Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) was the cousin of Teddy Roosevelt. He graduated from Harvard. He was the Assistant Secretary of the Navy under Woodrow Wilson. He was the unsuccessful vice presidential candidate in the 1920 election. He contracted polio at the age of 39, and he became governor of New York in 1928.
FDR campaigned for the presidency in 1932 on an activist platform. He promised that the government would intervene to help the people out of the economic morass. He campaigned aggressively for president, using the song “Happy Days are Here Again” as his theme and promising a “New Deal” for the people. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHEEBkDE6_M, showing footage of FDR’s inauguration.) He defeated Herbert Hoover by a landslide.
Here is “The FDR Song” by The Grammerheads. (https://youtu.be/wbkRfTEGtFw)
He was only 29 when he became a senator
A year later he became ill with polio and paralyzed
He could not walk on his own, but that did not cause Franklin to stop
He got elected president in 1932.America was going through the Great Depression, too
A quarter of the people were unemployed
The banks were closing because there wasn’t any money around
FDR implemented the New Deal to create some jobs somehowFranklin Roosevelt was President number 32
The longest anyone would ever do
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” he said
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” he saidEven after being paralyzed from the waist down
FDR was elected governor of New York in 1928
He started the Social Security Program
And connected with the people through his Fireside ChatsHe started giving speeches on the radio
Calling people “my friends” he got elected again and again
And againThen World War Two began
Pearl Harbor was attacked
So he declared war against Germany and JapanWhen he ran for his fourth term
Many people did not agree
They said his health was too poor to lead the country
And maybe they were right
‘Cause FDR died in 1945Franklin Roosevelt was President number 32
The longest anyone would ever do
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” he said
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” he saidFDR was an only child
He had wealthy parents
His wife’s name was Eleanor
Franklin Roosevelt was Assistant Secretary of the Navy during World War OneFranklin Roosevelt was President number 32
The longest anyone would ever do
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” he said
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” he saidFranklin Roosevelt was President number 32
The longest anyone would ever do
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” he said
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” he said