The Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt: Confronting the Great Depression and World War II

By Don Nardo

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the longest serving president in U.S. history, successfully guided Americans through two of the worst crises ever. He succeeded where others had failed in pulling the country back from the brink of collapse during the Great Depression. He lifted Americans' spirits and turned them away from fear and defeatism. Then came the horrors and devastation of World War II. The brilliant and courageous Roosevelt proved to be an outstanding commander in chief, leading the world to victory over the powers of evil.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
• Release date: Dec 21, 2015
• ISBN: 9780756554729

Don Nardo

Noted historian and award-winning author Don Nardo has written many books for young people about American history. Nardo lives with his wife, Christine, in Massachusetts.

Book preview

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter One

THE BRINK OF COLLAPSE

Chapter Two

THE HISTORIC HUNDRED DAYS

Chapter Three

AMERICA’S NEW DEAL

Chapter Four

DEFENDER OF DEMOCRACY

Chapter Five

ORDEAL OF TOTAL WAR

Timeline

Glossary

Additional Resources

Source Notes

Select Bibliography

Index

Chapter One

The Brink

OF COLLAPSE

Franklin Delano Roosevelt knew he was stepping into one of the worst crises in U.S. history. Taking office as president March 4, 1933, one of his paramount jobs was to reassure Americans they could get through the tough economic times. Addressing the nation at his inauguration, he projected courage, saying, Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. That fear, he said, was a nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In other dark hours of the nation’s history, he said, its leaders had spoken frankly to Americans. This was because their support was essential to victory. Roosevelt called on his fellow citizens to support him now, in these critical days.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (right) rode to his first inauguration with the previous president, Herbert Hoover.

Several of the words the new president had chosen clearly described a serious, grim, and even dire situation. Yet he was not exaggerating when he used such terms as fear, terror, dark hour, and critical days. As he delivered the speech at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., the country was in deep trouble. The United States and most of the rest of the world had fallen into the worst financial slump of modern times. It became known to history as the Great Depression.

This frightening, menacing state of affairs had reached a tipping point three years earlier. Trading on the New York Stock Exchange seemed strong the morning of Monday, October 21, 1929. This was no surprise to stockbrokers. They felt positive about the future because the U.S. economy appeared very healthy. And they believed the enormous bubble of prosperity that had grown during the 1920s would continue to expand.

But during the afternoon of October 21, the country’s massive financial bubble began to burst. Stock prices suddenly fell at a startling, frightening pace. Surprised brokers hoped it was a temporary fluke. But it was not. There were problems throughout the world economy. U.S. farms had been losing money throughout the 1920s. And Europe had never fully recovered economically from World War I (1914–1918).

The situation worsened, and within a few days the stock market had lost a record $14 billion. It took another terrible hit on October 29, losing $15 billion. That brought losses for a period of less than two weeks to $50 billion. (This equals many hundreds of billions in today’s money.)

Crowds gathered outside