Editing Franklin D. Roosevelt (section)

==Presidency (1933–1945)==
As president, Roosevelt appointed powerful men to top positions in government. However, he made all of his administration's major decisions himself, regardless of any delays, inefficiencies, or resentments doing so may have caused. Analyzing the president's administrative style, Burns concludes:
{{blockquote|text=The president stayed in charge of his administration...by drawing fully on his formal and informal powers as Chief Executive; by raising goals, creating momentum, inspiring a personal loyalty, getting the best out of people...by deliberately fostering among his aides a sense of competition and a clash of wills that led to disarray, heartbreak, and anger but also set off pulses of executive energy and sparks of creativity...by handing out one job to several men and several jobs to one man, thus strengthening his own position as a court of appeals, as a depository of information, and as a tool of co-ordination; by ignoring or bypassing collective decision-making agencies, such as the Cabinet...and always by persuading, flattering, juggling, improvising, reshuffling, harmonizing, conciliating, manipulating.{{sfn|Burns|1970|pp=347–48}}}}

===First and second terms (1933–1941)===
{{Main|Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1941)}}
{{listen
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| title        = Nothing to Fear
| description  = Sample of the ''Inaugural speech'' from FDR
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When Roosevelt was [[First inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt|inaugurated]] on March 4, 1933, the U.S. was at the nadir of the [[The Great Depression|worst depression in its history]]. A quarter of the workforce was unemployed, and farmers were in deep trouble as prices had fallen by 60%. Industrial production had fallen by more than half since 1929. Two million people were homeless. By the evening of March 4, 32 of the 48 states—as well as the District of Columbia—had closed their banks.{{sfn|Alter|2006|p=190}}

Historians categorized Roosevelt's program as "relief, recovery, and reform". Relief was urgently needed by the unemployed. Recovery meant boosting the economy back to normal, and reform was required of the financial and banking systems. Through Roosevelt's 30 "[[fireside chat]]s", he presented his proposals directly to the American public as a series of radio addresses.{{sfn|Burns|1956|pp=157, 167–68}} Energized by his own victory over paralytic illness, he used persistent optimism and activism to renew the national spirit.{{sfn|Tobin|2013|pp=4–7}}

====First New Deal (1933–1934)====
{{Main|New Deal}}
On his second day in office, Roosevelt declared a four-day national "bank holiday", to end the run by depositors seeking to withdraw funds.<ref name = "FDR Domestic Affairs">{{cite web|url=https://millercenter.org/president/fdroosevelt/domestic-affairs|title=FDR: Domestic Affairs|publisher=Univ. of Virginia Miller Center of Public Affairs|last=Leuchtenburg|first=William E.|date=October 4, 2016|access-date=January 29, 2022}}</ref> He called for a special session of Congress on March 9, when Congress passed, almost sight unseen, the [[Emergency Banking Act]].<ref name = "FDR Domestic Affairs"/> The act, first developed by the Hoover administration and Wall Street bankers, gave the president the power to determine the opening and closing of banks and authorized the [[Federal Reserve Bank]]s to issue banknotes.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg|2015|pp=147–48}} The "[[Hundred Days Congress|first 100 Days]]" of the [[73rd United States Congress]] saw an unprecedented amount of legislation and set a benchmark against which future presidents have been compared.{{sfn|Smith|2007|p=312}}<ref name="kliptak1">{{cite news|last1=Liptak|first1=Kevin|title=History of measuring presidents' first 100 days|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/23/politics/donald-trump-history-100-days/index.html|access-date=October 9, 2017|publisher=CNN|date=April 23, 2017}}</ref> When the banks reopened on Monday, March 15, stock prices rose by 15 percent and in the following weeks over $1 billion was returned to bank vaults, ending the bank panic.<ref name = "FDR Domestic Affairs"/> On March 22, Roosevelt signed the [[Cullen–Harrison Act]], which brought Prohibition to a close.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg|2015|pp=151–52}}

[[File:FDR video montage.ogg|thumb|left|Collection of video clips of Roosevelt]]
Roosevelt saw the establishment of a number of agencies and measures designed to provide relief for the unemployed and others. The [[Federal Emergency Relief Administration]], under the leadership of Harry Hopkins, distributed relief to state governments.{{sfn|Smith|2007|p=322}} The [[Public Works Administration]] (PWA), under Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, oversaw the construction of large-scale public works such as dams, bridges, and schools.{{sfn|Smith|2007|p=322}} The Rural Electrification Administration (REA) brought electricity for the first time to millions of rural homes.<ref name = "FDR Domestic Affairs"/> The most popular of all New Deal agencies—and Roosevelt's favorite—was the [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] (CCC), which hired 250,000 unemployed men for rural projects. Roosevelt also expanded Hoover's [[Reconstruction Finance Corporation]], which financed railroads and industry. Congress gave the [[Federal Trade Commission]] broad regulatory powers and provided mortgage relief to millions of farmers and homeowners. Roosevelt also set up the [[Agricultural Adjustment Administration]] to increase commodity prices, by paying farmers to leave land uncultivated and cut herds.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=318–23}} The policies were criticized when, in a few cases, crops were intentionally plowed under and livestock was killed as a result.<ref name = "FDR Domestic Affairs"/>

Reform of the economy was the goal of the [[National Industrial Recovery Act]] (NIRA) of 1933. It sought to end cutthroat competition by forcing industries to establish rules such as minimum prices, agreements not to compete, and production restrictions. Industry leaders negotiated the rules with NIRA officials, who suspended [[United States antitrust law|antitrust]] laws in return for better wages. The [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] in May 1935 declared NIRA unconstitutional, to Roosevelt's chagrin.{{Sfn|Hawley|1995|p=124}} He reformed financial regulations with the [[1933 Banking Act|Glass–Steagall Act]], creating the [[Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation]] to underwrite savings deposits. The act also limited affiliations between commercial banks and securities firms.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=331–32}} In 1934, the [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission|Securities and Exchange Commission]] was created to regulate the trading of [[Security (finance)|securities]], while the [[Federal Communications Commission]] was established to [[Telecommunications policy of the United States|regulate telecommunications]].{{sfn|Smith|2007|p=346}}

The NIRA included $3.3&nbsp;billion (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|3.3|1933|r=2}}&nbsp;billion in {{Inflation-year|US}}) of spending through the Public Works Administration to support recovery.{{sfn|Savage|1991|p=160}} Roosevelt worked with Senator Norris to create the largest government-owned industrial enterprise in American history—the [[Tennessee Valley Authority]] (TVA)—which built dams and power stations, controlled floods, and modernized agriculture and home conditions in the poverty-stricken Tennessee Valley. However, locals criticized the TVA for displacing thousands of people for these projects.<ref name = "FDR Domestic Affairs"/> The Soil Conservation Service trained farmers in the proper methods of cultivation, and with the TVA, Roosevelt became the father of soil conservation.<ref name = "FDR Domestic Affairs"/> [[Executive Order 6102]] declared that all privately held gold of American citizens was to be sold to the U.S. Treasury and the price raised from $20 to $35 per ounce. The goal was to counter the [[deflation]] which was paralyzing the economy.{{Sfn|Freidel|1952–1973|pp=4, 320–39}}

Roosevelt tried to keep his campaign promise by cutting the federal budget. This included a reduction in military spending from $752&nbsp;million in 1932 to $531&nbsp;million in 1934 and a 40% cut in spending on veterans benefits. 500,000 veterans and widows were removed from the pension rolls, and benefits were reduced for the remainder. Federal salaries were cut and spending on research and education was reduced. The veterans were well organized and strongly protested, so most benefits were restored or increased by 1934.{{Sfn|Freidel|1952–1973|pp=4, 448–52}} Veterans groups such as the [[American Legion]] and the [[Veterans of Foreign Wars]] won their campaign to transform their benefits from payments due in 1945 to immediate cash when Congress overrode the President's veto and passed the [[Adjusted Compensation Payment Act|Bonus Act]] in January 1936.{{Sfn|Dallek|2017|p=249}} It pumped sums equal to 2% of the GDP into the consumer economy and had a major stimulus effect.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Joshua K.|last=Hausman|title=Fiscal Policy and Economic Recovery: The Case of the 1936 Veterans' Bonus|journal=[[American Economic Review]]|volume=106|issue=4|pages=1100–43|date=April 2016|doi=10.1257/aer.20130957|url=http://behl.berkeley.edu/files/2013/02/WP2013-06_Hausman.pdf|access-date=October 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031231820/http://behl.berkeley.edu/files/2013/02/WP2013-06_Hausman.pdf|archive-date=October 31, 2014}}</ref>

====Second New Deal (1935–1936)====
{{Main|Second New Deal}}
[[File:Signing Of The Social Security Act.jpg|thumb|left|Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act into law, August 14, 1935.]]

