English 9
22 February 2008
FDR: The Greatest President Who was the greatest president of the United States? There have been many great presidents in the history of the U.S. Many presidents have led our country through very trying times. Some people believe Lincoln was the greatest president. However, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt led our country at times when a great leader was needed. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the greatest president of the United States because of his New Deal, his great leadership skills, and his strong and deep connection to the people of the United States. President Roosevelt initiated the only program that could pull the U.S. out of the Great Depression. Roosevelt’s New Deal got the country through one of the worst financial catastrophe the U.S. has ever been through. Diggerhistory.info biography on FDR states,” In March 13 million people were unemployed… In his first “Hundred Days”, he proposed, and Congress enacted, a sweeping program to bring recovery to business and agriculture, relief to the unemployed and those in danger of losing their farms and homes”(Digger History Biography 1). Roosevelt’s first hundred days brought relief to the unemployed. He opened the AAA (Agriculture Adjustment Administration) and the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps.). The administration employed many young men in need of jobs all around the country. Roosevelt knew that the economy’s biggest problem was the widespread unemployment. Because of Roosevelt’s many acts and agencies, lots of young men and women around the country were getting jobs so the economy was healing. According to Roosevelt’s biography from the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, “Another Flurry of New Deal Legislation followed in 1935, including the WPA (Work Projects Administration), which provided jobs for not only laborers but also for writers, artists, musicians, etc… the Social Security Act which provided unemployment compensation and a program for elderly
Cited: Baker, Kevin “Why America Loved Roosevelt” Kevin Baker Online 2/11/08 www.kevinbaker.info/a_wp_walr.html Franklin Delano Roosevelt; FDR. Only 4 terms U.S. President ever. Roosevelt Online 2/5/08 www.diggerhistory.info/pages-leaders/ww2/roosevelt.html Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum Online 2/5/08 www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/fdrbio.html FDR’s Fireside Chat on the Purposes and Foundations of the Recovery Program Online 2/11/08 www.archives.gov/education/lessons/fdr-fireside.html