Sunday, October 14, 2012

President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

 Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms Speech
On display through July 31, 2019 at the
National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia



32nd President of the United States 
March 4, 1933 – April 12, 1945

FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT was born on January 30, 1882 on his family’s estate Hyde Park, in Dutchess County, New York. His father, James was descended from Nicholas Roosevelt, whose father had emigrated from Holland in the 1640's. One of Nicholas' two sons, Johannes, was an ancestor of President Theodore Roosevelt. The other son, Jacobus, was James' great-great-grandfather. James had graduated from Union College and Harvard Law School, married, had a son, and took over his family's extensive holdings in coal and transportation. In 1880, four years after the death of his first wife, James met and married Sara Delano who was a sixth cousin and at 26 years, she was half her husband’s age. She brought to the marriage a fortune that was a great deal larger than that of James. The Delano family had prospered in trading with China and her father was one of James’ business associates. 


Students and Teachers of US History this is a video of Stanley and Christopher Klos presenting America's Four United Republics Curriculum at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. The December 2015 video was an impromptu capture by a member of the audience of Penn students, professors and guests that numbered about 200.
Young Roosevelt spent his early years in a pleasant and sociable home with loving parents and congenial rather aristocratic companions at Hyde Park. His half-brother was an adult when he was born and his childhood was secure and tranquil. He was often taken on summers in Europe and spent much time at his father’s vacation home on Campobello Island in New Brunswick, Canada. Young Roosevelt developed a love for natural history and sailing and was an expert swimmer. His mother supervised his schooling with governesses and private tutors until he was 14 and he was a voracious reader. In 1896, his parents sent him to Groton School in Massachusetts, where most students were of the privileged classes. His education there instilled him with a belief that children of the upper classes had a duty to society.


 For More Information go to 
America's Four United Republics


Roosevelt entered Harvard in 1899, where he was an above average student and devoted a great deal of his time to extracurricular activities. He completed his course work for his B.A. in only three years and returned for the fourth year as editor of the Crimson, the college newspaper. He joined a young Republican club in 1900 in enthusiasm for Theodore Roosevelt, the vice-presidential candidate and his distant cousin. While at Harvard, he fell in love with Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, his fifth cousin once removed. She had had a difficult childhood, being orphaned at the age of ten. She lived with her maternal grandmother and felt rejected and ill at ease in society, thinking herself ugly. When Roosevelt, a handsome Harvard man two years her senior, paid her attention, she was flattered. In 1904, Roosevelt cast his first vote in a presidential election for his cousin, who was running for reelection after having become president with the assassination of President McKinley in 1901.

Roosevelt entered Columbia University Law School in New York City in 1904. He passed the New York bar examination and began clerking for a Wall Street law firm, Carter, Ledyard and Milburn, foregoing his degree from Columbia. On March 17, 1905, President Roosevelt gave his niece Anna Eleanor away in marriage to Franklin D. Roosevelt. The marriage was successful on the surface, within the next eleven years they produced six children (one of which died in infancy): Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (1906 – 1975); James Roosevelt (1907 – 1991); Elliott Roosevelt (1910 – 1990); Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jr. (1914 – 1988) and John Aspinwall Roosevelt (1916 – 1981). 

However, Sara Roosevelt’s possessive and domineering attitude toward her son caused much strife early in their marriage. In addition, Eleanor’s later discovery of Franklin’s affair with her social secretary, Lucy Mercer, staggered her. Despite these problems, Eleanor remained a supportive spouse. 

Roosevelt found work at the law firm tedious, much of the firm’s practice was in corporate law and he felt irritated by the routine. In 1910, at the age of 28, he was approached by the Democratic leaders to run for the New York State Senate. They felt he would succeed because of his name, local prominence and his wealth. Anxious to escape the law practice, he accepted, and campaigned hard, stressing his deep personal interest in conservation and his strong support of honest and efficient government. He showed skill at making himself agreeable to voters, he was open and adaptable and he listened to the advice he was given by political veterans. He won impressively and made an immediate impact in the state legislature. He soon became a dedicated social and economic reformer and was reelected in 1912, in spite of a case of typhoid fever that kept him from campaigning. 

He entered national politics by taking part in Woodrow Wilson’s campaign for the Democratic nomination for president. After Wilson was elected, he appointed Roosevelt Assistant Secretary of the United States Navy. In 1913, he resigned his state senate seat and moved to Washington to take the position that his cousin, Theodore, had once held. His seven years of service gave him administrative experience and he made many excellent contacts in Washington and in the Democratic party. He remained in his post until August 1920, when he resigned to campaign as the Democratic candidate for vice president. When Harding and Coolidge decisively beat the Democrats in November, he returned to private life. He had campaigned vigorously and made friends among Democratic leaders across the country. He was a widely recognized public figure, and being under the age of 40, he felt he could afford to wait.