Roosevelt expected that his party would lose seats in the [[United States elections, 1934|1934 Congressional elections]], as the president's party had done in most previous [[United States midterm election|midterm elections]]; the Democrats gained seats instead. Empowered by the public's vote of confidence, the first item on Roosevelt's agenda in the [[74th United States Congress|74th Congress]] was the creation of a [[social insurance]] program.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=349–51}} The [[Social Security Act]] established Social Security and promised economic security for the elderly, the poor, and the sick. Roosevelt insisted that it should be funded by payroll taxes rather than from the general fund, saying, "We put those payroll contributions there so as to give the contributors a legal, moral, and political right to collect their pensions and unemployment benefits. With those taxes in there, no damn politician can ever scrap my social security program."<ref>[http://www.ssa.gov/history/Gulick.html Social Security History]. Ssa.gov. Retrieved July 14, 2013.</ref> Compared with the social security systems in Western European countries, the Social Security Act of 1935 was rather conservative. But for the first time, the federal government took responsibility for the economic security of the aged, the temporarily unemployed, dependent children, and disabled people.{{sfn|Norton|2009|p=670}} Against Roosevelt's original intention for universal coverage, the act excluded farmers, domestic workers, and other groups, which made up about forty percent of the labor force.{{sfn|Smith|2007|p=353}}

Roosevelt consolidated the various relief organizations, though some, like the PWA, continued to exist. After winning Congressional authorization for further funding of relief efforts, he established the [[Works Progress Administration]] (WPA). Under the leadership of Harry Hopkins, the WPA employed over three million people in its first year of operations. It undertook numerous massive construction projects in cooperation with local governments. It also set up the [[National Youth Administration]] and arts organizations.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=353–56}}

[[File:1936 FDR "Don't Be Fooled by Figures" Re-election handbill.jpg|thumb|1936 re-election handbill for Roosevelt promoting his economic policy]]

The [[National Labor Relations Act]] guaranteed workers the right to [[collective bargaining]] through unions of their own choice. The act also established the [[National Labor Relations Board]] (NLRB) to facilitate wage agreements and suppress repeated labor disturbances. The act did not compel employers to reach an agreement with their employees, but it opened possibilities for American labor.{{sfn|Kennedy|1999|p=291}} The result was a tremendous growth of membership in the labor unions, especially in the mass-production sector.<ref>Colin Gordon, ''New Deals: Business, Labor, and Politics in America, 1920–1935'' (1994) p. 225</ref> When the [[Flint sit-down strike]] threatened the production of [[General Motors]], Roosevelt broke with the precedent set by many former presidents and refused to intervene; the strike ultimately led to the unionization of both General Motors and its rivals in the American automobile industry.{{Sfn|Brands|2009|pp=463–67}}

While the First New Deal of 1933 had broad support from most sectors, the Second New Deal challenged the business community. Conservative Democrats, led by [[Al Smith]], fought back with the [[American Liberty League]], savagely attacking Roosevelt and equating him with socialism.{{Sfn|Fried|2001|pp=120–23}} But Smith overplayed his hand, and his boisterous rhetoric let Roosevelt isolate his opponents and identify them with the wealthy vested interests that opposed the New Deal, strengthening Roosevelt for the 1936 landslide.{{Sfn|Fried|2001|pp=120–23}} By contrast, labor unions, energized by labor legislation, signed up millions of new members and became a major backer of Roosevelt's re-elections in 1936, 1940, and 1944.{{Sfn|Burns|1956|p=350}}

Burns suggests that Roosevelt's policy decisions were guided more by pragmatism than ideology and that he "was like the general of a guerrilla army whose columns, fighting blindly in the mountains through dense ravines and thickets, suddenly converge, half by plan and half by coincidence, and [[debouch]] into the plain below."{{Sfn|Burns|1956|p=226}} Roosevelt argued that such apparently haphazard methodology was necessary. "The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation," he wrote. "It is common sense to take a method and try it; if it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something."<ref>{{cite book|last=Roosevelt|first=Franklin Delano|title=Looking forward|url={{GBurl|id=wJwnAQAAMAAJ|p=141}}|year=1933|publisher=John Day|page=141}}</ref>

====Election of 1936====
{{Main|1936 United States presidential election}}
[[File:ElectoralCollege1936.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|1936 electoral vote results]]

Eight million workers remained unemployed in 1936, and though economic conditions had improved since 1932, they remained sluggish. By 1936, Roosevelt had lost the backing he once held in the business community because of his support for the [[National Labor Relations Board]] (NLRB) and the Social Security Act.<ref name = "FDR Campaigns"/> The Republicans had few alternative candidates and nominated Kansas Governor [[Alf Landon]], a little-known bland candidate whose chances were damaged by the public re-emergence of the still-unpopular Herbert Hoover.{{Sfn|Smith|2007|pp=364–66}} While Roosevelt campaigned on his New Deal programs and continued to attack Hoover, Landon sought to win voters who approved of the goals of the New Deal but disagreed with its implementation.{{Sfn|Smith|2007|pp=371–72}}

An attempt by Louisiana Senator [[Huey Long]] to organize a left-wing third party collapsed after [[Assassination of Huey Long|Long's assassination]] in 1935. The remnants, helped by Father [[Charles Coughlin]], supported [[William Lemke]] of the newly formed [[Union Party (United States)|Union Party]].{{Sfn|Smith|2007|pp=360–61}} Roosevelt won re-nomination with little opposition at the [[1936 Democratic National Convention]], while his allies overcame Southern resistance to abolish the long-established rule that required Democratic presidential candidates to win the votes of two-thirds of the delegates rather than a simple majority.{{Efn|Biographer [[Jean Edward Smith]] notes that "the significance of the repeal of the two-thirds rule...is difficult to overstate. Not only did the power of the South in the Democratic party diminish, but without the repeal, it is open to question whether FDR could have been renominated in 1940."{{Sfn|Smith|2007|p=366}}}}

In the election against Landon and a third-party candidate, Roosevelt won 60.8% of the vote and carried every state except [[Maine]] and [[Vermont]].{{sfn|Burns|1956|p=284}} The Democratic ticket won the highest proportion of the [[List of United States presidential elections by popular vote margin|popular vote]].{{Efn|The [[1964 United States presidential election|1964]] Democratic ticket of [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] and [[Hubert Humphrey]] would later set a new record, taking 61.1% of the popular vote}} Democrats expanded their majorities in Congress, controlling over three-quarters of the seats in each house. The election also saw the consolidation of the New Deal coalition; while the Democrats lost some of their traditional allies in big business, they were replaced by groups such as organized labor and African Americans, the latter of whom voted Democratic for the first time since the [[American Civil War|Civil War]].{{Sfn|Smith|2007|pp=373–75}} Roosevelt lost high-income voters, especially businessmen and professionals, but made major gains among the poor and minorities. He won 86 percent of the Jewish vote, 81 percent of Catholics, 80 percent of union members, 76 percent of Southerners, 76 percent of blacks in northern cities, and 75 percent of people on relief. Roosevelt carried 102 of the country's 106 cities with a population of 100,000 or more.<ref>{{cite book|author=Mary E. Stuckey|title=Voting Deliberatively: FDR and the 1936 Presidential Campaign|url={{GBurl|id=OootCgAAQBAJ|pg=PT19}}|year=2015|publisher=Penn State UP|page=19|isbn=978-0-271-07192-3}}</ref>

====Supreme Court fight and second term legislation====
{{See also|Franklin D. Roosevelt Supreme Court candidates|Hughes Court|Wiley Rutledge Supreme Court nomination}}

The [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] became Roosevelt's primary domestic focus during his second term after the court overturned many of his programs, including NIRA. The more conservative members of the court upheld the principles of the [[Lochner era]], which saw numerous economic regulations struck down on the basis of [[freedom of contract]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kalman|first1=Laura|title=The Constitution, the Supreme Court, and the New Deal|journal=The American Historical Review|date=October 2005|volume=110|issue=4|pages=1052–80|doi=10.1086/ahr.110.4.1052}}</ref> Roosevelt proposed the [[Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937]], which would have allowed him to appoint an additional Justice for each incumbent Justice over the age of 70; in 1937, there were six Supreme Court Justices over the age of 70. The [[Supreme Court of the United States#Size of the court|size of the Court]] had been set at nine since the passage of the [[Judiciary Act of 1869]], and Congress had altered the number of Justices six other times throughout U.S. history.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=379–82}} Roosevelt's "[[Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937|court packing]]" plan ran into intense political opposition from his own party, led by Vice President Garner since it upset the separation of powers.{{sfn|Burns|1956|p=312}} A bipartisan coalition of liberals and conservatives of both parties opposed the bill, and Chief Justice [[Charles Evans Hughes]] broke with precedent by publicly advocating the defeat of the bill. Any chance of passing the bill ended with the death of Senate Majority Leader [[Joseph Taylor Robinson]] in July 1937.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=384–89}}

