Object Image

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Thirty-second president, 1933–1945

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whose presidency began in the throes of the Great Depression, led the United States out of its devastating financial crisis. During his first few months in office, he established the New Deal—a set of ambitious government programs that supported public works projects, put forth banking and business regulations, and offered other forms of federal relief. After the United States entered World War II in 1941, he decided to seek a third term, pointing out that one should never change horses in midstream. In the diplomatic summits with Britain’s Winston Churchill and the Soviet Union’s Joseph Stalin, Roosevelt not only prosecuted the war...

1945
Oil on canvas
110.5 x 90.2cm
NPG.68.49
Image and text © National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, 2024

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