Franklin Delano Roosevelt, thirty- second president of the United States, one of the most prominent politicians in the world in the first half of the twentieth century, stood at the head of the country during the Great Depression and World War II. It is considered by historians to be one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States, along with Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. Many Roosevelt quotes became winged expressions, they are known to people who do not even know the name of the author.
Biography
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882 at the Hyde Park family estate in New York State. Until the age of fourteen, he studied at home and traveled a lot with aristocratic parents outside the United States, where he mastered foreign languages well. He graduated from Harvard University, and after law school at the University of Columbia.
In 1905, he married Eleanor Roosevelt, who was his six-cousin and was the niece of Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States. In 1910, he began a political career in the New York State Senate, in 1913 he became assistant naval minister. Seven years later, he ran for US Vice President along with Democratic candidate James Cox. He was defeated and soon became ill with polio, which after some time chained Roosevelt to a wheelchair.
Despite this, in 1928 he won the elections for governors of his native state. In 1931 he created a special emergency administration to help the starving during the acute economic crisis in the country. A year later, he won the election of President Herbert Hoover, who could not get the country out of the Great Depression.
Politics Quotes
Franklin Roosevelt took the reins of government in the most difficult time for the United States and was able to get the country out of the crisis in a fairly short time. Four years later, he confidently won the re-election. In total, he was elected President of the United States four times, which is a record, and after Roosevelt’s death a law was passed on limitation of two terms.
Here are some well-known quotes from Franklin Roosevelt about governing the country:
People around the world must have four freedoms:
1. Freedom of speech.
2. Freedom of religion.
3. Freedom from need.
4. Freedom from fear.
If I am the bad president of the United States, then I will be their last president.
The first twelve years of the presidency are the most difficult.
You should not start to engage in politics if you do not have thick skin, like a rhino.
Hungry and unemployed - the material from which the dictatorship is created.
A little inflation is like a little pregnancy. True personal freedom is impossible without economic security and independence.
Quotes about the war
In foreign policy, Roosevelt adhered to an extremely cautious and diplomatic position from the very beginning. He was the first of the US presidents to recognize the USSR as a state. After Nazi Germany attacked France, he began creating a powerful military complex. Soon after the third election victory and German attack on the USSR, Roosevelt approved the law on strengthening the US defense capability and issued a loan of one billion dollars without interest to the Soviet Union.
After a surprise attack by the Japanese army on Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt said:
Yesterday, December 7, 1941, will go down in history as a symbol of shame.
During World War II, the president, despite progressive health problems, participated in international conferences and the creation of the United Nations. He died on April 12, 1945 from a brain hemorrhage, shortly before the final victory of the Allied forces.
Here are some famous Roosevelt quotes about the war:
War is a crude, inhuman, and absolutely impractical method of ascertaining relations between governments.
On the European front, the most important event of the past year, without a doubt, was the crushing counterattack of the great Russian army against a powerful German group. The Russian troops destroyed and continue to destroy more of the manpower, aircraft, tanks and guns of our common enemy than all the other United Nations combined.
Under the leadership of Marshal Joseph Stalin, the Russian people showed such an example of love for the motherland, firmness of spirit and self-sacrifice, which the world did not know yet. After the war, our country will always be happy to maintain good neighborly relations and sincere friendship with Russia, whose people, saving themselves, help save the whole world from the Nazi threat.
Wherever peace is disturbed, peace everywhere is in jeopardy.
Wars are contagious.
During a conversation with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Roosevelt said the following words:
We are naval people and we well understand the importance of the power of the modern fleet. Dominance on the seas ultimately means the salvation of democracy and the restoration of the strength of those who suffer temporary setbacks.
Other famous quotes
Franklin Roosevelt was distinguished by a sharp mind and ability to captivate the interlocutor, many consider the key to an unprecedentedly long reign as his regular airing and communication with the nation, the so-called "meeting by the fireplace." Despite a serious illness and constant problems in domestic and foreign policy, he found the strength to give birth to real aphorisms. Roosevelt quotes, not related to either politics or military affairs:
It is dangerous to underestimate a person who overestimates himself.
Rules are not always holy, unlike principles.
I ask you to judge me by the enemies that I have acquired.
I am not the smartest person in this world, but I certainly know how to find smart associates.
When you reach the end of the rope, tie a knot and hold on.
Regarding his serious illness that confined Roosevelt to a wheelchair, the president said the following:
You need to speak sincerely, briefly and sitting.
Roosevelt Quotes
Franklin Roosevelt, of course, is one of the most prominent figures in politics over the past century. Joseph Stalin in 1934 said the following about the US president:
Undoubtedly, of all the captains of the modern capitalist world, Roosevelt is the strongest figure.
Albert Einstein, after the death of Roosevelt, spoke of politics this way:
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 in spite of 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.
Franklin Roosevelt is still one example to follow among American politicians and public figures. His bills and public speeches are still carefully studied by people around the world.