大象传媒

From depression to war, President Franklin D Roosevelt was ready to ‘deal’ with anything.

1. He didn’t let disability hold him back

FDR was diagnosed with polio in 1921 and had to use a wheelchair from the age of 37 – with his most politically active years ahead of him. Known for building up strength in his upper body, it was said of Roosevelt that he lifted himself from a wheelchair to lift a nation from its knees. He instigated an extraordinary fund-raising campaign called the March of Dimes which kick-started the 20th century’s largely successful eradication of polio, worldwide.

2. He succeeded despite the worst possible start

FDR was inaugurated as US president in March 1933. That month the country recorded over 15 million unemployed and banks across America were closing thanks to the 1929 stock market crash. This was the Great Depression. Though facing the most overwhelming ‘in tray’ in history, Roosevelt instituted a 100-day plan, eventually called the New Deal. It turned the economy around and transformed America into a superpower.

3. He always had one eye on the future

When the Second World War began in 1939 the American public wanted to stay well out of Europe’s latest argument. But aware of the threat Nazism posed, Roosevelt used radio broadcasts dubbed ‘Fireside Chats’ to gradually change public opinion. Once the US had joined the conflict Roosevelt was already considering how to achieve a new, better, world order afterwards. He devoted much thought and planning to the body that would become the United Nations after 1945.