Starting with the 1937 case of ''[[West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish]]'', the court began to take a more favorable view of economic regulations. Historians have described this as, "the switch in time that saved nine".<ref name = "FDR Domestic Affairs"/> That same year, Roosevelt appointed a Supreme Court Justice for the first time, and by 1941, had appointed seven of the court's nine justices.{{Efn|The two Justices who Roosevelt did not originally appoint to the Court were [[Harlan Fiske Stone]] and [[Owen Roberts]]. However, in 1941, Roosevelt elevated Stone to the position of Chief Justice.}}<ref name="leuch">{{cite magazine|last1=Leuchtenburg|first1=William E.|title=When Franklin Roosevelt Clashed with the Supreme Court – and Lost|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-franklin-roosevelt-clashed-with-the-supreme-court-and-lost-78497994/|access-date=March 1, 2016|magazine=Smithsonian Magazine|date=May 2005}}</ref> After ''Parrish'', the Court shifted its focus from [[Judicial review in the United States|judicial review]] of economic regulations to the protection of [[Civil liberties in the United States|civil liberties]].<ref>Leuchtenburg, E. (1996). ''The Supreme Court Reborn: The Constitutional Revolution in the Age of Roosevelt''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-511131-1}}</ref> Four of Roosevelt's Supreme Court appointees, [[Felix Frankfurter]], [[Robert H. Jackson]],
[[Hugo Black]], and [[William O. Douglas]], were particularly influential in reshaping the jurisprudence of the Court.<ref name="jblake1">{{cite news|last1=Blake|first1=John|title=How FDR unleashed his Supreme Court 'scorpions'|url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/12/14/FDR.supremecourt/index.html|access-date=October 10, 2017|publisher=CNN|date=December 14, 2010}}</ref><ref name="belknap">{{cite book|last1=Belknap|first1=Michal|title=The Vinson Court: Justices, Rulings, and Legacy|date=2004|publisher=ABC-CLIO|pages=162–63|url={{GBurl|id=oeFRJj8dVAUC|q=vinson court}}|access-date=March 3, 2016|isbn=978-1-57607-201-1}}</ref>

With Roosevelt's influence on the wane following the failure of the Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937, conservative Democrats joined with Republicans to block the implementation of further New Deal programs.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=390–91}} Roosevelt did manage to pass some legislation, including the [[Housing Act of 1937]], a second Agricultural Adjustment Act, and the [[Fair Labor Standards Act]] (FLSA) of 1938, which was the last major piece of New Deal legislation. The FLSA outlawed [[Child labor laws in the United States|child labor]], established a federal [[Minimum wage in the United States|minimum wage]], and required [[overtime]] pay for certain employees who work in excess of [[Eight-hour day|forty hours per week]].{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=408–09}} He also passed the [[Reorganization Act of 1939]] and subsequently created the [[Executive Office of the President of the United States|Executive Office of the President]], making it "the nerve center of the federal administrative system".{{sfn|Leuchtenburg|2015|pp=187–88}} When the economy [[recession of 1937–1938|began to deteriorate again in mid-1937]], Roosevelt launched a rhetorical campaign against big business and [[monopoly power]], alleging that the recession was the result of a [[capital strike]] and even ordering the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] to look for a criminal conspiracy (they found none). He then asked Congress for $5&nbsp;billion (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|5|1937|r=2}}&nbsp;billion in {{Inflation-year|US}}) in relief and public works funding. This created as many as 3.3&nbsp;million WPA jobs by 1938. Projects accomplished under the WPA ranged from new federal courthouses and post offices to facilities and infrastructure for national parks, bridges, and other infrastructure across the country, and architectural surveys and archaeological excavations—investments to construct facilities and preserve important resources. Beyond this, however, Roosevelt recommended to a special congressional session only a permanent national farm act, administrative reorganization, and regional planning measures, all of which were leftovers from a regular session. According to Burns, this attempt illustrated Roosevelt's inability to settle on a basic economic program.{{sfn|Burns|1956|p=320}}

Determined to overcome the opposition of conservative Democrats in Congress, Roosevelt became involved in the 1938 Democratic primaries, actively campaigning for challengers who were more supportive of New Deal reform. Roosevelt failed badly, managing to defeat only one of the ten targeted.<ref name = "FDR Domestic Affairs"/> In the [[United States elections, 1938|November 1938 elections]], Democrats lost six Senate seats and 71 House seats, with losses concentrated among pro-New Deal Democrats. When Congress reconvened in 1939, Republicans under Senator [[Robert A. Taft|Robert Taft]] formed a [[Conservative coalition]] with Southern Democrats, virtually ending Roosevelt's ability to enact his domestic proposals.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg|1963|pp=262–63, 271–73}} Despite their opposition to Roosevelt's domestic policies, many of these conservative Congressmen would provide crucial support for his foreign policy before and during World War II.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=440–41}}

====Conservation and the environment====

Roosevelt had a lifelong interest in the environment and conservation starting with his youthful interest in forestry on his family estate. Although he was never an outdoorsman or sportsman on Theodore Roosevelt's scale, his growth of the national systems was comparable.{{Sfn|Dallek|2017|p=19}}<ref>See also Edgar B. Nixon, ed. ''Franklin D. Roosevelt and Conservation, 1911-1945'' (2 vol. 1957); [https://archive.org/details/franklindrooseve0000nixo/page/n7/mode/2up vol 1 online]; also see [https://archive.org/details/franklindrooseve0002unse_p5t9/page/n6/mode/1up vol 2 online]</ref> When Franklin was Governor of New York, the Temporary Emergency Relief Administration was essentially a state-level predecessor of the federal Civilian Conservation Corps, with 10,000 or more men building [[fire trail]]s, combating [[soil erosion]] and planting tree seedlings in marginal farmland in New York.<ref>{{Cite web|title=FDR's Conservation Legacy (U.S. National Park Service)|url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/fdr-s-conservation-legacy.htm|access-date=June 28, 2021|website=nps.gov}}</ref> As President, Roosevelt was active in expanding, funding, and promoting the [[United States National Park|National Park]] and [[United States National Forest|National Forest]] systems.<ref name=":0">{{cite book|last=Leshy|first=John|editor1-last=Woolner|editor1-first=David|editor2-last=Henderson|editor2-first=Henry L.|title=FDR and the Environment|publisher=Springer|date=2009|chapter=FDR's Expansion of Our National Patrimony: A Model for Leadership|pages= 177–78|isbn=978-0-230-10067-1}}</ref> Their popularity soared, from three million visitors a year at the start of the decade to 15.5&nbsp;million in 1939.<ref name="America's Idea">{{cite web|title=The National Parks: America's Best Idea: History Episode 5: 1933–1945|url=https://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/history/ep5|publisher=PBS|access-date=April 23, 2016}}</ref> The [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] enrolled 3.4&nbsp;million young men and built {{convert|13,000|mi|km|abbr=off|sp=us}} of trails, planted two billion trees, and upgraded {{convert|125,000|mi|km|abbr=off|sp=us}} of dirt roads. Every state had its own state parks, and Roosevelt made sure that WPA and CCC projects were set up to upgrade them as well as the national systems.{{sfn|Brinkley|2016|pp=170–86}}<ref>{{cite journal|first=Neil M.|last=Maher|title=A New Deal Body Politic: Landscape, Labor, and the Civilian Conservation Corps|journal=[[Environmental History]]|volume=7|issue=3|pages=435–61|date=July 2002|jstor=3985917|url=http://environmentalhistory.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/7-3_Maher.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602073403/http://environmentalhistory.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/7-3_Maher.pdf |archive-date=June 2, 2016 |url-status=live|doi=10.2307/3985917|bibcode=2002EnvH....7..435M |s2cid=144800756}}</ref><ref>Anna L.  Riesch Owen, ''Conservation Under FDR'' (Praeger, 1983).</ref>

====GNP and unemployment rates====
{{See also|Great Depression in the United States#Roosevelt's New Deal}}
{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:1em; float:right; clear:right;"
|+Unemployment rates{{Efn|This table shows the estimated unemployment related as calculated by two economists. Michael Darby's estimate counts individuals on work relief programs as employed, while Stanley Lebergott's estimate counts individuals on work relief programs as unemployed<ref name="margo1">{{cite journal|last1=Margo|first1=Robert A.|title=Employment and Unemployment in the 1930s|journal=Journal of Economic Perspectives|date=Spring 1993|volume=7|issue=2|pages=42–43|doi=10.1257/jep.7.2.41|citeseerx=10.1.1.627.1613|s2cid=26369842}}</ref>}}
|-
!Year!!Lebergott!!Darby
|-
|''1929''||''3.2''||''3.2''
|-
|''1932''||''23.6''||''22.9''
|-
|1933||24.9||20.6
|-
|1934||21.7||16.0
|-
|1935||20.1||14.2
|-
|1936||16.9||9.9
|-
|1937||14.3||9.1
|-
|1938||19.0||12.5
|-
|1939||17.2||11.3
|-
|1940||14.6||9.5
|}

Government spending increased from 8.0% of the gross national product (GNP) [[Herbert Hoover#Taxes, revenues, and deficits|under Hoover]] in 1932 to 10.2% in 1936. The [[national debt]] as a percentage of the GNP had more than doubled under Hoover from 16% to 40% of the GNP in early 1933. It held steady at close to 40% as late as fall 1941, then grew rapidly during the war.<ref name="Historical Statistics 1976">{{cite book|title=Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970|url={{GBurl|id=e91TplHLeQAC|pg=PP1}}|year=1976|publisher=The Bureau of the U.S. Census|pages=Y457, Y493, F32}}</ref> The GNP was 34% higher in 1936 than in 1932 and 58% higher in 1940 on the eve of war. That is, the economy grew 58% from 1932 to 1940, and then grew 56% from 1940 to 1945 in five years of wartime.<ref name="Historical Statistics 1976"/> Unemployment fell dramatically during Roosevelt's first term. It increased in 1938 ("a depression within a depression") but continually declined after 1938.<ref name="margo1"/> Total employment during Roosevelt's term expanded by 18.31&nbsp;million jobs, with an average annual increase in jobs during his administration of 5.3%.<ref>{{cite news|type=graphic|date=July 2, 2003|url=http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2003/07/02/business/03JOBSch450.gif|format=GIF|work=The New York Times|title=Presidents and Job Growth}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970|url={{GBurl|id=e91TplHLeQAC|pg=PP1}}|year=1976|publisher=The Bureau of the U.S. Census|page=F31}}</ref>

