“First of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself-–nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

This is the story of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s journey to the White House.

Even as a young boy, Franklin admires his fifth cousin Theodore Roosevelt and wants to follow in his footsteps. He seems to have a knack for it too. He attends the same schools. He serves in many of the same political positions. Even his failures only seemed to build his prestige. Ever congenial and likable, Franklin appears to have the world on a string.

Then the challenges arrive. Franklin’s affair rocks his and Eleanor’s marriage. Polio robs him of his physical strength, vigor, and ability to walk. As an independently wealthy Roosevelt, he has every excuse to fade into the background. 

But that isn’t who Franklin is. As Governor of New York, he’s as aggressive in fighting off the Great Depression as he is in fighting off the challenges of polio. Is he onto something? Is his “New Deal” what the nation needs? That’s a question for the American people to decide in 1932 as he runs for the White House.

Our gratitude to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum for its rich collection of speeches and other writings. Learn more at FDRlibrary.org.

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