Louis, Eilleen, Christopher, Nicholas, Alexandra, Mariesha, Zachary, and Kathleen Klos at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial in Washington DC.

He formed a law firm in New York City and became vice president of Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland, a surety bonding company. At Fidelity, he was in charge of the New York office of one of the most important companies handling bonds for public officials. His wide circle of contacts continued to expand. However, in August 1921, after an unfortunate delay, he was diagnosed with poliomyelitis. Completely unable to walk and in great pain, Roosevelt seemed to have reached the end of his political career. His domineering mother wanted him to return to Hyde Park for a peaceful and quite life. Under the care of his wife and his friend and campaign manager, Louis McHenry Howe, Roosevelt fought back. Although never able to walk again without leg braces and canes, he became president of the American Construction Council in 1924, while Howe remained close, planning for his return to public life.

For the rest of his life, Roosevelt refused to accept that he was permanently paralyzed. He tried a wide range of therapies, including hydrotherapy, and, in 1926, he purchased a resort at Warm Springs, Georgia, where he founded a hydrotherapy center for the treatment of polio patients, one which still operates as the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation. After he became President, he helped to found the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (now known as the March of Dimes)




At the time, Roosevelt was able to convince many people that he was getting better, which he believed was essential if he wanted to run for public office again. Fitting his hips and legs with iron braces, he laboriously taught himself to walk a short distance by swiveling his torso while supporting himself with a cane. In private, he used a wheelchair, but he was careful never to be seen in it in public. Great care was also taken to prevent his being portrayed by the press in a way which would highlight his disability. Only two photographs are known to exist of FDR which were taken while he was in his wheelchair; only four seconds of film exist of the "walk" he achieved after his illness. He usually appeared in public standing upright, supported on one side by an aide or one of his sons. FDR used a car with specially designed hand controls, providing him further mobility. 

Roosevelt made an inspiring nominating speech for Alfred E. Smith at the 1924 Democratic National Convention in Madison Square Garden. In 1928 at Smith’s urging and against the advice of Eleanor and Howe, Roosevelt agreed to run for governor of New York. Roosevelt won by a narrow margin in an otherwise Republican election year. During his two terms, he battled a Republican legislature, naming skilled people to important positions. As a reform governor, he established a number of new social programs, and was advised by Frances Perkins and Harry Hopkins. 

In May 1930, as he began his run for a second term maintaining "that progressive government by its very terms, must be a living and growing thing, that the battle for it is never ending and that if we let up for one single moment or one single year, not merely do we stand still but we fall back in the march of civilization." 

During the campaign a scandal broke because Roosevelt was directly involved in making a court appointment of a Tammany Hall man who was alleged to have paid $30,000 for the position. His Republican opponent, however, could not press the issue because Roosevelt had set up a judicial investigation into the corrupt sale of offices. He was elected to a second term by a margin of fourteen percent.

In 1932 Roosevelt was a leading contender for the Democratic presidential candidacy and he took the nomination on the fourth ballot. In November, Roosevelt captured 22,821,857 votes to incumbent President Hoover’s 15,761,841 and 472 Electoral College votes to 59.


February 1, 1934 White House photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt waving a check that represents the proceeds from the first Birthday Ball at the White House.

When Roosevelt was inaugurated on March 4, 1933, 25% of the U.S. workforce was unemployed. Agriculture prices and Industrial production were half of 1929’s record numbers. Two million citizens were homeless and 32 states, as well as the District of Columbia, had closed their banks. The New York Federal Reserve Bank was unable to open on the March 5th, due to a run on the banks by panicky customers in previous days. Roosevelt, in his inaugural address, blamed the economic crisis on bankers and financiers, the quest for higher yields, and the hedonistic basis of capitalism.  Against this banking crisis Roosevelt, believing the citizen panic had greatly exasperated the financial challenges, proclaimed: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

The very next day he declared a "bank holiday" and called for a special session of Congress to start March 9, at which Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act. This was his first proposed step to recovery. To give Americans confidence in the banks, Roosevelt signed championed the Glass–Steagall Act that created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).




