Franklin D Roosevelt, more commonly known by his initials, FDR, served as the 32nd President of the United States between 1933 and 1945. This got me thinking, what are some interesting facts about Franklin D Roosevelt?
During his presidency, FDR was both considered by many to be either the best or the worst president in American history!
To many, his New Deal pulled millions out of poverty induced by the Great Depression. To others, his policies killed American industry, making the economy weaker in the long term…
15. Herbert Hoover Presidential Ticket
In the run up to the 1920 presidential election, both the Republicans and the Democrats courted a number of possible candidates, both for president and for vice-president.
Among those candidates was Herbert Hoover, who was being considered by both sides. At the time, Hoover was an ambitious, and beloved statesman, who wasn’t a registered Democrat or Republican.
Indeed, there were a number of high-ranking Democrats who also liked a young Franklin D Roosevelt. Many of them believed that both FDR and Hoover would compliment one another nicely on a presidential ticket.
Despite never progressing beyond a few half-baked conversations, a few Democrats considered offering FDR the presidential place, and Hoover the VP place on the ticket.
Alas, this never happened, with the Democrats choosing Ohio Governor James M. Cox, whilst the Republicans chose Warren G. Harding.
14. FDR-Hoover Animosity
Despite this, the Republicans would spend the next eight years courting Hoover as a potential future president. By the 1928 Presidential Election, Hoover had become the party’s obvious candidate.
Hoover would that election, beating Democrat Al Smith by a wide margin. However, only a few months into his presidency, the 1929 Wall Street crash happened, bringing on the Great Depression.
Four years later, Hoover would run again, this time coming up against Democrat Franklin D Roosevelt. Here, two former friends would campaign rigorously against one another, with FDR coming out on top by a large margin.
To Hoover, this felt like a betrayal, with Hoover hating FDR in private.
FDR seemed to reciprocate this on numerous occasions, most famously at the opening of the Hoover Dam (which was a Hoover Administration project) where President Hoover was not invited!
13. Passionate Collector
Today, it is a well known fact that FDR was a passionate collector of stamps, having done so since he was eight years old, until his death in 1945. Here, he amassed a collection of well over one million stamps!
Whilst not as large as his stamp collection, FDR was also an eager collector of US coins, particularly old silver dimes (back when coins were made out of precious metals).
Although numbers vary, some say he had a collection of well over 50,000 dimes…
Due to this, FDR is the only president to help design both coins and stamps, throughout his presidency. Following his death, he would be honored on the 6¢ stamp, as well as the Roosevelt dime, minted since 1946.
Besides just coins and stamps, Roosevelt was an avid reader. As a result, Roosevelt also had a large book collection, including well over 10,000 just on the US Navy alone!
12. Extra-Marital Affairs
In 1902, a young Franklin D Roosevelt met his cousin and future wife, Eleanor. After a two year long courtship, the pair were married on March 17 1905.
For the most part, the Roosevelt’s marriage was quite happy, with the couple having six children with one another. However, this was seemingly not enough for Franklin, who would have a number of affairs over the next 40 years.
Most notably, he had a twenty year-long affair with his private secretary, whilst he was president.
He also had an affair with his wife’s private secretary in 1914, before breaking it off in 1918. They’d rekindle the affair in 1941, lasting until FDR’s death in 1945.
According to his eldest son, James, FDR also had an affair with Princess Märtha of Sweden and Norway, who had been staying in the White House for part of WWII. This led to her being commonly referred to as the “President’s girlfriend”.
However, it must be stated that there are a few scholars who dispute the claims about FDR’s affair with Princess Märtha of Sweden and Norway.
11. First Presidential Failure
Today, FDR is remembered for standing for president in 1932. He would win this election, as well as the next four, becoming a skilled campaigner during this time.
However, 1932 was FDR’s first attempt to be elected to the highest office in the land. The 1920 Presidential Election was.