====Foreign policy (1933–1941)====
{{Main|Foreign policy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration}}
[[File:Vargas e Roosevelt.jpg|thumb|Roosevelt with Brazilian president [[Getúlio Vargas]] and other dignitaries in Brazil, 1936]]

The main foreign policy initiative of Roosevelt's first term was the [[Good Neighbor Policy]], which was a re-evaluation of U.S. policy toward [[Latin America]]. The United States frequently intervened in Latin America following the promulgation of the [[Monroe Doctrine]] in 1823, and occupied several Latin American nations during the [[Banana Wars]] that occurred following the [[Spanish–American War]] of 1898. After Roosevelt took office, he [[United States occupation of Haiti|withdrew]] U.S. forces from [[Haiti]] and reached new treaties with [[Cuba]] and [[Panama]], ending their status as U.S. [[protectorate]]s. In December 1933, Roosevelt signed the [[Montevideo Convention]], renouncing the right to intervene unilaterally in the affairs of Latin American countries.{{Sfn|Leuchtenburg|1963|pp=203–10}} Roosevelt also normalized relations with the Soviet Union, which the United States had refused to recognize since the 1920s.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=341–43}} He hoped to renegotiate the Russian debt from World War I and open trade relations, but no progress was made on either issue and "both nations were soon disillusioned by the accord."{{sfn|Doenecke|Stoler|2005|p=18}}

The rejection of the [[Treaty of Versailles]] in 1919–1920 marked the dominance of [[United States non-interventionism|non-interventionism]] in American foreign policy. Despite Roosevelt's Wilsonian background, he and Secretary of State Cordell Hull acted with great care not to provoke isolationist sentiment. The isolationist movement was bolstered in the early to mid-1930s by Senator [[Gerald Nye]] and others who succeeded in their effort to stop the "merchants of death" in the U.S. from selling arms abroad.{{sfn|Burns|1956|p=254}} This effort took the form of the [[Neutrality Acts of 1930s|Neutrality Acts]]; the president was refused a provision he requested giving him the discretion to allow the sale of arms to victims of aggression.{{sfn|Burns|1956|p=255}} He largely acquiesced to Congress's non-interventionist policies in the early-to-mid 1930s.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=417–18}} In the interim, [[Kingdom of Italy under Fascism (1922–1943)|Fascist Italy]] under [[Benito Mussolini]] proceeded to [[Second Italo-Abyssinian War|overcome Ethiopia]], and the Italians joined Nazi Germany under [[Adolf Hitler]] in supporting General [[Francisco Franco]] and the [[Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War)|Nationalists]] in the [[Spanish Civil War]].{{sfn|Burns|1956|p=256}} As that conflict drew to a close in early 1939, Roosevelt expressed regret in not aiding the [[Republican faction (Spanish Civil War)|Spanish Republicans]].{{Sfn|Dallek|1995|p=180}} When [[Second Sino-Japanese War|Japan invaded China]] in 1937, isolationism limited Roosevelt's ability to aid China,{{Sfn|Dallek|1995|pp=146–47}} despite atrocities like the [[Nanking Massacre]] and the [[USS Panay incident|USS ''Panay'' incident]].{{sfn|Leuchtenburg|2015|pp=188–90}}

[[File:FDR-George-VI-Potomac-June-9-1939-2-detail-crop.jpg|thumb|The Roosevelts with [[King George VI]] and [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]], sailing from Washington, D.C., to [[Mount Vernon]], Virginia, on the [[USS Potomac (AG-25)|USS ''Potomac'']] during the first U.S. visit of a reigning British monarch (June 9, 1939)]]
[[File:FDR foreign trips.svg|thumb|Foreign trips of Roosevelt during his presidency<ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/roosevelt-franklin-d|title=Travels of President Franklin D. Roosevelt|work=Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs|publisher=U.S. Department of State|access-date=December 2, 2015}}</ref>]]

[[Anschluss|Germany annexed Austria]] in 1938, and soon turned its attention to its eastern neighbors.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=423–24}} Roosevelt made it clear that, in the event of German aggression against [[Czechoslovakia]], the U.S. would remain neutral.{{Sfn|Dallek|1995|pp=166–73}} After completion of the [[Munich Agreement]] and the execution of [[Kristallnacht]], American public opinion turned against Germany, and Roosevelt began preparing for a possible war with Germany.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=425–26}} Relying on an interventionist political coalition of Southern Democrats and business-oriented Republicans, Roosevelt oversaw the expansion of U.S. airpower and war production capacity.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=426–29}}

When [[World War II]] began in September 1939 with Germany's invasion of Poland and Britain and France's declaration of war on Germany, Roosevelt sought ways to assist Britain and France militarily.{{Sfn|Black|2005|pp=503–06}} Isolationist leaders like [[Charles Lindbergh]] and Senator [[William Borah]] successfully mobilized opposition to Roosevelt's proposed repeal of the [[Neutrality Acts of the 1930s|Neutrality Act]], but Roosevelt won Congressional approval of the sale of arms on a [[Cash and carry (World War II)|cash-and-carry]] basis.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=436–41}} He also began a regular secret correspondence with Britain's First Lord of the Admiralty, [[Winston Churchill]], in September 1939—the first of 1,700 letters and telegrams between them.{{Sfn|Gunther|1950|p=15}} Roosevelt forged a close personal relationship with Churchill, who became [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]] in May 1940.<ref>{{cite web|title=Roosevelt and Churchill: A Friendship That Saved The World|url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/fdrww2.htm|website=National Park Service}}</ref>

The [[Battle of France|Fall of France]] in June 1940 shocked the American public, and isolationist sentiment declined.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg|1963|pp=399–402}} In July 1940, Roosevelt appointed two interventionist Republican leaders, [[Henry L. Stimson]] and [[Frank Knox]], as Secretaries of War and the Navy, respectively. Both parties gave support to his plans for a rapid build-up of the American military, but the isolationists warned that Roosevelt would get the nation into an unnecessary war with Germany.{{sfn|Burns|1956|p=420}} In July 1940, a group of Congressmen introduced a bill that would authorize the nation's first peacetime draft, and with the support of the Roosevelt administration, the [[Selective Training and Service Act of 1940]] passed in September. The size of the army increased from 189,000 men at the end of 1939 to 1.4&nbsp;million in mid-1941.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=464–66}} In September 1940, Roosevelt openly defied the Neutrality Acts by reaching the [[Destroyers for Bases Agreement]], which, in exchange for military base rights in the British Caribbean Islands, gave 50 American [[destroyer]]s to Britain.{{Sfn|Burns|1956|p=438}}

====Election of 1940====
{{Main|1940 United States presidential election}}

In the months prior to the July [[1940 Democratic National Convention]], there was much speculation as to whether Roosevelt would run for an unprecedented third term. The two-term tradition, although not yet enshrined in the [[United States Constitution|Constitution]],{{efn|The [[Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twenty-second Amendment]] ratified in 1951, would bar any individual from winning more than two presidential elections.}} had been established by [[George Washington]] when he refused to run for a third term in 1796. Roosevelt refused to give a definitive statement, and he even indicated to some ambitious Democrats, such as James Farley, that he would not run for a third term and that they could seek the Democratic nomination. Farley and Vice President John Garner were not pleased with Roosevelt when he ultimately made the decision to break from Washington's precedent.<ref name = "FDR Campaigns"/><ref>Bernard F. Donahoe, ''Private Plans and Public Dangers: The Story of FDR's Third Nomination'' (University of Notre Dame Press, 1965).</ref> As Germany swept through [[Western Europe]] and menaced Britain in mid-1940, Roosevelt decided that only he had the necessary experience and skills to see the nation safely through the Nazi threat. He was aided by the party's political bosses, who feared that no Democrat except Roosevelt could defeat [[Wendell Willkie]], the popular Republican nominee.{{Sfn|Burns|1956|pp=408–30}}

[[File:ElectoralCollege1940.svg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|1940 electoral vote results]]

At the [[1940 Democratic National Convention|July 1940 Democratic Convention]] in Chicago, Roosevelt easily swept aside challenges from Farley and Vice President Garner, who had turned against Roosevelt in his second term because of his liberal economic and social policies.<ref name=moe1/> To replace Garner on the ticket, Roosevelt turned to Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace of Iowa, a former Republican who strongly supported the New Deal and was popular in farm states.{{sfn|Dallek|2017|pp=389–90}} The choice was strenuously opposed by many of the party's conservatives, who felt Wallace was too radical and "eccentric" in his private life. But Roosevelt insisted that without Wallace on the ticket he would decline re-nomination, and Wallace won the vice-presidential nomination, defeating Speaker of the House [[William B. Bankhead]] and other candidates.<ref name=moe1>{{cite book|last1=Moe|first1=Richard|title=Roosevelt's Second Act: The Election of 1940 and the Politics of War|date=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-998191-5|pages=229–46}}</ref>