Roosevelt’s government relief strategy, with a super Democratic majority in Congress, was fruitful in his first 100 days as President.  Roosevelt relied on Senators George Norris, Robert F. Wagner, and Hugo Black, as well as his Brain Trust of academic advisers to propose his programs to Congressional Committees. Together, they sent Congress a record number of bills, all of which passed easily.     Bills included the continuation of Hoover's major relief program for the unemployed under its new name: Federal Emergency Relief Administration. The most popular of all New Deal agencies – and Roosevelt's favorite – was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which hired 250,000 unemployed young men to work on rural local projects.  His mobility hampered by polio, he reached millions by radio in his “fireside chats” while Eleanor tirelessly toured the country.




Also in his first year as President, Prohibition was repealed. President Roosevelt signed an official proclamation, accepting certification from Acting Secretary of State Phillips that thirty-six States had ratified the repealing amendment, he improved the occasion to address a plea to the American people to employ their regained liberty first of all for national manliness.  Roosevelt asked personally that saloons be barred from the country.

"I ask especially, ask that no State shall, by law or otherwise, authorize the return of the saloon, either in its old form or in some modern guise."

He enjoined all citizens to cooperate with the government in its endeavor to restore a greater respect for law and order, especially by confining their purchases of liquor to duly licensed agencies. This practice, which he personally requested every individual and every family in the nation to follow, would result, he said, in a better product for consumption, in addition to the "break-up and eventual destruction of the notoriously evil illicit liquor traffic" and in tax benefits to the government.

The President thus announced the policy of his administration -- to see that the social and political evils of the preprohibition era shall not be revived or permitted again to exist. Failure of citizens to use their new freedom in helping to advance this policy, he said, would be "a living reproach to us all."
He expressed faith, too, in the "good sense of the American people" in preventing excessive personal use of relegalized liquor. "The objective we seek through a national policy," he said, "is the education of every citizen toward a greater temperance throughout the nation."

As a means of enforcing his policy, the President has the Federal Alcohol Control Administration ready to take control of the liquor traffic and regulate it at the source of supply.


Franklin D. Roosevelt Fireside Chat Microphone

In 1936 he was re-elected by a top-heavy margin. Feeling he was armed with a popular mandate, he sought legislation to enlarge the Supreme Court, which had been invalidating key New Deal measures. Roosevelt lost the Supreme Court battle, but a revolution in constitutional law took place. Thereafter the Government could legally regulate the economy.  During this term, in an extraordinary correspondence between FDR and his ambassador to Venezuela he writes just before the outbreak of World War II. "I wish you could get me information about that area of Venezuela which lies on high land north and south of the Orinoco River," Roosevelt writes Gonzalez on 3 June 1938. 

I am told that a large part of this plateau land...is not only little explored but is, as far as known, of great richness and capable of successful colonization by the white races.

Roosevelt hopes the Venezuelan government will study:

 the whole subject of immigration with the idea of developing a virile, democracy loving white population over a period of four or five generations. This means, of course, selective immigration....In the long run a selective process among different nationalities would result, over a period of a number of generations, in a mixed race just as such a large proportion of our own population is.

Roosevelt especially hoped to attract refugees from European fascism. The "best type of people" from Spain, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria--even those from "certain...crowded...areas of the United States” -- could start a "fairly constant stream of emigrants to the unoccupied parts of the world." But he did not want them clustering into ethnic ghettos. 


Venezuela does not want a German colony in one place or an Italian colony in another place or a Spanish colony in a third place or Jewish colony in a fourth place. The incoming people should be thoroughly mixed up with each other as fast as they arrive.

Roosevelt wants Gonzalez to broach this subject with the utmost discretion.

Doubtless there are some men in the Venezuelan government who would talk with you somewhat in confidence about this subject. You should, of course, leave me out of it altogether...In any event, you might think this over and put out some feelers.


In another letter, a year later Roosevelt writes a Philadelphia friend about the chaos that is about to consume the world before the year is out. 

March 25, 1939
Dear Gertrude,
Many thanks for the note.  Never in my life have I seen things moving in the world with more cross currents or with greater velocity.  Up to last summer I was willing to make mental bets that such a thing would happen and such and such a thing would not happen.  Today, however  I have stopped being a mental bookmaker because so many horses are scratched and so many other horses become added starters each twenty-four hours that we are not even certain that the trainers, jockeys and spectators may not end up in a "free-for-all" fight in which the grandstand will be burned down and most of the spectators, horses, trainers and jockeys go to the hospital of the cemetery.
What a day we live in!



 Roosevelt had pledged the United States to the "good neighbor" policy, transforming the Monroe Doctrine from a unilateral American manifesto into arrangements for mutual action against aggressors. He also sought through neutrality legislation to keep the United States out of the war in Europe, yet at the same time to strengthen nations threatened or attacked. When France fell and England came under siege in 1940, he responded by sending the British 50 destroyers in exchange for military bases, followed by massive “Lend-Lease” aid. .

