President Franklin Delano Roosevelt - A Great Leader

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Historians and scholars have often debated the success and failures of Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency since 1945. A number of scholars argue that he created jobs, boosted the economy, and helped America get back onto the road of becoming a great nation. On the other hand, it can be argued that his plans and ideas to create jobs only lasted for the short term and his acts created long-term problems. This paper will discuss Roosevelt’s life, his reforms, and both the positive or negative outcome those actions had on America. However, it must be stated, for the struggles America was going through, and the perseverance they held to triumph over their trials, was in part due to Roosevelt’s boundless leadership as president. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a prodigious president.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born in New York on January 30th in 1882. His family was from wealthy New Yorkers on both sides. Groton boarding school and his “private tutors provided him with almost all his formative education” (Biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt). After general schooling he attended Harvard University and achieved a Bachelor’s degree within only three years. While at Harvard he met Eleanor, who would be influential in his life and presidency for many years. Columbia Law School only lasted 3 years because he passed the bar exam for New York. The next year in 1905, Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt was made official. His wife Eleanor helped him gain people’s trust. She showed great concern for people. Their suffering was her suffering and by her activism she helped her husband succeed. Together they had six children and only “five of whom survived infancy” (Biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt). In 1921 he was diagnosed with Poliomyelitis. With much effort ...

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McElvaine, Robert S. The Great Depression: America, 1929-1941. [New York, N.Y.]: Times, 1984. Print.

Perr, Jon. "Glenn Beck on FDR: In 1945, Americans Were "Glad He's Dead" | Crooks and Liars." Crooks and Liars. N.p., 22 May 2010. Web. 19 Sept. 2013.

"Proposing the United Nations Concept." The United States and the Founding of the United Nations, August 1941 - October 1945. U.S Department of State, 20 Jan. 2009. Web. 04 Dec. 2013.

"Roosevelt, Franklin Delano." The Columbia Encyclopedia. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013.Credo Reference. Web. 20 September 2013.

Silber, William L. "Why Did FDR’s Bank Holiday Succeed?" Why Did FDR’s Bank Holiday Succeed? Federal Reserve Bank of New York, July 2009. Web. 01 Nov. 2013.

"The Works Progress Administration (WPA)." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2013.

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