Franklin D. Roosevelt Is Elected President

Setting the scene

The Great Depression had thrown a quarter of American workers out of jobs, collapsed banks, and discredited President Herbert Hoover's belief that prosperity lay just around the corner. Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York promised a 'New Deal' and experimented with relief programs in his state.

What happened

Roosevelt won the November 1932 election in a landslide, carrying 42 states and about 57 percent of the popular vote to Hoover's 39 percent. He would take office in March 1933, when unemployment stood near 25 percent and the banking system was near collapse.

Why it still matters

FDR's four terms and New Deal agencies—CCC, WPA, Social Security—reshaped federal power and later prompted the Twenty-second Amendment limiting presidents to two terms. Memorable detail: Roosevelt campaigned while paralyzed from polio yet avoided being photographed in a wheelchair, relying on leg braces and a son's arm for stability.

Background

He later served four terms and led through World War II.