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Roosevelt directed organization of the Nation's manpower and resources for global war.



"Day of Infamy" Speech DRAFT : Joint Address to Congress Leading to a Declaration of War Against Japan - National Archives 





Yesterday, December 7th, 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.

The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.

Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.

It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time, the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

Yesterday, the Japanese government also launched an attack against Malaya.

Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.

Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam.

Last night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.

Last night, the Japanese attacked Wake Island.

And this morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island.

Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.

As commander in chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us.

No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.

With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph -- so help us God.

I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7th, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire.



Germany followed Japan, in a much more gentlemanly fashion, and  declared War on the United States, four days later :



Chancellor Adolf Hitler during his speech before the Reichstag to declare war on the United States
Nazi Propaganda Photo Caption: The damning speech by the leader over Roosevelt. On Thursday afternoon, the leaders held the large and eagerly awaited speech to the feverish conjured up by the warmonger Roosevelt, War in the Pacific before the men of the German Reichstag . On the government benches (from right to left) you can see the leaders , Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop at his side Empire , Grand Admiral Reader , Field Marshal von Brauchitsch , Keitel and the Reich Minister Dr. Frick and Goebbels . In the second row (from right ): The Minister Count Schwerin - Krosigk , radio , Darré , Rust, Kerl , Dr. Frank , Dr. Dorpmüller , Dr. Seyss -Inquart and Dr. Todt. Behind it (from right) : Minister Rosenberg and the Minister of State Dr. Meissner and Dr. Popitz.

All persons shown :
  • Hitler, Adolf : Chancellor , Germany
  • Ribbentrop , Joachim von : Foreign Minister, Nazi , Germany
  • Frick, Wilhelm Dr. NSDAP , Member of Cologne , Minister of the Interior , 1924 Beer Hall Putsch trial before the People's Court in Munich , executed in 1946 , Germany (PND 119 055 201 )
  • Goebbels , Joseph Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda , Gauleiter of Berlin, Germany
  • Schwerin von Krosigk Lutz Graf: Minister of Finance , Germany
  • Rosenberg, Alfred : Foreign Political Office ideologue , Minister territories , Germany
  • Göring, Hermann : Reichsmarschall , Commander of the Air Force , Prime Minister of Prussia, Germany


German Declaration of War with the United States :

 December 11, 1941

(Including the circumstances of the delivery of the note as released to the press by the Department of State, December 11, 1941.)

The German Charge d'Affaires, Dr. Hans Thomsen, and the First Secretary of the German Embassy, Mr. von Strempel, called at the State Department at 8:00 A.M. on December 11, 1941. The Secretary, otherwise engaged, directed that they be received by the Chief of the European Division of the State Department, Mr. Ray Atherton. Mr. Atherton received the German representatives at 9:30 A.M.

The German representatives handed to Mr. Atherton a copy of a note that is being delivered this morning, December 11, to the American Charge d'Affaires in Berlin. Dr. Thomsen said that Germany considers herself in a state of war with the United States. He asked that the appropriate measures be taken for the departure of himself, the members of the German Embassy, and his staff in this country. He reminded Mr. Atherton that the German Government had previously expressed its willingness to grant the same treatment to American press correspondents in Germany as that accorded the American official staff on a reciprocal basis and added that he assumed that the departure of other American citizens from Germany would be permitted on the same basis of German citizens desiring to leave this country. He referred to the exchange of civilians that had been arranged at the time Great Britain and Germany broke off diplomatic relations.

The German Charge d'Affaires then stated that the Swiss Government would take over German interests in this country and that Dr. Bruggmann had already received appropriate instructions from his Government.

He then handed Mr. Atherton a note from the German Government. Mr. Atherton stated that in accepting this note from the German Charge d'Affaires he was merely formalizing the realization that the Government and people of this country had faced since the outbreak of the war in 1939 of the threat and purposes of the German Government and the Nazi regime toward this hemisphere and our free American civilization.

Mr. Atherton then said that this Government would arrange for the delivery of Dr. Thomsen's passports and that he assumed that we would very shortly be in communication with the Swiss Minister. He added that Dr. Thomsen must realize, however, that the physical difficulties of the situation would demand a certain amount of time in working out this reciprocal arrangement for the departure of the missions of the two countries. The German representatives then took their leave.

