Franklin D. Roosevelt's political trajectory from his New Deal presidency through isolationist challenges, WWII leadership, and his death in office in 1945.
Roosevelt defeated incumbent Herbert Hoover in a landslide, promising a New Deal for the American people amid the Great Depression.
Taking office amid a banking crisis, FDR told Americans the only thing to fear was fear itself, launching the New Deal's first 100 days.
Roosevelt refused to cooperate on international currency stabilization, prioritizing domestic recovery over global economic coordination.
FDR signed the Social Security Act, creating a federal safety net for elderly and unemployed Americans as a cornerstone of the Second New Deal.
Congress passed legislation imposing an arms embargo on all belligerents, reflecting strict isolationist sentiment that FDR reluctantly accepted.
Roosevelt won re-election carrying 46 of 48 states, validating the New Deal and giving him a mandate to continue domestic reform.
FDR called for an international quarantine of aggressor nations, his first significant public step away from strict neutrality and isolationism.
Republicans gained seats in Congress, reflecting growing conservative opposition to FDR's domestic agenda and complicating his legislative majority.
Roosevelt warned Congress that the survival of democracy was at stake from fascist aggression, while still navigating isolationist resistance to rearmament.
Following Germany's invasion of Poland, FDR declared a limited national emergency, beginning the gradual expansion of US military readiness.
Roosevelt transferred 50 WWI-era destroyers to Britain in exchange for military base leases, a bold circumvention of isolationist neutrality laws.
FDR urged Americans to support the Allied powers with materiel, declaring the US must become the great arsenal of democracy.
In his State of the Union, Roosevelt articulated four essential human freedoms: speech, worship, want, and fear, as a framework for the postwar world.
FDR signed legislation authorizing the president to provide war supplies to any country whose defense was deemed vital to US security, effectively ending neutrality.
Roosevelt and Churchill issued a joint declaration of postwar aims including self-determination and disarmament, laying the ideological foundation for the United Nations.
A surprise Japanese attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor killed over 2,400 Americans and decisively ended the isolationist era.
FDR addressed a joint session of Congress, declaring December 7 a date which will live in infamy, and requested a declaration of war against Japan.
Roosevelt coined the term United Nations as 26 Allied nations pledged to fight the Axis powers and not make separate peace.
FDR authorized the forced relocation and internment of over 120,000 Japanese Americans, one of the most controversial domestic actions of the war.
Roosevelt and Churchill met in Morocco, demanding unconditional Axis surrender and planning the Allied invasion of Europe.
FDR met with Churchill and Chiang Kai-shek in Cairo, then with Stalin in Tehran, coordinating D-Day plans and postwar territorial arrangements.
On the evening of the Normandy landings, FDR led the nation in a radio prayer for the success of the invasion and the safety of American forces.
Roosevelt's administration championed an international monetary conference establishing the IMF and World Bank to stabilize the postwar global economy.
Despite declining health, FDR won a fourth presidential term, defeating Thomas Dewey with Harry Truman as his running mate.
The Big Three met in Crimea to plan the occupation of Germany, Soviet entry into the Pacific war, and the structure of the future United Nations.
Roosevelt defended the Yalta agreements before Congress, arguing they provided the best framework for lasting peace and international cooperation.
Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage at his retreat in Georgia, ending a 12-year presidency weeks before the Allied victory in Europe.