roosevelt's health deteriorated noticeably by the beginning of his third term in 1941 at the latest. The president was particularly hard hit by the stress during the war years. A comprehensive medical examination in March 1944 diagnosed chronic high blood pressure . The doctors then recommended that the president reduce his workload. During the 1944 election campaign, Roosevelt's employees denied rumors that his health was deteriorating. Although the population was largely ignorant of the exact condition of their head of state, the physical decline of the president, who also consumed numerous cigarettes, remained unmistakable for many observers. He looked very aged and often tired and thinner than in previous years. The vigorous election campaign of 1944, which he had insisted on to prevent rumors about his condition, and the long and arduous trip to the Yalta Conference in early February 1945 also sapped his strength.
At the end of March 1945, Roosevelt retired to his country house, called Little White House , in Warm Springs , Georgia , to recover from the hardships of the past few months. On the afternoon of April 12, 1945, during a portrait session with the artist Elizabeth Shoumatoff, he complained of a severe headache: " I have a terrific pain in the back of my head ". His doctor, who arrived shortly afterwards, found massive cerebral haemorrhage ; a little later Franklin D. Roosevelt died at the age of 63.
Vice-President Harry S. Truman , who had only been Roosevelt's deputy since January, took over the presidency on the same day . At the time of Roosevelt's death, the German Wehrmacht was already close to its ultimate defeat. Hitler, who spent his last days in the Führerbunker , briefly hoped that the war alliance would collapse. With regard to Germany, however, the new President continued Roosevelt's course. On Elbe Day , April 25, US troops and parts of the Red Army met on the Elbe; shortly after Hitler's suicide (April 30), President Truman was able to announce the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht on May 8, 1945 .
Roosevelt's body was transferred to Washington on April 13, where a memorial service was held with several state guests. On April 15, 1945, the late President was buried with military honors in his hometown of Hyde Park, New York, with great sympathy. His death caused great consternation and sadness both nationally and internationally. Thousands of people gathered for the funeral march in Washington and paid their last respects to the late statesman. President Truman ordered all American flags to fly at half mast for a month. The New York Times paid tribute to Roosevelt for his political services in the twelve years of his tenure: "Men will thank God on their knees a hundred years from now that Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the White House" (German: "The people are still in One hundred years, thank God on his knees that Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the White House ”).
Appeals to the Supreme Court
Roosevelt appointed eight judges to the US Supreme Court during his tenure as president ; except for George Washington , the first president, more than any other incumbent:
- Hugo Black , 1937
- Stanley Forman Reed , 1938
- Felix Frankfurter , 1939
- William O. Douglas , 1939
- Frank Murphy , 1940
- James F. Byrnes , 1941
- Robert H. Jackson , 1941
- Wiley Blount Rutledge , 1943
Harlan Fiske Stone , appointed to the Supreme Court by Calvin Coolidge in 1925 , was appointed Chief Justice by him in 1941 .
Further appeals were made to lower federal courts.
Afterlife
To this day, Franklin D. Roosevelt is not only considered one of the most important presidents of the United States, but also one of the most influential figures of the 20th century. In the twelve years of his tenure in the White House , decisive twists and turns in the history of the United States and the world took place in both domestic and foreign policy . His progressive reforms with the New Deal created the basic framework for the American welfare state and gave the country an economic upswing, which was later further facilitated by the Second World War and thus finally brought the USA out of the global economic crisis. His election as president ended the laissez-faire policy of his three Republican predecessors, Warren G. Harding , Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover, and thus led to significantly more government intervention than before. Many of his successor presidents invoked the continuation of Roosevelt's domestic policy, such as Lyndon B. Johnson with the Great Society program in the 1960s. Roosevelt's policy of reform shapes the United States to this day. The introduction of social insurance can be mentioned in particular here. With the American intervention in World War II, the US reappeared as a global superpower after a period of focus on domestic affairs after World War I. Roosevelt's action in this global conflict resulted on the one hand in a rapid economic upswing (as well as the post-war boom after his tenure) and on the other hand in the consolidation of the position of the United States as the leading superpower in the Western world (alongside the USSR in the Eastern Bloc ).
Under Roosevelt, the number of federal agencies and other institutions subordinate to the President was also greatly expanded. This resulted in the US president gaining more executive power than ever before. Like no president before him, Roosevelt intervened in legislative processes , which many historians see as a shift in power from the legislative to the executive . Later American presidents claimed a right of initiative in legislation in this or a similar way. With this extension of the president's power, Roosevelt is seen by many historians as the founder of the modern American presidency.