The text of the note which the German representatives handed to Mr. Ray Atherton, Chief of the European Division of the State Department, at 9:30 A.M., December 11, the original of which had been delivered the morning of December 11 to the American Charge d'Affaires in Berlin, follows:


MR. CHARGE D'AFFAIRES:

The Government of the United States having violated in the most flagrant manner and in ever increasing measure all rules of neutrality in favor of the adversaries of Germany and having continually been guilty of the most severe provocations toward Germany ever since the outbreak of the European war, provoked by the British declaration of war against Germany on September 3, 1939, has finally resorted to open military acts of aggression.

On September 11, 1941, the President of the United States publicly declared that he had ordered the American Navy and Air Force to shoot on sight at any German war vessel. In his speech of October 27, 1941, he once more expressly affirmed that this order was in force. Acting under this order, vessels of the American Navy, since early September 1941, have systematically attacked German naval forces. Thus, American destroyers, as for instance the Greer, the Kearney and the Reuben James, have opened fire on German sub-marines according to plan. The Secretary of the American Navy, Mr. Knox, himself confirmed that-American destroyers attacked German submarines.

Furthermore, the naval forces of the United States, under order of their Government and contrary to international law have treated and seized German merchant vessels on the high seas as enemy ships.

The German Government therefore establishes the following facts:

Although Germany on her part has strictly adhered to the rules of international law in her relations with the United States during every period of the present war, the Government of the United States from initial violations of neutrality has finally proceeded to open acts of war against Germany. The Government of the United States has thereby virtually created a state of war.

The German Government, consequently, discontinues diplomatic relations with the United States of America and declares that under these circumstances brought about by President Roosevelt Germany too, as from today, considers herself as being in a state of war with the United States of America.

Accept, Mr. Charge d'Affaires, the expression of my high consideration.

December 11, 1941.


RIBBENTROP.




US Declaration of War against Germany
December 11, 1941
The President's Message

To the Congress of the United States:
On the morning of Dec. 11 the Government of Germany, pursuing its course of world conquest, declared war against the United States. The long-known and the long-expected has thus taken place. The forces endeavoring to enslave the entire world now are moving toward this hemisphere. Never before has there been a greater challenge to life, liberty and civilization. Delay invites great danger. Rapid and united effort by all of the peoples of the world who are determined to remain free will insure a world victory of the forces of justice and of righteousness over the forces of savagery and of barbarism. Italy also has declared war against the United States.
I therefore request the Congress to recognize a state of war between the United States and Germany, and between the United States and Italy.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
The War Resolution
Declaring that a state of war exists between the Government of Germany and the government and the people of the United States and making provision to prosecute the same.
Whereas the Government of Germany has formally declared war against the government and the people of the United States of America:


Therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that the state of war between the United States and the Government of Germany which has thus been thrust upon the United States is hereby formally declared; and the President is hereby authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the government to carry on war against the Government of Germany; and to bring the conflict to a successful termination, all of the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States

Roosevelt, with anti-war sentiment gone, mobilized of the U.S. economy to support the Allied war effort. As an active military leader, Roosevelt implemented an overall war strategy on two fronts that ended in the defeat of the Axis Powers and the development of the world's first atom bomb. In 1942 Roosevelt ordered the internment of 100,000 Japanese American civilians. Unemployment dropped to 2%, relief programs largely ended, and the industrial economy grew rapidly to new heights as millions of people moved to new jobs in war centers, and 16 million men and 300,000 women were drafted or volunteered for military service.that the future peace of the world would depend upon relations between the United States and Russia, he devoted much thought to the planning of a United Nations, in which, he hoped, international difficulties could be settled.  

At the Tehran Conference,  Roosevelt,  Churchill, and Stalin met for five days from November 28 to December 1, 1943.  According to the State Department:

During the Conference, the three leaders coordinated their military strategy against Germany and Japan and made a number of important decisions concerning the post World War II era. The most notable achievements of the Conference focused on the next phases of the war against the Axis powers in Europe and Asia. Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin engaged in discussions concerning the terms under which the British and Americans finally committed to launching Operation Overlord, an invasion of northern France, to be executed by May of 1944. The Soviets, who had long been pushing the Allies to open a second front, agreed to launch another major offensive on the Eastern Front that would divert German troops away from the Allied campaign in northern France. Stalin also agreed in principle that the Soviet Union would declare war against Japan following an Allied victory over Germany. In exchange for a Soviet declaration of war against Japan, Roosevelt conceded to Stalin's demands for the Kurile Islands and the southern half of Sakhalin, and access to the ice-free ports of Darien (Dalian) and Port Arthur (Lashun Port) located on the Liaodong Peninsula in northern China. The exact details concerning this deal were not finalized, however, until the Yalta Conference of 1945.

