Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) was the 32nd President of the United States, serving from March 4, 1933, to April 12, 1945. A Democrat, he led the nation through the Great Depression and most of World War II.
Roosevelt reshaped the federal government's role in the economy through the New Deal, creating programs and institutions such as Social Security, the FDIC, and large-scale public works to relieve unemployment and stabilize finance.
He also guided the United States through World War II, overseeing mobilization, Lend-Lease, and Allied cooperation; his four-term presidency expanded the scope and influence of the executive branch and left a lasting global and domestic legacy, though some initiatives, like the 1937 court-packing plan, provoked controversy.
Implemented New Deal reforms including the Social Security Act; Stabilized banking and created the FDIC and SEC; Established large public works programs (WPA, CCC, TVA); Backed Lend-Lease and led U.S. mobilization in World War II; Elected to four terms, reshaping presidential precedent; Proposed 1937 Supreme Court reorganization (court-packing)
Key highlights and dated events associated with this presidency.
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President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Banking Act of 1935, reorganizing the structure and powers of the Federal Reserve and formalizing the Federal Open Market Committee.
The Social Security Act created a foundational federal social insurance program.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act (the Wagner Act), creating the National Labor Relations Board and strengthening workers' rights to organize and bargain collectively.
On May 27, 1935, the Supreme Court unanimously held in Schechter Poultry Co. v. United States that key provisions of the National Industrial Recovery Act were unconstitutional.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order establishing the Rural Electrification Administration to provide federal loans for rural electrification projects.
On May 6, 1935, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 7034 creating the Works Progress Administration to provide federally funded public-works jobs for the unemployed.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order creating the Resettlement Administration to relocate struggling rural and urban families and to promote planned communities and soil-conservation projects.
On April 30, 1935, Roosevelt issued an executive order creating the Resettlement Administration to relocate struggling rural families and promote land-use rehabilitation.
Roosevelt issued an executive order establishing the Resettlement Administration to assist poor rural and urban families through relocation, subsistence homesteads, and community planning.
On April 14, 1935 a massive dust storm known as 'Black Sunday' swept across the Southern Plains, darkening skies and displacing thousands of people and livestock across Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and surrounding states.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act on April 8, 1935, providing federal relief funds and authorizing the creation of the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, authorizing approximately $4.88 billion for federal relief and public works to combat mass unemployment.