A late August poll taken by [[Gallup (company)|Gallup]] found the race to be essentially tied, but Roosevelt's popularity surged in September following the announcement of the [[Destroyers-for-bases deal|Destroyers for Bases Agreement]].{{sfn|Smith|2007|p=472}} Willkie supported much of the New Deal as well as rearmament and aid to Britain but warned that Roosevelt would drag the country into another European war.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=474–75}} Responding to Willkie's attacks, Roosevelt promised to keep the country out of the war.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=476–77}} Over its last month, the campaign degenerated into a series of outrageous accusations and mud-slinging by the parties.<ref name = "FDR Campaigns"/> Roosevelt won the 1940 election with 55% of the popular vote, 38 of the 48 states, and almost 85% of the electoral vote.{{Sfn|Burns|1956|p=454}}

===Third and fourth terms (1941–1945)===
{{Main|Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt (1941–1945)}}
{{Further|Foreign policy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration}}
[[World War II]] dominated Roosevelt's attention, with far more time devoted to world affairs than ever before. Domestic politics and relations with Congress were largely shaped by his efforts to achieve total mobilization of the nation's economic, financial, and institutional resources for the war effort. Even relationships with Latin America and Canada were structured by wartime demands. Roosevelt maintained close personal control of all major diplomatic and military decisions, working closely with his generals and admirals, the war and Navy departments, the British, and even the Soviet Union. His key advisors on diplomacy were [[Harry Hopkins]] in the White House, [[Sumner Welles]] in the State Department, and [[Henry Morgenthau Jr.]] at Treasury. In military affairs, Roosevelt worked most closely with Secretary [[Henry L. Stimson]] at the War Department, Army Chief of Staff [[George Marshall]], and Admiral [[William D. Leahy]].<ref>Winston Groom, ''The Allies: Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, and the Unlikely Alliance That Won World War II'' (2018)</ref><ref>Joseph E. Persico, ''Roosevelt's Centurions: FDR and the Commanders He Led to Victory in World War II'' (2013).</ref><ref>Eric Larrabee, ''Commander in Chief: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, His Lieutenants, and Their War'' (1987)</ref>

====Lead-up to the war====
{{listen|title=State of the Union (Four Freedoms) (January&nbsp;6, 1941)|filename=FDR's 1941 State of the Union (Four Freedoms speech) Edit 1.ogg|description =Franklin Delano Roosevelt's January 6, 1941 [[State of the Union Address]] introducing the theme of the [[Four Freedoms]] (starting at 32:02)}}
[[File:"Freedom from Fear" - NARA - 513538.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|''[[Freedom from Fear (painting)|Freedom from Fear]]'' from painter [[Norman Rockwell]], {{circa|1943}}]]
By late 1940, re-armament was in high gear, partly to expand and re-equip the Army and Navy and partly to become the "[[Arsenal of Democracy]]" for Britain and other countries.{{sfn|Herman|2012|pp=128–29}} With his [[Four Freedoms]] speech in January 1941, which proposed four fundamental freedoms that people "everywhere in the world" ought to enjoy: [[freedom of speech and expression]], [[freedom of worship]], [[freedom from want]] and [[freedom from fear]], Roosevelt laid out the case for an Allied battle for basic rights throughout the world. Assisted by Willkie, Roosevelt won Congressional approval of the [[Lend-Lease]] program, which directed massive military and economic aid to Britain and China.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=488–90}} In sharp contrast to the loans of World War I, there would be no repayment.{{Sfn|Burns|1970|p=95}} As Roosevelt took a firmer stance against Japan, Germany, and Italy, American isolationists such as Charles Lindbergh and the [[America First Committee]] vehemently attacked Roosevelt as an irresponsible warmonger.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Charles|first=Douglas M.|title=Informing FDR: FBI Political Surveillance and the Isolationist-Interventionist Foreign Policy|journal=[[Diplomatic History (journal)|Diplomatic History]]|date=Spring 2000|volume=24|issue=2|pages=211–32|doi=10.1111/0145-2096.00210}}</ref> When Germany [[Operation Barbarossa|invaded]] the Soviet Union in June 1941, Roosevelt agreed to extend Lend-Lease to the Soviets. Thus, Roosevelt had committed the U.S. to the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] side with a policy of "all aid short of war".{{Sfn|Churchill|1977|p=119}} By July 1941, Roosevelt authorized the creation of the [[Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs]] to counter perceived propaganda efforts in Latin America by Germany and Italy.<ref>''Media Sound & Culture in Latin America''. Editors: Bronfman, Alejanda & Wood, Andrew Grant. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, 2012,{{ISBN|978-0-8229-6187-1}} [{{GBurl|id=ehN4sM0Xy_UC|q=Alfredo Antonini Elsa Miranda|p=49}} pp. 41–54]</ref><ref>Anthony, Edwin D. Records of the Office of Inter-American Affairs. National Archives and Record Services – General Services Administration, Washington D.C., 1973, pp. 1–8 {{LCCN|73600146}} [https://www.archives.gov/files/research/foreign-policy/related-records/rg-229-inter-american-affairs.pdf Records of the Office of Inter-American Affairs at the U.S. National Archive at www.archives.gov]</ref>

In August 1941, Roosevelt and Churchill conducted a secret bilateral meeting in which they drafted the [[Atlantic Charter]], conceptually outlining global wartime and postwar goals. This would be the first of several [[List of World War II conferences|wartime conferences]];{{Sfn|Burns|1970|pp=126–28}} Churchill and Roosevelt would meet ten more times in person.{{Sfn|Gunther|1950|pp=15–16}} Though Churchill pressed for an American declaration of war against Germany, Roosevelt believed that Congress would reject any attempt to bring the U.S. into the war.{{sfn|Smith|2007|p=502}} In September, a German submarine fired on the U.S. destroyer ''Greer'', and Roosevelt declared that the U.S. Navy would assume an escort role for Allied convoys in the Atlantic as far east as Britain and would fire upon German ships or [[U-boat]]s of the [[Kriegsmarine]] if they entered the U.S. Navy zone. This "shoot on sight" policy brought the U.S. Navy into direct conflict with German submarines and was favored by Americans by a margin of 2-to-1.{{Sfn|Burns|1970|pp=141–42}}

====Pearl Harbor and declarations of war====
{{See also|Events leading to the attack on Pearl Harbor}}
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After the German invasion of Poland, the primary concern of both Roosevelt and his top military staff was on the war in Europe, but Japan also presented foreign policy challenges. Relations with Japan had continually deteriorated since its [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria|invasion of Manchuria]] in 1931 and worsened further with Roosevelt's support of China.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=506–08}} After Roosevelt announced a $100&nbsp;million loan (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|.1|1940|r=1}}&nbsp;billion in {{Inflation-year|US}}) to China in reaction to Japan's occupation of northern French Indochina, Japan signed the [[Tripartite Pact]] with Germany and Italy; Germany, Japan, and Italy became known as the [[Axis powers]].{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=510–11}} In July 1941, after Japan occupied the remainder of French Indochina, Roosevelt cut off the sale of oil to Japan, depriving Japan of more than 95 percent of its oil supply.{{Sfn|Burns|1970|pp=134–46}} He also placed the [[Armed Forces of the Philippines|Philippine military]] under American command and reinstated General [[Douglas MacArthur]] into active duty to command U.S. forces in the Philippines.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=516–17}}

The Japanese were incensed by the embargo and Japanese leaders became determined to attack the United States unless it lifted the embargo. The Roosevelt administration was unwilling to reverse the policy, and Secretary of State Hull blocked a potential summit between Roosevelt and Prime Minister [[Fumimaro Konoe]].{{Efn|Hull and others in the administration were unwilling to recognize the Japanese conquest of China and feared that an American accommodation with Japan would leave the Soviet Union vulnerable to a two-front war.{{Sfn|Smith|2007|pp=522–23}}}} After diplomatic efforts failed, the [[Privy Council of Japan]] authorized a strike against the United States.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=518–30}} The Japanese believed that the destruction of the [[United States Asiatic Fleet]] (stationed in the Philippines) and the [[United States Pacific Fleet]] (stationed at [[Pearl Harbor]] in [[Hawaii]]) was vital to the conquest of Southeast Asia.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=531–33}} On December 7, 1941, the Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor|launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor]], knocking out the main American [[battleship]] fleet and killing 2,403 American servicemen and civilians. At the same time, separate Japanese task forces [[Japanese invasion of Thailand|attacked Thailand]], British [[Hong Kong]], the Philippines, and other targets. Roosevelt called for war in his "[[Infamy Speech]]" to Congress, in which he said: "Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." In a nearly unanimous vote, Congress [[United States declaration of war on Japan|declared war on Japan]].{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=533–39}} After Pearl Harbor, antiwar sentiment in the United States largely evaporated overnight. On December 11, 1941, Hitler and Mussolini declared war on the United States, which [[United States declaration of war upon Germany (1941)|responded in kind]].{{Efn|The United States would also declare war on [[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]], [[Kingdom of Hungary (1920–46)|Hungary]], and [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]], all of which had joined the Axis bloc.}}{{Sfn|Sainsbury|1994|p=184}}