At Tehran, the three Allied leaders also discussed important issues concerning the fate of Eastern Europe and Germany in the postwar period. Stalin pressed for a revision of Poland's eastern border with the Soviet Union to match the line set by British Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon in 1920. In order to compensate Poland for the resulting loss of territory, the three leaders agreed to move the German-Polish border to the Oder and Neisse rivers. This decision was not formally ratified, however, until the Potsdam Conference of 1945. During these negotiations Roosevelt also secured from Stalin his assurance that the Republics of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia would be reincorporated into the Soviet Union only after the citizens of each republic voted on the question in a referendum. Stalin stressed, however, that that the matter would have to be resolved "in accordance with the Soviet constitution," and that he would not consent to any international control over the elections. Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin also broached the question of the possible postwar partition of Germany into Allied zones of occupation and agreed to have the European Advisory Commission "carefully study the question of dismemberment" before any final decision was taken.

Broader international cooperation also became a central theme of the negotiations at Tehran. Roosevelt and Stalin privately discussed the composition of the United Nations. During the Moscow Conference of the Foreign Ministers in October and November of 1943, the United States, Britain, China, and the Soviet Union had signed a four-power declaration whose fourth point called for the creation of a "general international organization" designed to promote "international peace and security." At Tehran, Roosevelt outlined for Stalin his vision of the proposed organization in which the future United Nations would be dominated by "four policemen" (the United States, Britain, China, and Soviet Union) who "would have the power to deal immediately with any threat to the peace and any sudden emergency which requires action."

Finally, the three leaders issued a "Declaration of the Three Powers Regarding Iran." Within it, they thanked the Iranian Government for its assistance in the war against Germany and promised to provide it with economic assistance both during and after the war. Most importantly, the U.S., British, and Soviet Governments stated that they all shared a "desire for the maintenance of the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Iran."

Roosevelt secured many of his objectives during the Conference. The Soviet Union had committed to joining the war against Japan and expressed support for Roosevelt's plans for the United Nations. Most importantly, Roosevelt believed that he had won Stalin's confidence by proving that the United States was willing to negotiate directly with the Soviet Union and, most importantly, by guaranteeing the opening of the second front in France by the spring of 1944. However, Stalin also gained tentative concessions on Eastern Europe that would be confirmed during the later wartime conferences.



Franklin D. Roosevelt Big Three Stalin Churchill Yalta  photo  

It became apparent by January 1944 that the Allies would ultimately defeat the Axis and the world leaders began to plan for the postwar future of Europe and Asia. Prime Minister Churchill warned that Stalin sought a dictatorial dominance eastern Europe and western Asia. The U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union  William Christian Bullitt, Jr.'s agreed and his thesis prophesied the "flow of the Red amoeba into Europe". Roosevelt responded to Bullitt, Jr. with a statement summarizing his rationale for war time relations with Stalin:
"I just have a hunch that Stalin is not that kind of man. ... not and that he doesn't want anything but security for his country, and I think if I give him everything I possibly can and ask for nothing in return, noblesse oblige, he won't try to annex anything and will work with me for a world of democracy and peace”



During Roosevelt’s campaign for his fourth term in 1944, he was pale, thin and old. His doctors knew that he was suffering from heart disease, hypertension and cardiac failure. His advisers persuaded him to accept the U.S. Senator from Missouri, Harry Truman for the vice presidency, feeling him suited for the presidency. His campaign and election were a strain on Roosevelt and in the early spring of 1945, he went to Warm Springs, Georgia in an effort to recapture his flagging health. He died there on April 12, 1945 of a massive cerebral hemorrhage. Harry Truman took the oath of office to become president that same day.





WORCHESTER
Telegram & Gazette



Roosevelt's legacy is "an inspiration" Union Station houses FDR museum


Pamela H. Sacks - T&G STAFF



Sunday, July 25, 2004 


WORCESTER- 
Nick R. Roosevelt, a great-grandson of former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, stood by with a wide, Kennedy-esque smile yesterday as his uncle, James R. Roosevelt Jr., cut the ceremonial gold ribbon opening the Franklin D. Roosevelt American Heritage Center Museum in Union Station.

Presidential scholar and author Stanley L. Klos last night gave the keynote address for the event. In a telephone interview earlier in the week, Mr. Klos said that the FDR center and its museum are important because "history is a crystal ball of the future."

"What were the challenges of the past and what worked and what didn't?" Mr. Klos said. "No one went through more perilous times than FDR."

Mr. Klos said that one of the key accomplishments of FDR was the electrification of America. When he took office, 90 percent of homes had no electricity, prompting people to forsake rural areas for the cities. FDR created the rural electrical authorities, which brought power to the countryside.

