Franklin D. Roosevelt

No president changed the President as did Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Taking office amidst the devastating Great Depression, Roosevelt create new, innovative programs to lift the country from the brink of financial disaster. But in so doing, he changed forever, the face of America. Thought by some as a traitor to his class, Roosevelt faced large challenges in his progressive policies that went far beyond what his cousin Teddy or even Wilson had achieved. Ignoring all precedent, Roosevelt easily won re-election to a third and then a fourth term in the midst of World War II. Working carefully with European allies, Roosevelt forged the campaign to save democracy from the nemesis of Nazi Germany. But he would not live to taste victory being felled by a stroke at his Warm Springs retreat. The nation mourned his passing in measure reminescent of that for Lincoln. His New Deal policies had forever changed the face of the nation. Historians remember FDR as one of the three or four greatest leaders of America. Join historian Keith Pruitt as he introduces you to this extraordinary man.