A majority of scholars have rejected the [[Pearl Harbor advance-knowledge conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]] that Roosevelt, or any other high government officials, knew in advance about the attack on Pearl Harbor.<ref>{{cite book|last=Maffeo|first=Steven E.|title=U.S. Navy Codebreakers, Linguists, and Intelligence Officers against Japan, 1910–1941: A Biographical Dictionary|url={{GBurl|id=017fCgAAQBAJ|p=311}}|year=2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4422-5564-7|page=311}}</ref> The Japanese had kept their secrets closely guarded, so it is unlikely that American officials were aware of Japanese plans for a surprise attack on the [[United States Pacific Fleet|Pacific Fleet]]. Senior American officials were aware that war was imminent, but they did not expect an attack on Pearl Harbor.{{Sfn|Smith|2007|pp=523–39}} Roosevelt assumed that the Japanese would attack either the Dutch East Indies or Thailand.{{Sfn|Burns|1970|p=159}}

<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Franklin Roosevelt signing declaration of war against Japan.jpg|Roosevelt signing the [[United States declaration of war on Japan|declaration of war against Japan]] on December 8, 1941
File:Franklin Roosevelt signing declaration of war against Germany.jpg|Roosevelt signing the [[United States declaration of war upon Germany (1941)|declaration of war against Germany]] on December 11, 1941
File:Prince of Wales-5.jpg|Roosevelt and [[Winston Churchill]] aboard HMS ''Prince of Wales'' for 1941 Atlantic Charter meeting
</gallery>

====War plans====
[[File:Ww2 allied axis 1942 jun.png|thumb|upright=1.35|Territory controlled by the Allies (blue and red) and the Axis Powers (black) in June 1942]]

In late December 1941, Churchill and Roosevelt met at the [[Arcadia Conference]], which established a joint strategy between the U.S. and Britain. Both agreed on a [[Europe first]] strategy that prioritized the defeat of Germany before Japan. The U.S. and Britain established the [[Combined Chiefs of Staff]] to coordinate military policy and the [[Combined Munitions Assignments Board]] to coordinate the allocation of supplies.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=545–47}} An agreement was also reached to establish a centralized command in the Pacific theater called [[ABDA]], named for the American, British, [[Kingdom of the Netherlands|Dutch]], and [[Australia]]n forces in the theater.{{Sfn|Burns|1970|pp=180–85}} On January 1, 1942, the United States and the other [[Allies of World War II|Allied Powers]] issued the [[Declaration by United Nations]], in which each nation pledged to defeat the Axis powers.{{sfn|Smith|2007|p=547}}

In 1942, Roosevelt formed a new body, the [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]], which made the final decisions on American military strategy. Admiral [[Ernest J. King]] as [[Chief of Naval Operations]] commanded the Navy and Marines, while General [[George C. Marshall]] led the Army and was in nominal control of the Air Force, which in practice was commanded by General [[Hap Arnold]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Chambers|first=John Whiteclay|title=The Oxford Companion to American Military History|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00cham/page/351|year=1999|publisher=Oxford University Press, US|isbn=978-0-19-507198-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00cham/page/351 351]}}</ref> The Joint Chiefs were chaired by Admiral [[William D. Leahy]], the most senior officer in the military.{{sfn|Smith|2007|p=546}} Roosevelt avoided micromanaging the war and let his top military officers make most decisions.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=598–99}} Roosevelt's civilian appointees handled the draft and procurement of men and equipment, but no civilians—not even the secretaries of War or Navy—had a voice in strategy. Roosevelt avoided the State Department and conducted high-level diplomacy through his aides, especially Harry Hopkins, whose influence was bolstered by his control of the Lend-Lease funds.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fullilove|first1=Michael|title=Rendezvous with Destiny: How Franklin D. Roosevelt and Five Extraordinary Men Took America into the War and into the World|date=2013|publisher=Penguin Press|isbn=978-1-59420-435-7|pages=147–49}}</ref>

====Nuclear program====
{{see also|History of nuclear weapons|Nuclear weapons of the United States}}

In August 1939, [[Leo Szilard]] and [[Albert Einstein]] sent the [[Einstein–Szilárd letter]] to Roosevelt, warning of the possibility of a German [[German nuclear weapon project|project]] to develop [[nuclear weapon]]s. Szilard realized that the recently discovered process of [[nuclear fission]] could be used to create a [[weapon of mass destruction]].{{Sfn|Brands|2009|pp=678–80}} Roosevelt feared the consequences of allowing Germany to have sole possession of the technology and authorized preliminary research into nuclear weapons.{{Efn|The Germans stopped research on nuclear weapons in 1942, choosing to focus on other projects. Japan gave up its own program in 1943.{{Sfn|Smith|2007|p=580}}}} After Pearl Harbor, the Roosevelt administration secured funding to continue research and selected General [[Leslie Groves]] to oversee the [[Manhattan Project]], which was charged with developing the first nuclear weapons. Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to jointly pursue the project, and Roosevelt helped ensure that American scientists cooperated with their British counterparts.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=578–81}}

====Wartime conferences====
{{see also|Diplomatic history of World War II}}

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Roosevelt coined the term "[[Four Policemen]]" to refer to the "Big Four" Allied powers of World War II: the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China. The "[[Grand Alliance (World War II)|Big Three]]" of Roosevelt, [[Winston Churchill]], and Soviet leader [[Joseph Stalin]], together with Chinese Generalissimo [[Chiang Kai-shek]], cooperated informally on a plan in which American and British troops concentrated in the West; Soviet troops fought on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern front]]; and Chinese, British and American troops fought in Asia and the Pacific. The United States also continued to send aid via the Lend-Lease program to the Soviet Union and other countries. The Allies formulated strategy in a series of high-profile conferences as well as by contact through diplomatic and military channels.{{sfn|Doenecke|Stoler|2005|pp=109–10}} Beginning in May 1942, the Soviets urged an Anglo-American invasion of German-occupied France to divert troops from the Eastern front.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=557–59}} Concerned that their forces were not yet ready, Churchill and Roosevelt decided to delay such an invasion until at least 1943 and instead focus on a landing in North Africa, known as [[Operation Torch]].{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=560–61}}

In November 1943, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met to discuss strategy and post-war plans at the [[Tehran Conference]], where Roosevelt met Stalin for the first time.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=587–88}} Britain and the United States committed to opening a second front against Germany in 1944, while Stalin committed to entering the war against Japan at an unspecified date. Subsequent conferences at [[Bretton Woods Conference|Bretton Woods]] and [[Dumbarton Oaks Conference|Dumbarton Oaks]] established the framework for the post-war [[International monetary systems|international monetary system]] and the [[United Nations]], an intergovernmental organization similar to the failed League of Nations.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg|2015|pp=214–16}} Taking up the [[Wilsonian]] mantle, Roosevelt pushed the establishment of the United Nations as his highest postwar priority. Roosevelt expected it would be controlled by Washington, Moscow, London and Beijing, and would resolve all major world problems.<ref>Townsend Hoopes, and Douglas Brinkley, ''FDR and the Creation of the UN'' (Yale UP, 1997) pp. ix, 175.</ref>

{{Multiple image
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| footer            = Ethiopian Emperor [[Haile Selassie I]] (left) and [[King Farouk of Egypt]] (right) on board USS Quincy (CA-71) in Great Bitter Lake, after the Yalta Conference, February 1945
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Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met for a second time at the February 1945 [[Yalta Conference]] in Crimea. With the end of the war in Europe approaching, Roosevelt's primary focus was convincing Stalin to enter the war against Japan; the Joint Chiefs had estimated that an [[Operation Downfall|American invasion of Japan]] would cause as many as one million American casualties. In return, the Soviet Union was promised control of Asian territories such as [[Sakhalin Island]]. The three leaders agreed to hold a conference in 1945 to establish the United Nations, and they also agreed on the structure of the [[United Nations Security Council]], which would be charged with ensuring [[international security]]. Roosevelt did not push for the immediate evacuation of Soviet soldiers from Poland, but he won the issuance of the Declaration on Liberated Europe, which promised free elections in countries that had been occupied by Germany. Germany itself would not be dismembered but would be jointly occupied by the United States, France, Britain, and the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=623–24}} Against Soviet pressure, Roosevelt and Churchill refused to consent to impose huge reparations and deindustrialization on Germany after the war.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg|2015|pp=233–34}}

During March 1945, Roosevelt sent strongly worded messages to Stalin accusing him of breaking his Yalta commitments over Poland, Germany, prisoners of war, and other issues. When Stalin accused the Western Allies of plotting behind his back a separate peace with Hitler, Roosevelt replied: "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."{{Sfn|Burns|1970|p=587}}

Roosevelt's role in the [[Yalta Conference]] has been controversial; critics charge that he naively trusted the Soviet Union to allow free elections in Eastern Europe, while supporters argue that there was little more that Roosevelt could have done for the Eastern European countries given the Soviet occupation and the need for cooperation with the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Herring|2008|pp=584–87}}<ref name="ebumiller1">{{cite news|last1=Bumiller|first1=Elizabeth|title=60 Years Later, Debating Yalta All Over Again|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/16/politics/60-years-later-debating-yalta-all-over-again.html|access-date=October 14, 2017|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 16, 2005}}</ref>

====Course of the war====
{{see also|Military history of the United States during World War II}}