"He understood the key to prosperity was inexpensive power," Mr. Klos said. "He bottled up the natural resources."

FDR also was the impetus behind the Manhattan Project, which split the atom, led to the development of the atom bomb and ultimately harnessed nuclear power as an energy source. Today, Mr. Klos said, demands on energy and oil are skyrocketing, as people around the world seek to have disposable income and the type of life we know in the United States, with automobiles and other modern conveniences.

"Germany is only second behind us in oil consumption," Mr. Klos said. "If China reaches the proportion of people with cars that we have in the U.S., that will exhaust OPEC's oil reserves. As our needs grow for more and more energy, we are going to be in an extremely competitive field."

What would Roosevelt do?

"He would realize that the world is now a global economy, and there is a war of economics," Mr. Klos said. "Yes, we're in a terrorist war right now, but the global war has shifted to a competition for natural resources and quality of life."

In Mr. Klos' view, FDR would realize the key is weaning ourselves off oil and its importation. He would be aware that the electrical grid he put together wastes enormous amounts of energy because it has not been upgraded and fails to make use of superconductivity.

"We could do what Japan, France and Germany have done and use the next generation of breeder reactors that are so efficient," Mr. Klos said. "FDR would be calling another Manhattan Project to see, with our greatest minds, if we could find a third form of energy and supply the needs of the United States and prepare the country for the oil shortage that is coming in the next 20 years."

As the morning's activities drew to a close, Worcester writer and photographer Idamay Arsenault was presented with a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition by Mr. McGovern. Through her photography, Mrs. Arsenault is credited with spearheading the renaissance at Union Station. Mr. McGovern also presented Dr. Plaud with a flag flown over the Capitol.

Later, as guests milled around munching doughnuts and cookies, Nick Roosevelt stood to one side while his uncle signed autographs. The young Mr. Roosevelt is 18 and grew up in Berkeley, Calif. He was headed to the Democratic National Convention in Boston to serve as a volunteer. He is entering the University of Pennsylvania in the fall and intends to major in history and government.

"All the Roosevelts, we all love history," he said, flashing a grin



   The Congressional Evolution of the United States of America 

Continental Congress of the United Colonies Presidents 
Sept. 5, 1774 to July 1, 1776


September 5, 1774
October 22, 1774
October 22, 1774
October 26, 1774
May 20, 1775
May 24, 1775
May 25, 1775
July 1, 1776

Commander-in-Chief United Colonies & States of America

George Washington: June 15, 1775 - December 23, 1783



Continental Congress of the United States Presidents 
July 2, 1776 to February 28, 1781

July 2, 1776
October 29, 1777
November 1, 1777
December 9, 1778
December 10, 1778
September 28, 1779
September 29, 1779
February 28, 1781



Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled
March 1, 1781 to March 3, 1789

March 1, 1781
July 6, 1781
July 10, 1781
Declined Office
July 10, 1781
November 4, 1781
November 5, 1781
November 3, 1782
November 4, 1782
November 2, 1783
November 3, 1783
June 3, 1784
November 30, 1784
November 22, 1785
November 23, 1785
June 5, 1786
June 6, 1786
February 1, 1787
February 2, 1787
January 21, 1788
January 22, 1788
January 21, 1789


Presidents of the United States of America

D-Democratic Party, F-Federalist Party, I-Independent, R-Republican Party, R* Republican Party of Jefferson & W-Whig Party 


(1789-1797)
(1933-1945)
(1865-1869)
(1797-1801)
(1945-1953)
(1869-1877)
(1801-1809)
(1953-1961)
 (1877-1881)
(1809-1817)
(1961-1963)
 (1881 - 1881)
(1817-1825)
(1963-1969)
(1881-1885)
(1825-1829)
(1969-1974)
(1885-1889)
(1829-1837)
(1973-1974)
(1889-1893)
(1837-1841)
(1977-1981)
(1893-1897)
(1841-1841)
(1981-1989)
(1897-1901)
(1841-1845)
(1989-1993)
(1901-1909)
(1845-1849)
(1993-2001)
(1909-1913)
(1849-1850)
(2001-2009)
(1913-1921)
(1850-1853)
(2009-2017)
(1921-1923)
(1853-1857)
(20017-Present)
(1923-1929)
*Confederate States  of America
(1857-1861)
(1929-1933)
(1861-1865)

