Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States (1933–1945), navigated America from the Great Depression, through careful neutrality, to full belligerence and global leadership in the Second World War. Crippled by polio at 39, he governed from a wheelchair while projecting extraordinary physical vitality. His Lend-Lease Act of March 1941, which made the United States the 'Arsenal of Democracy' supplying Britain and eventually the USSR, was a decisive act of quasi-belligerence before Pearl Harbor formally brought America into the war. His partnership with Churchill and alliance with Stalin — forged at Casablanca, Tehran, and Yalta — created the Grand Alliance that defeated Germany and Japan. A pragmatist rather than idealist, he made controversial concessions at Yalta, including recognising Soviet dominance in Eastern Europe, believing Soviet cooperation in the post-war world was essential. He died of a cerebral haemorrhage on 12 April 1945, weeks before Germany's surrender — the only American president to serve more than two terms.
- Lived: 1882 CE – 1945 CE
- Nationality: American
- Roles: president, commander-in-chief