The 1920 Presidential Election saw Republican Warren G. Harding face off against Democrat James M. Cox. Harding’s VP candidate was future president Calvin Coolidge, whilst Cox’s was FDR.
Unfortunately for FDR, Harding and Coolidge proved to be the preferred candidates. Following this defeat, FDR would take some time away from politics, before becoming the Governor of New York in 1929.
10. “The American Dictator”
Today, it’s a constitutional convention that a president may only serve as such for two terms. In other words, the longest they may serve is eight years, which can be served consecutively or in two terms.
Back in FDR’s day, it was merely a formality. It was done in honor of George Washington, who served two terms before retiring to his plantation in Virginia.
Following FDR’s second term, he announced he was running for a third time. Four years later, he would announce he was running for a fourth time. Although initially controversial, he was elected both times.
This makes him the only president to serve four terms, which also makes him the longest-serving president in history.
Much of the criticism focused on FDR turning into a dictator. Following his third term, many hoped that he’d retire, but he ran again, many expected for him to run for a fifth time, basically becoming an American dictator.
As a result, following his death, the Constitution was amended to make it so a president could only sit for two terms, with a maximum of eight years.
9. Hidden Medical Condition
During presidential elections today, prospective presidential candidates are required to release their medical records. This is to ensure that both their mind and body are fit enough for the rigors of the presidency.
In FDR’s day, this was not the case. People simply assumed that the major political parties ensured that their party’s candidates were healthy enough to perform their duties as president.
As a result, the American public had no idea that FDR was paralyzed. In 1921, when FDR was 39 years old, he contracted polio, which eventually led to him becoming paralyzed from the waist down.
Throughout his presidency, he would give speeches either sat down, or stood up, with leg supports (or just the Secret Service holding him up!) and the American public never knew about it.
Following his death in 1945, the world found out about FDR’s paralysis. Understandably, the public felt betrayed with many of them demanding the now-commonly accepted practice of publishing medical records!
8. The Press Knew About it
Whilst the American public was blissfully unaware of FDR’s paralysis, the press was not. Within only a few weeks of becoming POTUS, almost every major newspaper in the country were made aware of FDR’s paralysis.
Instead of publishing this information, the White House begged the press to respect the president’s privacy. To much surprise, they listened, never once publishing a photo of the president in a wheelchair, even though they had them.
In fact, the press actually worked alongside the White House to keep this from the American people. They would only ever take photos of the president sitting down, or from certain angles, as to hide FDR’s paralysis from the public!
Only after the president’s death, did the press reveal it. Here, they detailed why the president had kept it a secret, mainly, to project American strength abroad, especially to Nazi Germany during the midst of WWII.
7. Did Polio Really do it?
Do you remember earlier when I said that polio caused FDR’s paralysis? Whilst that was the reason given at the time, a number of doctors today have provided another explanation…
Rather than polio, many of them say that it was in fact Guillain–Barré syndrome (sometimes known as GBS). This is a disease that manifests itself in many of the same ways that polio does.
There was also the fact, that whilst commonly known about in Europe, the disease was relatively unheard of in the US. Instead, most GBS patients in the US, were instead misdiagnosed with polio!
Many of these researchers believe that, despite FDR seeing the best doctors in the country, they too misdiagnosed his GBS. This led to ineffective treatments, which thus cost him the use of his legs for the remainder of his life.
6. Hatred of Polio
Despite the belief today that polio may not have been what paralyzed him, FDR and the doctors of the day, did. Naturally, FDR had a deep seated hatred for the disease, believing it made him weak.
As a result, FDR was determined to use his position as president to help eradicate the disease once and for all. Or at least, make it so that it could be treated, so that no one else needed to lose the use of their legs!
Over the course of his presidency, FDR started a number of campaigns, most notably, the March for Dimes. FDR would also establish the US’s first polio rehabilitation center, in Georgia.
Whilst FDR would not live to see it, the March for Dimes helped fund a the world’s first polio vaccine, which would be rolled out in 1955. Thanks to his effort, polio as a disease has been eradicated in the entire western world!