Chart Comparing Presidential Powers Click Here

United Colonies and States First Ladies
1774-1788


United Colonies Continental Congress
President
18th Century Term
Age
09/05/74 – 10/22/74
29
Mary Williams Middleton (1741- 1761) Deceased
Henry Middleton
10/22–26/74
n/a
05/20/ 75 - 05/24/75
30
05/25/75 – 07/01/76
28
United States Continental Congress
President
Term
Age
07/02/76 – 10/29/77
29
Eleanor Ball Laurens (1731- 1770) Deceased
Henry Laurens
11/01/77 – 12/09/78
n/a
Sarah Livingston Jay (1756-1802)
12/ 10/78 – 09/28/78
21
Martha Huntington (1738/39–1794)
09/29/79 – 02/28/81
41
United States in Congress Assembled
President
Term
Age
Martha Huntington (1738/39–1794)
03/01/81 – 07/06/81
42
07/10/81 – 11/04/81
25
Jane Contee Hanson (1726-1812)
11/05/81 - 11/03/82
55
11/03/82 - 11/02/83
46
Sarah Morris Mifflin (1747-1790)
11/03/83 - 11/02/84
36
11/20/84 - 11/19/85
46
11/23/85 – 06/06/86
38
Rebecca Call Gorham (1744-1812)
06/06/86 - 02/01/87
42
02/02/87 - 01/21/88
43
01/22/88 - 01/29/89
36

Constitution of 1787
First Ladies
President
Term
Age
April 30, 1789 – March 4, 1797
57
March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1801
52
Martha Wayles Jefferson Deceased
September 6, 1782  (Aged 33)
n/a
March 4, 1809 – March 4, 1817
40
March 4, 1817 – March 4, 1825
48
March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829
50
December 22, 1828 (aged 61)
n/a
February 5, 1819 (aged 35)
n/a
March 4, 1841 – April 4, 1841
65
April 4, 1841 – September 10, 1842
50
June 26, 1844 – March 4, 1845
23
March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1849
41
March 4, 1849 – July 9, 1850
60
July 9, 1850 – March 4, 1853
52
March 4, 1853 – March 4, 1857
46
n/a
n/a
March 4, 1861 – April 15, 1865
42
February 22, 1862 – May 10, 1865
April 15, 1865 – March 4, 1869
54
March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1877
43
March 4, 1877 – March 4, 1881
45
March 4, 1881 – September 19, 1881
48
January 12, 1880 (Aged 43)
n/a
June 2, 1886 – March 4, 1889
21
March 4, 1889 – October 25, 1892
56
June 2, 1886 – March 4, 1889
28
March 4, 1897 – September 14, 1901
49
September 14, 1901 – March 4, 1909
40
March 4, 1909 – March 4, 1913
47
March 4, 1913 – August 6, 1914
52
December 18, 1915 – March 4, 1921
43
March 4, 1921 – August 2, 1923
60
August 2, 1923 – March 4, 1929
44
March 4, 1929 – March 4, 1933
54
March 4, 1933 – April 12, 1945
48
April 12, 1945 – January 20, 1953
60
January 20, 1953 – January 20, 1961
56
January 20, 1961 – November 22, 1963
31
November 22, 1963 – January 20, 1969
50
January 20, 1969 – August 9, 1974
56
August 9, 1974 – January 20, 1977
56
January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981
49
January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989
59
January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993
63
January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001
45
January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009
54
January 20, 2009 to date
45



Capitals of the United Colonies and States of America

Philadelphia
Sept. 5, 1774 to Oct. 24, 1774
Philadelphia
May 10, 1775 to Dec. 12, 1776
Baltimore
Dec. 20, 1776 to Feb. 27, 1777
Philadelphia
March 4, 1777 to Sept. 18, 1777
Lancaster
September 27, 1777
York
Sept. 30, 1777 to June 27, 1778
Philadelphia
July 2, 1778 to June 21, 1783
Princeton
June 30, 1783 to Nov. 4, 1783
Annapolis
Nov. 26, 1783 to Aug. 19, 1784
Trenton
Nov. 1, 1784 to Dec. 24, 1784
New York City
Jan. 11, 1785 to Nov. 13, 1788
New York City
October 6, 1788 to March 3,1789
New York City
March 3,1789 to August 12, 1790
Philadelphia
Dec. 6,1790 to May 14, 1800       
Washington DC
November 17,1800 to Present




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U.S. Dollar Presidential Coin Mr. Klos vs Secretary Paulson - Click Here

The United Colonies of North America Continental Congress Presidents (1774-1776)
The United States of America Continental Congress Presidents (1776-1781)
The United States of America in Congress Assembled Presidents (1781-1789)
The United States of America Presidents and Commanders-in-Chiefs (1789-Present)