The Allies invaded [[French North Africa]] in November 1942, securing the surrender of [[Vichy France|Vichy French]] forces within days of landing.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=563–64}} At the January 1943 [[Casablanca Conference]], the Allies agreed to defeat Axis forces in North Africa and then launch an invasion of Sicily, with an attack on France to take place in 1944. At the conference, Roosevelt also announced that he would only accept the [[unconditional surrender]] of Germany, Japan, and Italy.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=565–67}} In February 1943, the Soviet Union won a major victory at the [[Battle of Stalingrad]], and in May 1943, the Allies secured the surrender of over 250,000 German and Italian soldiers in North Africa, ending the [[North African Campaign]].{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=573–74}} The Allies launched an [[Allied invasion of Sicily|invasion of Sicily]] in July 1943, capturing the island the following month.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=575–76}} In September 1943, the Allies secured an [[Armistice of Cassibile|armistice]] from Italian prime minister [[Pietro Badoglio]], but Germany quickly restored Mussolini to power.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=575–76}} The [[Allied invasion of Italy|Allied invasion of mainland Italy]] commenced in September 1943, but the [[Italian Campaign (World War II)|Italian Campaign]] continued until 1945 as German and Italian troops resisted the Allied advance.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=581–82}}

[[File:Ww2 allied axis 1944 dec.png|thumb|upright=1.35|The Allies (blue and red) and the Axis Powers (black) in December 1944]]

To command the invasion of France, Roosevelt chose General [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], who had successfully commanded a multinational coalition in North Africa and Sicily.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=596–97}} Eisenhower launched [[Operation Overlord]] on June 6, 1944. Supported by 12,000 aircraft and the largest naval force ever assembled, the Allies successfully established a beachhead in [[Normandy]] and then advanced further into France.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=598–99}} Though reluctant to back an unelected government, Roosevelt recognized [[Charles de Gaulle]]'s [[Provisional Government of the French Republic]] as the de facto government of France in July 1944. After most of France had been liberated, Roosevelt granted formal recognition to de Gaulle's government in October 1944.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=613–17}} Over the following months, the Allies liberated more territory and [[Western Allied invasion of Germany|began the invasion of Germany]]. By April 1945, Nazi resistance was crumbling in the face of advances by both the Western Allies and the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=630–31}}

In the opening weeks of the war, Japan conquered the Philippines and the British and Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia. The Japanese advance reached its maximum extent by June 1942, when the U.S. Navy scored a decisive victory at the [[Battle of Midway]]. American and Australian forces then began a slow and costly strategy called [[Leapfrogging (strategy)|island hopping]] or [[leapfrogging]] through the Pacific Islands, with the objective of gaining bases from which strategic airpower could be brought to bear on Japan and from which Japan could ultimately be invaded. In contrast to Hitler, Roosevelt took no direct part in the tactical naval operations, though he approved strategic decisions.{{Sfn|Burns|1970|p=228}} Roosevelt gave way in part to insistent demands from the public and Congress that more effort be devoted against Japan, but he always insisted on Germany first. The strength of the Japanese navy was decimated in the [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]], and by April 1945 the Allies had re-captured much of their lost territory in the Pacific.{{Sfn|Brands|2009|p=785}}

====Home front====
{{Main|United States home front during World War II}}

The home front was subject to dynamic social changes throughout the war, though domestic issues were no longer Roosevelt's most urgent policy concern. The military buildup spurred economic growth. Unemployment fell from 7.7&nbsp;million in spring 1940 to 3.4&nbsp;million in fall 1941 and to 1.5&nbsp;million in fall 1942, out of a labor force of 54&nbsp;million.{{Efn|WPA workers were counted as unemployed by this set of statistics.<ref>{{Citation|place=US|publisher=Bureau of the Census|title=Statistical Abstract|year=1946|page=173}}</ref>}} There was a growing labor shortage, accelerating the second wave of the [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]] of African Americans, farmers and rural populations to manufacturing centers. African Americans from the South went to California and other West Coast states for new jobs in the defense industry. To pay for increased government spending, in 1941 Roosevelt proposed that Congress enact an income tax rate of 99.5% on all income over $100,000; when the proposal failed, he issued an executive order imposing an income tax of 100% on income over $25,000, which Congress rescinded.{{Sfn|Schweikart|Allen|2004|p=602}} The [[Revenue Act of 1942]] instituted top tax rates as high as 94% (after accounting for the [[excess profits tax]]), greatly increased the tax base, and instituted the first federal [[withholding tax]].{{sfn|Leuchtenburg|2015|pp=221–22}} In 1944, Roosevelt requested that Congress enact legislation to tax all "unreasonable" profits, both corporate and individual, and thereby support his declared need for over $10&nbsp;billion in revenue for the war and other government measures. Congress overrode Roosevelt's veto to pass a [[Individual Income Tax Act of 1944|smaller revenue bill]] raising $2&nbsp;billion.{{Sfn|Burns|1970|p=436}}

In 1942, war production increased dramatically but fell short of Roosevelt's goals, due in part to manpower shortages.{{Sfn|Burns|1970|p=333}} The effort was also hindered by numerous strikes, especially in the coal mining and railroad industries, which lasted well into 1944.{{Sfn|Burns|1970|p=343}}{{sfn|Herman|2012|pp=139–44, 151, 246}} Nonetheless, between 1941 and 1945, the United States produced 2.4&nbsp;million trucks, 300,000 military aircraft, 88,400 tanks, and 40&nbsp;billion rounds of ammunition. The production capacity of the United States dwarfed that of other countries; for example, in 1944, the United States produced more military aircraft than the combined production of Germany, Japan, Britain, and the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=571–72}} The White House became the ultimate site for labor mediation, conciliation or arbitration. One particular battle royale occurred between Vice President Wallace, who headed the [[Board of Economic Warfare]], and [[Jesse H. Jones]], in charge of the [[Reconstruction Finance Corporation]]; both agencies assumed responsibility for the acquisition of rubber supplies and came to loggerheads over funding. Roosevelt resolved the dispute by dissolving both agencies.{{Sfn|Burns|1970|pp=339–42}} In 1943, Roosevelt established the [[Office of War Mobilization]] to oversee the home front; the agency was led by [[James F. Byrnes]], who came to be known as the "assistant president" due to his influence.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=575–76}}

[[File:Second Bill of Rights Speech.ogv|thumb|Roosevelt announced the plan for a [[Second Bill of Rights|bill of social and economic rights]] in the [[State of the Union address]] broadcast on January 11, 1944 (excerpt).]]

Roosevelt's 1944 [[State of the Union Address]] advocated that Americans should think of basic economic rights as a [[Second Bill of Rights]].{{sfn|Leuchtenburg|2015|pp=223–25}} He stated that all Americans should have the right to "adequate medical care", "a good education", "a decent home", and a "useful and remunerative job".<ref name="zeitzsbr"/> In the most ambitious domestic proposal of his third term, Roosevelt proposed the [[G.I. Bill]], which would create a massive benefits program for returning soldiers. Benefits included [[higher education|post-secondary education]], medical care, unemployment insurance, job counseling, and low-cost loans for homes and businesses. The G.I. Bill passed unanimously in both houses of Congress and was signed into law in June 1944. Of the fifteen million Americans who served in World War II, more than half benefitted from the educational opportunities provided for in the G.I. Bill.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=584–85}}

Towards the end of his presidency, Roosevelt supported the idea of forming a new liberal party with former liberal Republican presidential candidate [[Wendell Willkie]] (who himself put forward this proposal), believing that there should be two ideologically distinct parties in America; one liberal and one conservative.
<ref>[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=rGAvAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA24&dq=bull+moose+party+radical+liberalism&article_id=2826,5776168&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwif84zbzbSLAxU9X0EAHQ1fJykQ6AF6BAgLEAM#v=onepage&q=bull%20moose%20party%20radical%20liberalism&f=false ''Beaver County Times'' 28 Aug 1976, 'Once FDR and Wendell Willkie tried to realign U.S. politics' by Jim Bishop]</ref>

====Declining health====
Roosevelt, a [[Chain smoking|chain-smoker]] throughout his adult life,<ref name="nih">{{cite web|url=https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/magazine/issues/summer07/articles/summer07pg25.html|title=Medical Research Pays Off for All Americans|date=Summer 2007|access-date=July 25, 2014|work=NIH Medline Plus|publisher=National Institutes of Health}}</ref><ref name="smoker">{{cite news|first=Max|last=Hastings|date=January 19, 2009|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/presidents/franklin-d-roosevelt-the-man-who-conquered-fear-1417417.html|title=Franklin D Roosevelt: The man who conquered fear|access-date=July 25, 2014|work=The Independent}}</ref> had been in declining health since at least 1940. In March 1944, shortly after his 62nd birthday, he underwent testing at [[Bethesda Naval Hospital|Bethesda Hospital]] and was found to have [[hypertension]], [[atherosclerosis]], [[coronary artery disease]] causing [[angina pectoris]], and [[congestive heart failure]].{{Sfn|Burns|1970|p=448}}<ref>{{cite web|last=Lerner|first=Barron H.|url=http://hnn.us/articles/40225.html|title=How Much Confidence Should We Have in the Doctor's Account of FDR's Death?|work=History News Network|publisher=George Washington University|date=November 23, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Bruenn|first=Howard G.|title=Clinical notes on the illness & death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt|journal=Annals of Internal Medicine|date=April 1970|volume=72|issue=4|pages=579–91|doi=10.7326/0003-4819-72-4-579|pmid=4908628}}</ref>

