Roosevelt, Franklin Delano

Origin

Franklin with his future wife Eleanor on Campobello Island (Canada) in 1904

Roosevelt is a pseudo-Englishized form of the surname “Rosenfeld” or its Dutch variant “van Rosenvelt”, which means “from the field of roses” ^[9] . The first Roosevelts in America were Klaus and his son Nicholas , from whom two Roosevelt lines came: the eldest son of Nicholas, Johannes , was the ancestor of the first ( Theodore Roosevelt belonged to her), and the youngest - Jacob (1692-1776) - the ancestor of the second. Isaac (1726-1796), the son of Jacob, founded a sugar factory in New York, which laid the foundation for the welfare of the family ^[10] . After the revolution, he was elected to the New York State Senate and voted to ratify the constitution. His son was James Roosevelt (1760-1847), engaged in the production of sugar and horse breeding. His son Isaac Roosevelt (1790-1863) was engaged in botany and horse breeding . In 1828, the father of the future president, James Roosevelt , was born. One of the oldest families in New York State , the Roosevelts excelled in other areas besides politics. The ancestor of the Delano family in America in 1621 was Philippe de la Nua, the first Huguenot in the New World , whose surname was anglicized in Delano.

early years

The future president was born in the family of James Roosevelt and his second wife Sarah Delano. Roosevelt's father owned the Hyde Park estate on the Hudson River and solid blocks of shares in a number of coal and transport companies. Roosevelt's mother, Sarah Delano, also belonged to the local aristocracy . As a child, Roosevelt traveled to Europe every summer with his parents (therefore, he was fluent in foreign languages) and relaxed on the New England sea ​​coast or on the Canadian island of Campobello (near East Port, Maine ), where he was fond of sailing.

Until the age of 14, Roosevelt received a home education. In 1896-1899 he studied at the Groton School , one of the best schools in the country, in the state of Massachusetts . In 1900-1904 he continued his education at Harvard University , where he received a bachelor's degree. In 1905-1907 he attended law school at Columbia University and received the right to practice law, which he began at a reputable law firm on Wall Street .

Roosevelt was consecrated to the Freemasons on October 10, 1911 in the box "Holland" number 8 in New York . He reached the 32nd degree of the Scottish Charter and was a representative of the Grand Lodge of Georgia at the Grand Lodge of New York ^[11] .

Marriage and family life

In 1905 he married his sixth cousin Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962). Her father was the younger brother of President Theodore Roosevelt , who was Franklin's idol. The Roosevelt couple had six children, one of whom died in infancy. Eleanor Roosevelt played a significant role in her husband’s political career, especially after 1921, when he became ill and no longer parted with a wheelchair.

Political career

In 1910, Roosevelt accepted a proposal from the US Democratic Party in his native administrative district to run as a senator in the New York State legislature and won. In the 1912 presidential campaign , he actively supported Democrat Thomas Woodrow Wilson . Roosevelt was offered the post of assistant naval minister in the administration of President Wilson. Without finalizing the third term in the state legislature, Roosevelt moved to Washington . As an assistant to the Minister of the Sea (1913-1921), he advocated strengthening the fleet, strengthening the US defense capability, strong presidential power and an active foreign policy.

In 1914, he attempted to obtain a Senatorial seat in the US Congress , but failed. In 1920, under the banner of the United States joining the League of Nations, Roosevelt ran for the Democratic Party as US Vice President, paired with presidential candidate James Cox . The defeat of the Democratic Party amid growing isolationist sentiments and a serious illness temporarily removed Roosevelt from active political activity. But in 1928, he was elected governor of the economically and politically influential New York State, which paved the way for the White House .

After spending two terms as governor, Roosevelt gained very valuable experience, useful to him during the presidency. In 1931 , at the time of the aggravation of the economic crisis, he created a Temporary Emergency Administration in the state to assist the families of the unemployed. The tradition of communicating with voters through the radio (the famous " chats by the fireplace ") also dates back to the days of Roosevelt's governorship.

In 1932 , during the election race and governorship of F. Roosevelt, the United States hosted the III Winter Olympic Games, which were held in Lake Placid . At the same time, he himself opened these games .

Presidency

In the 1932 presidential campaign , Roosevelt won an impressive victory over Herbert Hoover , who failed to lead the country out of the economic crisis of 1929-1933 (the Great Depression ). During the election campaign, Roosevelt outlined the basic ideas of socio-economic transformation, which received the name “ New Deal ” on the recommendation of his advisers (the “ brain trust ”).