Roosevelt has been featured on the front of the US dime since 1946 . The Dime was chosen because Roosevelt worked with the charity March of Dimes to fight polio. Several squares and streets in the USA are named after Roosevelt. Roosevelt Island in New York City was also named after the 32nd US President. After his predecessor Herbert Hoover, he was the second president to dedicate himself to the establishment of a presidential library during his lifetime .
Memberships
Roosevelt (like his successor Truman) was a very active member of the Masons and received numerous Masonic delegations to the White House during his presidency. Roosevelt was also a member of the Rotary Club .
See also
- Roosevelt Cabinet
- Roosevelt Island
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
- Roosevelt University
- The plant genus Rooseveltia O.F. Cook from the palm family (Arecaceae) is named after him.
literature
- John Morton Blum: The Progressive Presidents. The Lives of Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson. Charles River Editors, ISBN 978-0-393-00063-4 .
- HW Brands : Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Doubleday, New York City 2008, ISBN 978-0-385-51958-8 .
- John Charmley: The Fall of the British Empire: Roosevelt - Churchill and America's Road to World Power. Ares-Verlag 2005, ISBN 978-3-902475-04-6 .
- Robert Dallek : Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life. Penguin Books, London 2018, ISBN 978-0-14-198659-3 .
- Robin Edmonds: The Big Three: Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin. Siedler, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-442-75566-2 .
- Frank Freidel : Franklin D. Roosevelt. 5 volumes, Little, Brown, 1952-1973.
- Frank Freidel: Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Rendezvous with Destiny. Little, Brown 1990.
- Ronald D. Barley : Roosevelt and Hitler. Mortal enmity and total war. Schöningh, Paderborn 2011, ISBN 978-3-506-77088-2 .
- Detlef Junker : Franklin D. Roosevelt. Power and vision: President in times of crisis (= personality and history. Biographical series. Vol. 105/106). Muster-Schmidt Verlag, Göttingen 1979, ISBN 3-7881-0105-9 .
- Harvey J. Kaye: FDR on Democracy: The Greatest Speeches and Writings of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt , Simon & Schuster, New York 2020, ISBN 978-1-5107-5216-0 .
- George McJimsey: The Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. University of Kansas Press, Lawrence 2000, ISBN 978-0-7006-1012-9 .
- Alan Posener : Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Rowohlt Verlag, Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-499-50589-4 .
- Amity Shlaes: The Forgotten Man: A New View on Roosevelt, the New Deal, and the State as Savior. Wiley-VCH Verlag, 1st edition 2011, ISBN 978-3-527-50553-1 .
- Detlef Junker : Franklin Delano Roosevelt 1933-1945: visionary and power politician. In: Christof Mauch (Ed.): The Presidents of the USA. Historical portraits from George Washington to Joe Biden. 2nd, continued and updated edition in CH Beck Paperback 2021 [1st, continued and updated edition in CH Beck Paperback 2018], ISBN 978-3-406-76733-3 , pp. 330–345, 570–572. [annotated bibliography].
Web links
- Literature by and about Franklin D. Roosevelt in the catalog of the German National Library
- Works by and about Franklin D. Roosevelt in the German Digital Library
- Newspaper article about Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
- Official site of the Roosevelt Library and Museum (English)
- Franklin D. Roosevelt. Tabular curriculum vitae in the LeMO ( DHM and HdG )
- Franklin D. Roosevelt at the National Governors Association (English)
- American President: Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945). Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia (English, editor: William E. Leuchtenburg )
- The American Presidency Project: Franklin D. Roosevelt. University of California, Santa Barbara database ofspeeches and other documents from all American presidents
- Life Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt on C-SPAN , October 11, 1999, 187 minutes (English-language documentation and discussion with historians David M. Kennedy and Allida M. Black and the author Hugh Gregory Gallagher as well as a guided tour of the Home of Franklin D . Roosevelt National Historic Site )
- Franklin D. Roosevelt in the database of Find a Grave (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Detlef Junker: Franklin D. Roosevelt. Power and Vision: President in Times of Crisis. Göttingen 1979, p. 9.
- ↑ a b Richard Overy : The Roots of Victory. Why the Allies won World War II, Munich 2000, pp. 368–369.
- ^ Alan Posener : Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-499-50589-4 , p. 20 ff.
- ↑ Detlef Junker: Franklin D. Roosevelt. Power and Vision: President in Times of Crisis. Göttingen 1979, p. 12.
- ↑ Detlef Junker: Franklin D. Roosevelt. Power and Vision: President in Times of Crisis. Göttingen 1979, p. 19.