5. He Invented Air Force One
Nearing the end of the war, the Allies decided to meet in person, in order to discuss what would happen to Europe in the post-war world. Although a number of locations were vetted, Yalta, in present-day Ukraine, was chosen.
For FDR, there were two main ways he could’ve gotten there: By boat or by plane. Traveling by boat over the Atlantic, however, was dangerous, mostly due to the threat of the infamous German U-Boats.
Instead, FDR chose to fly by plane. However, the US had no VIP transport aircraft at the time, so FDR decided to make one…
To do this, he chose a C-54 Skymaster (a modified DC-4 airliner) and had it retrofitted with a luxury interior. This became the first use of a presidential aircraft by the President of the United States.
In effect, this created what we now call Air Force One!
4. FDR-Churchill Relations
Whilst FDR did get on with Stalin, then-British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, was rather distrusting of Soviet premier Joseph Stalin, believing he and the Soviet Union would one day betray the West.
Although FDR and Churchill didn’t agree with this, they enjoyed a particularly close relationship. This was something that newspapers of the era picked up on, and published furiously, thus strengthening Anglo-American relations.
Even prior to Yalta, Churchill had traveled to the US on several occasions to meet with President FDR, often formulating new battle plans, or devising new ways to use new resources effectively.
Whilst many on both sides were skeptical of the other, FDR and Churchill took a shining to one another, mostly over their shared love for the Navy.
Prior to the war, FDR had severed as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, whilst Churchill had served as the First Lord of the Admiralty, which gave the pair much to bond over!
3. Views on Racism
Whilst it seems incomprehensible today, racism didn’t play as large a role in politics as it does today. Whilst there were hardliners on both sides of the aisle, most politicians had a “meh” attitude towards it.
In other words, racism was merely a fact of life in the early 20th century.
However, according to those closest to him (which may or not be accurate), FDR hated the racism that was present in the United States at the time.
In private, Franklin D Roosevelt condemned racism, in particular, the act of white Americans lynching African Americans, often likening it to murder.
With that being said, FDR kept these views to himself, professing them only to his closest friends. He did this out of fear that his own party would turn on him, and thus allow the Republicans to gain the White House.
(At least, according to his son anyway…)
2. Presidential Relations
Looking at all of the US presidents, you’ll notice that a few names appear more than once. One of these names is Roosevelt, with both FDR and Teddy Roosevelt serving in the highest office in the land.
No, this isn’t a coincidence: They were both related. FDR and Teddy Roosevelt were fifth cousins, although FDR’s wife Eleanor, was Teddy’s niece, which is certainly a little bit awkward…
But it doesn’t just stop there. Indeed, FDR was related to a number of other presidents, most notably Martin Van Buren, who was his third cousin four times removed.
FDR and Ulysses S. Grant were fourth cousins once removed, whilst being fourth cousins three times removed to John Quincy Adams and fourth half-cousins three times removed to Zachary Taylor.
And no, that’s not even the half of it!
1. Roosevelt Family Tensions
Regardless, if you were to look at the political parties of both Franklin D Roosevelt and Teddy Roosevelt, you’d find that they’re completely different. FDR was a Democrat, whilst Teddy was a Republican.
Indeed, the majority of the Roosevelt family (both the Hyde Park (FDR) and Oyster Bay (Teddy) branches) were Republicans. Only FDR and his father, James, were registered Democrats.
This caused somewhat of a rift between the two branches of the family. To both sides, they couldn’t understand why the other side refused to join them. Despite the animosity, the Roosevelt family feud remained a private one…
During both the unsuccessful 1920 election and the successful 1932 election, Teddy Roosevelt’s eldest son spoke out on numerous occasions against his distant cousin.
This was eaten up by the newspapers of the time, bringing the longstanding family feud to light, which severely hampered FDR’s 1920 bid for the vice-presidency.
Which are your favorite facts about Franklin D Roosevelt? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.