In the first hundred days of his presidency (which began in March 1933), Roosevelt carried out a number of important reforms: the banking system was restored, in May he signed the law on the creation of the Federal Emergency Administration to help the hungry and unemployed, the Law on the Refinancing of Farm Debt, and the Law on restoration of agriculture, which provided for state control over the volume of agricultural production. Roosevelt considered the Industrial Restoration Act to be the most promising, which provided for a range of government measures to regulate industry.

“Undoubtedly, of all the captains of the modern capitalist world, Roosevelt is the strongest figure,” Stalin spoke of him in the summer of 1934, pointing to his “initiative, courage, determination” ^[12] .

In 1935, important reforms were carried out in the field of labor ( Wagner's law), social security, taxation, and banking.

A convincing victory in the 1936 elections allowed Roosevelt to continue reforms, and in 1937-1938 to improve the situation in the areas of civil engineering, wages and labor law. The laws adopted by Congress on the initiative of the president were a bold experiment of state regulation with the aim of changing the distribution mechanism of the economy and social protection of the population.

Roosevelt’s pre-war foreign policy was distinguished, on the one hand, by flexibility and realism, and, on the other, by contradictoriness and extreme caution. One of the foreign policy initiatives in the first months after Roosevelt came to power was the diplomatic recognition of the USSR in November 1933. In relations with the countries of Latin America , a “good neighbor” policy was proclaimed, which contributed to the creation of an inter-American collective security system.

However, the fear for the fate of domestic political reforms and the reluctance to bind the United States with any obligations in a difficult international situation contributed to the fact that Roosevelt’s foreign policy was neutral . As a result of non-interference in the Italo-Ethiopian conflict ( 1935 ) and the Spanish civil war, legitimate governments were prevented from purchasing American weapons and ammunition in the fight against the well-armed Berlin-Rome axis powers. Only in November 1939 , when the war in Europe had already begun, Roosevelt succeeded in canceling the article on the arms embargo and began to pursue a policy of helping the victims of aggression.

On May 16, 1940, after Hitler’s attack on France, Roosevelt submitted to Congress for approval a plan for creating the world's largest military-industrial complex ^[13] .

Hitler’s Blitzkrieg in Europe and Roosevelt’s third consecutive victory in the 1940 election intensified American aid to Britain . March 11, 1941, the president signed the " Law on Further Strengthening the United States' Defense Ability and Promoting Other Goals " ^[13] . The Lend-Lease Act on November 7, 1941 extended to the USSR, which was granted interest-free loans worth $ 1 billion ^[13] .

Roosevelt sought to limit arms supplies as long as possible and, if possible, avoid US large-scale participation in the European war. At the same time, under the slogan of "active defense" since the fall of 1941, an "undeclared war" was waged in the Atlantic with Germany. Target fire was allowed on German and Italian ships entering the US security zone, neutrality articles were prohibited, which prohibited the arming of merchant ships and the entry of American ships into combat zones.

The attack on December 7, 1941 of Japanese aircraft at the American naval base Pearl Harbor in the Pacific Ocean came as a surprise to Roosevelt, who in the last months of 1941 tried to delay the war with Japan through diplomatic negotiations. The next day, the United States and Great Britain declared war on Japan, and on December 11 the war on the United States was declared by Germany and Italy . Roosevelt, in accordance with the constitution , assumed all the duties of the commander in chief in wartime. He made a lot of efforts to strengthen the anti-Hitler coalition , attaching great importance to the creation of the United Nations .

On January 1, 1942, the United Nations Declaration was signed in Washington , which enshrined this union in international law. At the same time, Roosevelt for a long time held a wait-and-see attitude on the question of opening a second front . But after the impressive victories of the Red Army near Stalingrad and the Kursk Bulge, he became increasingly convinced that the USSR was a decisive factor in the defeat of the “axis” powers in Europe and that active cooperation with him in the post-war world was necessary. At the Tehran Conference of the "Big Three" (1943), Roosevelt did not support Churchill , who avoided solving concrete questions about the opening of a second front.

Showing particular attention to the issues of the post-war peace settlement, Roosevelt for the first time at the Quebec Conference (1943) outlined his project of creating an international organization and responsibility of the USA, Great Britain, USSR and China ( “four policemen” ) for preserving peace. Discussion of this topic was continued at the Moscow Conference, the Tehran Conference, and at the conference at Dumbarton Oaks Mansion (Washington). In 1944, Roosevelt took part in the second Quebec conference , which discussed the future of post-war Germany.

Re-elected in 1944 for a fourth term, Roosevelt made a significant contribution to the historical decisions of the Yalta Conference (1945). His position was dictated by the current military-strategic and political situation in connection with the successful advancement of Soviet troops in Eastern Europe, the desire to agree on the USSR entering the war with Japan, and the hope of continuing post-war US-Soviet cooperation.

