Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Described as

president of the United States from 1933 to 1945 (1882–1945)

Other names

President Roosevelt, F. D. R., F.D.R., Franklin D. Roosevelt, FDR, F. D. Roosevelt, Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt

Born

January 30, 1882 · 12 references

Died

April 12, 1945 · 13 references

Born in

Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site · 1 reference

Died in

Little White House · 3 references

Buried in

Franklin Delano and Anna Eleanor Roosevelt tomb

Cause of death

cerebral hemorrhage · 1 reference

Name at birth

Franklin Delano Roosevelt · 1 reference

Citizen of

United States

Occupation

lawyer; statesperson; golfer · 1 reference; screenwriter · 1 reference; philatelist; governor · 1 reference; jurist · 1 reference; secretary of state · 1 reference

Positions held

President of the United States (1933–1945); member of the State Senate of New York (1911–1913); Governor of New York (1929–1932); Assistant Secretary of the Navy (1913–1920); Governor-General of the Philippines; President-elect of the United States (1932–1933); president · 1 reference

Political party

Democratic Party

Education

Harvard College; Columbia Law School (1904–1907); Groton School (–1900)

Sport

golf

Awards

Time Person of the Year (3 times) (1932, 1934, 1941) · 1 reference; Knight Grand Cross of the Military Order of William (1948); Albert Medal (1941) · 1 reference; Médaille militaire; Grand Cross of the Order of the Legion of Honour (Philippines); American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame (1945) · 1 reference

Spouse

Eleanor Roosevelt (1903–1945) · 2 references

Children

Elliott Roosevelt · 2 references; Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. · 1 reference; John Aspinwall Roosevelt · 1 reference; Anna Roosevelt Halsted · 2 references; James Roosevelt · 2 references; Franklin Delano Roosevelt · 2 references

Father

James Roosevelt · 1 reference

Mother

Sara Delano Roosevelt · 1 reference

Siblings

James Roosevelt Roosevelt · 1 reference

Religion

Episcopal Church

Military branch

United States Armed Forces

Lived in

New York City

Height

1.89 m (6 ft 2 in); 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) · 1 reference

Wikipedias with a page

249

Wikidata item Q8007 (wikidata.org/wiki/Q8007), public domain (CC0). Copied November 13, 2026.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving US president and the only one to have served more than two terms. His first two terms centered on combating the Great Depression, while his third and fourth focused on US involvement in World War II. A member of the Democratic Party, Roosevelt served in the New York State Senate from 1911 to 1913 and as the 44th governor of New York from 1929 to 1932.
Born into the prominent Delano and Roosevelt families, Roosevelt graduated from Harvard University. He was elected to the New York State Senate in 1910, before becoming the assistant secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson in 1913. Roosevelt was the running mate of James M. Cox on the Democratic ticket in the 1920 presidential election, which Cox lost to Republican nominee Warren G. Harding. In 1921, an illness permanently paralyzed his legs. However, partly through the encouragement of his wife Eleanor, he was elected governor of New York in 1928. As governor, he promoted programs to combat the Great Depression.
Roosevelt defeated President Herbert Hoover in a landslide victory in the 1932 presidential election. During his first 100 days as president, Roosevelt initiated the program to implement the New Deal, built the New Deal coalition, and realigned American politics into the Fifth Party System. He created programs to provide relief to the unemployed and farmers while seeking economic recovery with the National Recovery Administration and other programs. He was re-elected in 1936, in one of the largest landslide victories in American history. Major surviving programs and legislation implemented under Roosevelt include the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Labor Relations Act, and Social Security. In 1940, he was reelected, as there were no presidential term limits until 1951.
Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Roosevelt obtained a declaration of war on Japan, and subsequently on Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Roosevelt supervised the mobilization of the American economy to support the war effort and implemented a Europe first strategy. He also initiated the development of the first atomic bomb and worked with the other Allied leaders to lay the groundwork for the United Nations. Roosevelt won reelection in 1944, but died in 1945. Since then, some of his actions have been criticized, such as his ordering of the internment of Japanese Americans. Nonetheless, historical rankings consistently place him among the three greatest American presidents.

Born, in its opening lines

January 30, 1882

Died, in its opening lines

April 12, 1945

From the Wikipedia article “Franklin D. Roosevelt” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt), by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Copied November 13, 2026; not changed.