Franklin D. Roosevelt letter

Franklin D. Roosevelt was the 32nd President of the United States. Born in Hyde Park, New York on January 30, 1882, Roosevelt earned his A.B. in History from Harvard University (1903) and attended Columbia University Law School (1904-1907). After passing the New York bar exam, he took a job with Carter Ledyard & Milburn in New York City, working in the firm's admiralty law division. Roosevelt entered politics as a Democrat in 1910 when he was elected to the New York State Senate, representing New York's 26th District. President Woodrow Wilson appointed him Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1913, where his tenure included serving during World War I. In the 1920 Presidential Election, he was James M. Cox's vice presidential running mate during the latter's unsuccessful presidential campaign. Roosevelt was stricken by polio in 1921 and was permanently paralyzed from the waist down. He spent the next several years recovering from the effects of the disease. In 1926, he and a group of friends founded the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation, a rehabilitation center for the treatment polio victims. Roosevelt returned to politics in 1928 when he was elected Governor of New York serving two terms (1929-1933). In 1933, he was elected President of the United States, an office to which he was elected a record four times. During his first two terms, Roosevelt led the United States through much of the Great Depression establishing and implementing his New Deal programs to combat the economic crisis. During his second two terms, Roosevelt declared war on Japan and Germany after Pearl Harbor and led the United States through most of World War II. Franklin D. Roosevelt died in office on April 12, 1945. He was succeeded by Vice President Harry S. Truman.