Upon returning from Yalta , despite fatigue and malaise, he continued to engage in public affairs and prepared for the opening of the United Nations Conference in San Francisco on April 25, as well as the opening of the Potsdam Conference on July 17.

However, on April 12, 1945, the president died of a brain hemorrhage . Buried in Hyde Park.

• Roosevelt was noted among people trying to resurrect the image of the famous literary hero , invented by Arthur Conan Doyle, writing the essay "Baker Street folio: five notes on Sherlock Holmes from Franklin Delano Roosevelt" (1945) ^[14] .
• In 1960, the oldest in Yalta was named in honor of Franklin Roosevelt, before that - Boulevard, once the main thoroughfare of the city. In 2017, a monument to Roosevelt ^{[15] [16]} was erected on it.
• In Yalta, near the Livadia Palace in February 2015, a monument was erected dedicated to the meeting of leaders of the states of the anti-Hitler coalition - Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill ^[17] . There is a similar monument in Sochi .

No one will deny that the influence of the economic oligarchy on all areas of our public life is very great. This influence, however, should not be overestimated. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected president despite the desperate resistance of these very powerful groups and was re-elected three times; and this happened at a time when it was necessary to make decisions of great importance.

- Albert Einstein , 1948 ^[18]

was a list of rights proposed by Franklin Roosevelt in his annual address to Congress on the Situation of the Country ^[19] on January 11, 1944. The main points of the Bill Franklin Roosevelt voiced the nation in his speech on the radio, the performance was also recorded on film ^[20] . Roosevelt argued that the “political rights” guaranteed by the Constitution and the first “Bill of Rights” were “not enough to assure us of equality in the pursuit of happiness.” Roosevelt’s remedy was to declare an “economic bill of rights” that would guarantee:

• The right to useful and paid work in industry, commerce, agriculture, in the mines of the Nation;
• The right to decent wages, providing good nutrition, clothing, leisure;
• The right of each farmer to grow and sell his crops, which will ensure a decent life for his family;
• The right to protect every entrepreneur, whether large or small business, from unfair competition and the dominance of monopolies at home or abroad;
• The right of every family to decent housing;
• The right to adequate medical care; conditions must be created to maintain human health;
• The right to adequate economic protection in old age, in case of illness, accident, unemployment;
• The right to a good education.

The bill was not passed by Congress, and a year later Franklin Roosevelt died.

• Jack Young (voiced by Art Gilmore) (Yankee Doodle Dandy 1942 ; Action in the North Atlantic, 1943 ; This is the Army, 1943; Mission to Moscow / “Mission to Moscow”, 1943; “Up in Arms”, 1944 (USA)
• Godfrey Thirl (The Beginning or the End (USA, 1947)
• Nikolai Cherkasov (" Battle of Stalingrad ", 1949)
• Oleg Frelikh (The Fall of Berlin , 1949)
• Stanislav Yaskevich ( Liberation , 1970-1972; Soldiers of Freedom , 1977)
• Innokenty Smoktunovsky (“ Choice of the Goal ”, 1974)
• Tehran-43 , 1980
• Robert Rimbau ( Yalta (France, 1984 )
• John Voight ( Pearl Harbor , 2001)
• Kenneth Branagh ( Warm Springs , 2005)
• Bill Murray ( Hyde Park on the Hudson , 2012)

• Roy Jenkins . Roosevelt = Franklin Delanj Roosevelt: The American Presidents. - Foreigner , 2013 .-- 304 p. - ISBN 978-5-389-05752-4 .
• Nadezhdin N. Ya. Franklin Delano Roosevelt: “America Updated”: Biographical Stories. Moscow: Major, Osipenko, 2011.192 p., Series “Informal Biographies”, 2000 copies, ISBN 978-5-98551-148-2
• Utkin A.I. Roosevelt. - M .: The Cultural Revolution. 2012.
• Chakovsky A. B. Unfinished portrait. M., 1984
• Yakovlev N.N. Franklin D. Roosevelt - a man and a politician. 5th ed. Moscow: Ripol-classic, 2003.592 s. A series of "Laws of Power", 5000 copies, ISBN 5-7905-1764-1 .

• Shvanits V.G. America and the Third Reich ( America and the Third Reich , Webversion 5-2010 )
• Roosevelt, Franklin Delano at the Internet Movie Database
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt: A Resource Guide from the Library of Congress
• Full audio of over 40 Roosevelt speeches (including a full set of fireside chats) via the Miller Center of Public Affairs (UVa)