Hospital physicians and two outside specialists ordered Roosevelt to rest. His personal physician, Admiral Ross McIntire, created a daily schedule that banned business guests for lunch and incorporated two hours of rest daily. During the 1944 re-election campaign, McIntire denied several times that Roosevelt's health was poor; on October 12, for example, he announced that "The President's health is perfectly OK. There are absolutely no organic difficulties at all."{{Sfn|Gunther|1950|pp=372–74}} Roosevelt realized that his declining health could eventually make it impossible for him to continue as president, and in 1945 he told a confidant that he might resign from the presidency following the end of the war.{{sfn|Dallek|2017|pp=618–19}}

====Election of 1944====
{{Main|1944 United States presidential election|1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection}}
[[File:ElectoralCollege1944.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|left|1944 electoral vote results]]

While some Democrats had opposed Roosevelt's nomination in 1940, the president faced little difficulty in securing his re-nomination at the [[1944 Democratic National Convention]]. Roosevelt made it clear before the convention that he was seeking another term, and on the lone presidential ballot of the convention, Roosevelt won the vast majority of delegates, although a minority of Southern Democrats voted for [[Harry F. Byrd]]. Party leaders prevailed upon Roosevelt to drop Vice President Wallace from the ticket, believing him to be an electoral liability and a poor potential successor in case of Roosevelt's death. Roosevelt preferred Byrnes as Wallace's replacement but was convinced to support Senator [[Harry S. Truman]] of Missouri, who had earned renown for his investigation of [[Truman Committee|war production inefficiency]] and was acceptable to the various factions of the party. On the second vice presidential ballot of the convention, Truman defeated Wallace to win the nomination.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=617–19}}

The Republicans nominated [[Thomas E. Dewey]], the governor of New York, who had a reputation as a liberal in his party. They accused the Roosevelt administration of domestic corruption and bureaucratic inefficiency, but Dewey's most effective gambit was to raise discreetly the age issue. He assailed the President as a "tired old man" with "tired old men" in his cabinet, pointedly suggesting that the President's lack of vigor had produced a less than vigorous economic recovery.<ref name = "FDR Campaigns"/> Roosevelt, as most observers could see from his weight loss and haggard appearance, was a tired man in 1944. But upon entering the campaign in earnest in late September 1944, Roosevelt displayed enough passion to allay most concerns and deflect Republican attacks. With the war still raging, he urged voters not to "change horses in mid-stream".<ref name = "FDR Campaigns"/> Labor unions, which had grown rapidly in the war, fully supported Roosevelt. Roosevelt and Truman won the [[1944 United States presidential election|1944 election]], defeating Dewey and his running mate [[John W. Bricker]] with 53.4% of the popular vote and 432 out of the 531 electoral votes.{{sfn|Jordan|2011|p=321}} The president campaigned in favor of a strong United Nations, so his victory symbolized support for the nation's future participation in the international community.{{Sfn|Burns|1970|pp=533, 562}}

====Final months and death<span class="anchor" id="Death"></span><!-- linked from redirect "Death of Franklin D. Roosevelt" -->====
{{multiple image
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| caption1    = Last photograph of Roosevelt, taken April 11, 1945, the day before his death
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| caption2    = Roosevelt's funeral procession in Washington, D.C., watched by 300,000 spectators, April 14, 1945
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[[File:Franklin Delano Roosevelt Gravesite August 21, 2012.jpg|thumb|Graves of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt in Hyde Park, New York]]

{{Further|The Dying President}}

When Roosevelt returned to the United States from the [[Yalta Conference]], everyone was shocked to see how old, thin and frail he looked. In his address to Congress he spoke while seated, an unprecedented concession to his physical incapacity.{{Sfn|Dallek|1995|p=520}} On March 29, 1945, Roosevelt departed for the [[Little White House]] in [[Warm Springs, Georgia]], to rest before his anticipated appearance at the [[United Nations Conference on International Organization|founding conference]] of the [[United Nations]].<ref name=dayb>{{cite web|title=Franklin D. Roosevelt Day by Day – April|url=http://fdrlibrary.wordpress.com/tag/elizabeth-shoumatoff/|work=In Roosevelt History|publisher=Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum Collections and Programs|access-date=May 14, 2012}}</ref>

In the afternoon of April 12, 1945, in [[Warm Springs, Georgia]], while sitting for [[Unfinished portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt|a portrait]] by [[Elizabeth Shoumatoff]], Roosevelt said: "I have a terrific headache." He then slumped forward in his chair, unconscious, and was carried into his bedroom. The president's attending cardiologist, [[Howard Bruenn]], diagnosed a massive [[intracerebral hemorrhage]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Presidential Stroke: United States Presidents and Cerebrovascular Disease|first1=Jeffrey M.|last1=Jones|first2=Joni L.|last2=Jones|journal=CNS Spectrums|volume=11|issue=9|date=September 2006|pages=674–78|doi=10.1017/S1092852900014760|pmid=16946692|s2cid=44889213}}</ref> At 3:35&nbsp;p.m., Roosevelt died at the age of 63.<ref>{{Cite web|title=President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies at age 63, April 12, 1945|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/this-day-in-politics-april-12-1945-221722|last=Andrew Glass|work=[[Politico]]|date=April 12, 2016 |access-date=May 21, 2020}}</ref>

Roosevelt's body was placed in a flag-draped coffin and loaded onto the [[Ferdinand Magellan (railcar)|''Ferdinand Magellan'' presidential train]] for the trip back to Washington.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Roosevelt Funeral Train |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?314427-1/roosevelt-funeral-train |access-date=February 7, 2023 |website=c-span.org}}</ref> Due to the U.S. still being in a state of war, a state funeral was deemed inappropriate and a smaller ceremony was opted for instead. Despite this, thousands flocked to the route to pay their respects.<ref>{{cite web |title=Franklin D. Roosevelt Funeral |url=https://www.whitehousehistory.org/franklin-d-roosevelt-funeral |website=White House Historical Association |access-date=January 12, 2025}}</ref>

Rather than [[lying in state]] at the [[United States Capitol]] as per tradition, Roosevelt's remains were placed in the [[East Room|White House East Room]] where, on April 14, a simple funeral service was held that was attended by his family, high government officials, and foreign ambassadors. Roosevelt was then transported by train from Washington to his birthplace at Hyde Park. On April 15 he was buried, per his wish, in the rose garden of his [[Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site|Springwood estate]].{{Sfn|Dallek|2017|p=620}}<ref>{{cite news|title=Nation Pays Final Tribute to Roosevelt As World Mourns; Hyde Park Rites Today|first=Frank|last=Kluckhohn|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 15, 1945|author-link=Frank Kluckhohn}}</ref>

His death was met with shock and grief across the world.<ref>{{cite video|year=1945|type=video|title=Allies Overrun Germany|url=https://archive.org/details/gov.archives.arc.39165|publisher=[[Universal Newsreel]]|access-date=February 21, 2012}}</ref> Germany surrendered during the 30-day mourning period, but Harry Truman (who had succeeded Roosevelt as president) ordered flags to remain at half-staff; he also dedicated [[Victory in Europe Day]] and its celebrations to Roosevelt's memory.<ref>{{cite book| last = McCullough| first = David| author-link = David McCullough| year = 1992| title = Truman| publisher = Simon & Schuster| isbn = 978-0-671-86920-5| pages = [https://archive.org/details/truman00mccu_0/page/345 345, 381]| title-link = Truman (book)}}</ref> World War II ended with the signed [[surrender of Japan]] in September.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg|2015|pp=243–52}}

Roosevelt's declining physical health had been kept secret from the public, just as his wheelchair was kept a secret from the public. Although he was allowed to work only four hours a day, the illusion of activity was kept up.<ref>See "Confront the Issue: FDR's Health" from FDR Library at http://www.fdrlibraryvirtualtour.org/graphics/07-38/7.5_FDRs_Health.pdf</ref> In the scholarly book ''The Dying President: Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1944–1945'' by Robert Ferrell, the extent to which the president and his top aides went to keep the public in the dark about decline is explored, as well as the political and diplomatic problems that arose both from the illness and the secrecy.<ref name="FerrellRoosevelt1998">{{cite book|last=Ferrell|first=Robert H.|author-link=Robert Hugh Ferrell|title=The Dying President: Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1944–1945|url=https://archive.org/details/dyingpresidentfr00ferr_0|url-access=registration|year=1998|publisher=University of Missouri Press|isbn=978-0-8262-1171-2|lccn= 97045797}}</ref> It argues that Roosevelt was too sick to have remained in office, and that his inability to work led to critical foreign-policy mistakes in 1944–1945, as well as a failure to prepare Vice President Harry S. Truman to take over. What little energy he had for presidential affairs he focused on building support for the new United Nations.<ref name="HPol1998">{{cite web |url= https://networks.h-net.org/node/9997/reviews/10450/dunn-ferrell-dying-president-franklin-d-roosevelt-1944-1945 |title=Dunn on Ferrell, 'The Dying President: Franklin D. Roosevelt 19441945' |last=Dunn |first=Dennis J. |date=April 1998 |website=H-Pol, H-Net Reviews |access-date=28 January 2019}}</ref>