- ^ William E. Leuchtenburg: Franklin D. Roosevelt: Life Before the Presidency . Miller Center of Public Affairs of the University of Virginia , accessed on 19 April 2018th
- ↑ Detlef Junker: Franklin D. Roosevelt. Power and Vision: President in Times of Crisis. Göttingen 1979, p. 27.
- ^ Armond S. Goldman et al .: What was the cause of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's paralytic illness? In: Journal of Medical Biography . tape 11 , no. 4 , November 2003, p. 232-240 , doi : 10.1177 / 096777200301100412 , PMID 14562158 .
- ↑ John F. Ditunno, Bruce E. Becker, Gerald J. Herbison: Franklin Delano Roosevelt: The Diagnosis of Poliomyelitis Revisited . In: PM & R: the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitation . tape 8 , no. 9 , September 2016, p. 883-893 , doi : 10.1016 / j.pmrj.2016.05.003 , PMID 27178375 .
- ↑ Philipp Vandenberg: The secret rulers. The mighty and their doctors. From Marc Aurel to Pope Pius XII. Bertelsmann, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-570-02294-3 , p. 16 ff.
- ^ A b Address to Congress on Yalta. (March 1, 1945) , Miller Center of Public Affairs
- ↑ Detlef Junker: Franklin D. Roosevelt. Power and Vision: President in Times of Crisis. Göttingen 1979, p. 44.
- ↑ Detlef Junker: Franklin D. Roosevelt. Power and Vision: President in Times of Crisis. Göttingen 1979, p. 52.
- ^ A b c d e f William E. Leuchtenburg: Franklin D. Roosevelt: Campaigns and Elections . Miller Center of Public Affairs of the University of Virginia , accessed on 19 April 2018th
- ↑ https://miami-history.com/attempted-assassination-of-fdr-in-bayfront-park/
- ↑ Stephanie Fitzgerald, Derek Shouba, Katie Van Sluys: The New Deal: Rebuilding America. Compass Point Books, 2006, ISBN 978-0-7565-2096-0 , p. 39.
- ↑ Stephanie Fitzgerald, Derek Shouba, Katie Van Sluys: The New Deal: Rebuilding America. Compass Point Books, 2006, ISBN 978-0-7565-2096-0 , p. 55.
- ^ David M. Kennedy: Freedom From Fear. The American People in Depression and War 1929-1945. Oxford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-19-503834-7 , p. 65.
- ^ David M. Kennedy: Freedom From Fear. The American People in Depression and War 1929-1945. Oxford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-19-503834-7 , p. 366.
- ↑ Ann-Kristin Achleitner: Investment Banking Handbook. Gabler Verlag, 2002, ISBN 3-409-34184-6 , p. 6.
- ^ Susan E. Hamen: The New Deal. Essential Lib, 1st edition, 2010, ISBN 978-1-61613-684-0 , p. 69.
- ^ A Reader's Companion to American History: POVERTY. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 10, 2006 ; accessed on April 27, 2010 (English).
- ^ David M. Kennedy: Freedom From Fear. The American People in Depression and War 1929-1945. Oxford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-19-503834-7 , p. 260.
- ^ David M. Kennedy: Freedom From Fear. The American People in Depression and War 1929-1945. Oxford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-19-503834-7 , p. 267.
- ^ David M. Kennedy: Freedom From Fear. The American People in Depression and War 1929-1945. Oxford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-19-503834-7 , p. 269.
- ↑ Ta-Nehisi Coates: The Case for Reparations. In: The Atlantic. May 21, 2014.
- ^ Peter Clemens: Prosperity, Depression and the New Deal: The USA 1890-1954. Hodder Education, 4th Edition, 2008, ISBN 978-0-340-96588-7 , p. 181.
- ^ Paul S. Boyer, Clifford Clark, Karen Halttunen: The Enduring Vision, Volume II: Since 1865. Wadsworth Inc. Fulfillment, 2010, ISBN 978-0-495-79998-6 , p. 744.
- ↑ Berkin, Miller, Cherny, Gormly, Making America. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008, ISBN 978-0-618-98065-9 , p. 735.
- ^ Social Security Online, History: Timeline
- ↑ FDR Presidential Library (English)
- ^ R. Alan Lawson: A Commonwealth of Hope: The New Deal Response to Crisis. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006, ISBN 978-0-8018-8406-1 , p. 165.
- ^ Ronald Edsforth: The New Deal: America's Response to the Great Depression (Problems in American History). John Wiley & Sons, 2000, ISBN 978-1-57718-143-9 , pp. 258, 259.
- ↑ In the original: "I'll never resign as long as that crippled son-of-a-bitch is in the White House". See Ronald Edsforth, The New Deal: America's Response to the Great Depression (Problems in American History). John Wiley & Sons, 2000, ISBN 978-1-57718-143-9 , pp. 259, 260.
