Franklin D. Roosevelt Assuming the Presidency at the depth of
the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt helped the American
people regain faith in themselves. He brought hope as he
promised prompt, vigorous action, and asserted in his Inaugural
Address, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Born
in 1882 at Hyde Park, New York--now a national historic site--he
attended Harvard University and Columbia Law School. On St.
Patrick's Day, 1905, he married Eleanor Roosevelt. Following the
example of his fifth cousin, President Theodore Roosevelt, whom
he greatly admired, Franklin D. Roosevelt entered public service
through politics, but as a Democrat. He won election to the New
York Senate in 1910. President Wilson appointed him Assistant
Secretary of the Navy, and he was the Democratic nominee for
Vice President in 1920. In the summer of 1921, when he was 39,
disaster hit-he was stricken with poliomyelitis. Demonstrating
indomitable courage, he fought to regain the use of his legs,
particularly through