32.) Franklin Delano Roosevelt 1933-1945

"This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny." - Franklin Roosevelt

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When FDR was sworn in on March 4, 1933, the nation, and the world, were in dire straights. Nation's around the world had abandoned democracy for militaristic authoritarian solutions, and many Americans were tempted to join them. Radio priest Father Coughlin espoused an American fascism from the right, while Louisiana kingpin Huey Long flirted with a socialist form of dictatorial power on the left. As if to underscore the danger, a 32-year-old bricklayer attempted to assassinate Roosevelt a month before he was sworn in, narrowly missing in his attempt.

American democracy itself seemed to be in peril.

Follow along as FDR attempts to follow in the footsteps of his famous relative Theodore Roosevelt, learns humility and compassion from a bout of polio that left him paralyzed, reaches the presidency on a message of hope during the darkest days of the Great Depression, attempts to end the depression and save democracy with a transformative campaign of New Deal economic legislation, and then goes toe-to-toe with the evils of fascism in the greatest war in world history.

Bibliography
1. FDR – Jean Edward Smith
2. Hoover: An Extraordinary Life in Extraordinary Times - Kenneth Whyte
3. Truman – David McCullough
4. Eisenhower in War and Peace – Jean Edward Smith
5.  An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917–1963 – Robert Dallek
6.  Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream – Doris Kearns Goodwin
7.  T.R. the last Romantic – H.R. Brands
8. The Moralist: Woodrow Wilson and the World He Made – Patricia O’Toole