- ^ Ronald Edsforth: The New Deal: America's Response to the Great Depression (Problems in American History). John Wiley & Sons, 2000, ISBN 978-1-57718-143-9 , pp. 259, 260.
- ^ David M. Kennedy: Freedom From Fear. The American People in Depression and War 1929-1945. Oxford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-19-503834-7 , p. 333.
- ^ David M. Kennedy: Freedom From Fear. The American People in Depression and War 1929-1945. Oxford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-19-503834-7 , p. 335.
- ^ Ronald Edsforth: The New Deal: America's Response to the Great Depression (Problems in American History). John Wiley & Sons, 2000, ISBN 978-1-57718-143-9 , p. 261.
- ^ William H. Rehnquist: Judicial Independence Dedicated to Chief Justice Harry L. Carrico: Symposium Remarks . In: University of Richmond Law Review . Vol. 38, 2004, pp. 579-596 ( heinonline.org ).
- ^ A b c d e f g h i William E. Leuchtenburg: Franklin D. Roosevelt: Foreign Affairs . Miller Center of Public Affairs of the University of Virginia , accessed on 19 April 2018th
- ^ Charles Bohlen: Witness to History: 1929-1969. Norton, 1973, ISBN 0-393-07476-5 .
- ↑ Detlef Junker: Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945). Visionary and power politician. In: Christof Mauch (Ed.): The American Presidents. 5th continued and updated edition, Munich 2009, pp. 308–322, here: p. 317.
- ↑ Steve Neal: Dark Horse: A Biography of Wendell Willkie . University Press of Kansas, 1989. p. 181.
- ↑ Detlef Junker: Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945). Visionary and power politician. In: Christof Mauch (Ed.): The American Presidents. 5th continued and updated edition, Munich 2009, pp. 308–322, here: pp. 318–319.
- ↑ American Foreign Policy November 1939 to November 1941. (English) ( Memento of 23 October 2006 at the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Detlef Junker: Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945). Visionary and power politician. In: Christof Mauch (Ed.): The American Presidents. 5th continued and updated edition, Munich 2009, pp. 308–322, here: p. 319.
- ↑ Detlef Junker: Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945). Visionary and power politician. In: Christof Mauch (Ed.): The American Presidents. 5th continued and updated edition, Munich 2009, pp. 308–322, here: pp. 319–321.
- ↑ Michael A. Davis: Politics as usual: Franklin Roosevelt, Thomas Dewey and the wartime presidential campaign of 1944. pp. 192-195.
- ↑ Detlef Junker: Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945). Visionary and power politician. In: Christof Mauch (Ed.): The American Presidents. 5th continued and updated edition, Munich 2009, pp. 308–322, here: pp. 321–322.
- ↑ Detlef Junker: Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945). Visionary and power politician. In: Christof Mauch (Ed.): The American Presidents. 5th continued and updated edition, Munich 2009, pp. 308–322, here: p. 322.
- ↑ Wilson D. Miscamble: From Roosevelt to Truman: Potsdam, Hiroshima, and the Cold War. Cambridge University Press 2007. pp. 51-52.
- ^ William E. Leuchtenburg: Franklin D. Roosevelt: Death of the President . Miller Center of Public Affairs of the University of Virginia , accessed on 19 April 2018th
- ↑ Franklin Delano Roosevelt. ( Memento from June 1, 2000 in the Internet Archive ) Time.
- ^ William E. Leuchtenburg: Franklin D. Roosevelt: Impact and Legacy . Miller Center of Public Affairs of the University of Virginia , accessed on 19 April 2018th
- ↑ Detlef Junker: Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945). Visionary and power politician. In: Christof Mauch (Ed.): The American Presidents. 5th continued and updated edition, Munich 2009, pp. 308–322, here: p. 322.
- ↑ Detlef Junker: Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945). Visionary and power politician. In: Christof Mauch (Ed.): The American Presidents. 5th continued and updated edition, Munich 2009, pp. 308–322, here: pp. 312–315.
- ↑ Franklin D. Roosevelt. Famous Honorary Rotarians.
- ↑ Lotte Burkhardt: Directory of eponymic plant names - extended edition. Part I and II. Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin , Freie Universität Berlin , Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-946292-26-5 doi: 10.3372 / epolist2018 .
- ↑ Review
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Roosevelt, Franklin D. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Roosevelt, Franklin Delano (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American politician, 32nd President of the USA (1933–1945) |
| BIRTH DATE | January 30, 1882 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hyde Park , New York |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 12, 1945 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Warm Springs , Georgia |