Roosevelt's Personality

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States became President in March 1933 at the depth of the Great Depression. President Roosevelt's reign from 1882-1945 showed that he was a fascinating idealist, whose confidence helped carry on the American people during the strains of economic crisis and world war even though he had an attack of poliomyelitis, which paralyzed his legs in 1921. President Roosevelt was labeled as one of America's most touchy leaders. The complexities of his character baffled his relatives along with the American people. On one hand he would project a character of extreme warmth, easy to be around, the ability to address the American people in a way in which everything was expectable, and his …show more content…
It was not until 1939 and 1940 that success returned. Roosevelt also showed limits in his handling of foreign policy. In the 1930's he did not give a warning right away of the danger of tyranny, and during the war he relied greatly on his charm and personality in the conduct of peacekeeping. Roosevelt's reputation was very high. As President, Roosevelt passed as many bills, lobbying for as much congressional support as he could to receive aid attempts for the unemployed, starving and poor people that society had …show more content…
To advance and prosper in one war, the Roosevelt administration needed to solve the conflicts in its own country first. While the American government was fighting and investing interest of winning the war against Hitler, African Americans were also fighting in this country to win democracy for themselves. Many African Americans were shut out and pushed away when our country was in time of need for laborers. When the taxpayers provided the government with money for certain goods such as guns, ships, tanks, and bombs to help support the war, many African Americans stepped forward to help. While they were looking for work, the African Americans only received negative responses for their efforts. Many were pushed away and given the cold shoulder. These problems also go hand and hand with the problems FDR faced in dealing with economic recovery and reform. In FDR's second inaugural address he states that although much had been done already for economic recovery, there was still much more that remained. He states "tens of millions are denied the right to education, recreation and the opportunity to better their lot and the lot of their children." (Polenberg, 16) Basically this quote by FDR shows that not only are the African Americans struggling in our country with their own efforts to succeed, but also the whole American population is in a great need of help in dealing with this