The American Dream means many things to many people. To Franklin Delano Roosevelt, it meant peace, prosperity, and the well being of the American people. Although events like the great depression and World War II threatened these ideals, Roosevelt stood up to the challenges in front of him and met them head on. His aggressive New Deal programs helped stop unemployment and as war in Europe loomed on the horizon, he prepared the American people for the fight of their lives that would change the world and the American Dream as they knew it. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882, in Hyde Park, New York. He was given many opportunities by his wealthy parents to succeed.
When he was 14 he went to the classy Groton School, and later went to Harvard College. He went to Columbia Law School and when he was 23 he married Eleanor Roosevelt, his distant cousin and niece to Theodore Roosevelt. In 1910, Roosevelt was elected to the New York State Senate. Three years later he was appointed assistant secretary of the Navy under Woodrow Wilson (Schraff 44).
In 1921, hardship struck Roosevelt. He was hit with a type of polio called infantile paralysis, a disease that affects the spinal cord. He nearly died, and after the struggle of his life he was paralyzed and could not walk. He spent the next two years swimming in the hot mineral waters of Warm Springs, Georgia, and did grueling physical therapy. Even after he finished therapy he would be unable to walk without braces, a cane, and an arm to lean on. He was elected governor of New York in 1928 and in 1932 he was elected president.
The Essay on The True American Americans Ideal People
America is regarded as a country full of opportunities, fortune, and freedom, but what is an American? Some consider an American to be anyone who has a U. S. Citizenship, but in reality it takes much more than just that. A true ideal American has many characteristics, which distinguish them from others. They have pride, honor, loyalty, ambition, motivation, and are respected by their fellow ...
He was able to achieve one of the main aspects of the American Dream, which is overcoming huge difficulties, and still accomplishes his goals (Morgan 56).
After Roosevelt was elected president he faced even more challenges. The stock market crash of 1929 had left the American economy in shambles and by 1932 the American people were desperate for change. Roosevelt enacted his Hundred Days program just days after his inauguration.
Programs like the Emergency Banking Act where the government would only reopen sound banks that helped put more confidence in the American banking system. By the first week of April 1932, over one billion dollars returns to reopened banks. Other programs like the Federal Trade Commission helped stop salesman from preying on naive investors therefore putting more confidence in the stock market. He also gave direct relief to the needy by passing the Federal Emergency Relief Act that gave 500 million dollars to the states for people who were barely surviving (Schraff 45).
By the end of the decade these and other programs helped end the depression. The American Dream at the time had changed from merely surviving day to day but by looking towards the future.
The new threat of war in Europe was the next and maybe the biggest challenge to the American Dream. The end of the great depression was the beginning of a huge global conflict. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, America was frantic to get together the supplies and equipment needed to support the war effort. Americans were back to work with a high paced effort to get the American war machine moving. During the dark days of the war Americans were concerned about invasions by the Germans and the Japanese. The American Dream was hanging in the balance with millions of American lives on the line.
As the Allies began to fight back the American morale improved and life got better. Roosevelt instituted many wartime policies like food rationing and scrap metal drives that made Americans feel they were helping the war effort. Roosevelt talked about the four freedoms that the nations would be privileged to have after the war was over (Four Freedoms).
The Essay on Spanish american War 3
In the 1890’s the United States became more aggressive and expansionistic than it had been for the past few decades. There was apparently a hunger for foreign conquest. The conflict with Spain derived mainly from the American desire to help the beleaguered Cubans with their independence from Spain. Americans wanted the war, which could well have been avoided, but they had little ...
In the closing days of the war Roosevelt had a dream of a United Nations program that would work for world peace. His dream would become a reality but unfortunately he would not live to see it. On April 12, 1945, Roosevelt had a stroke and died (Bailey 57).
America had lost one of its most influential presidents of American History. His four freedoms, which included freedom of speech and expression, religion, economic health, and freedom from fear, would be brought to every nation American was occupying and brought them back from total destruction after the war (Four Freedoms).
Franklin Delano Roosevelt contributed so much to American society that he is now an icon that everyone can look up to. He was able to overcome a tremendous amount of challenges and hardships in his life. His life exemplifies the American Dream by working hard and prospering in the face of economic woes and war to his own physical impairments. His life was like that of Nick Caraway or Jay Gatsby from “The Great Gatsby” because he was from a wealthy background and accomplished many things during his life.
There is a statement in the Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorial that shows just how much he loved America and hated seeing it go to war. It goes, “I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded… I have seen the dead in the mud.
I have seen cities destroyed… I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I hate war.” (Four Freedoms) WORKS CITED Bailey, Ronald H.
: The Home Front World War II. Time-Life Book Inc. New York, New York. 1978. Morgan, Ted: FDR A Biography.
Simon and Schuster, Inc. New York, New York. 1985. Schraff, Anne E. : The Great Depression and the New Deal, Americas Economic Collapse and Recovery.
Library of Congress, 1990. “The Four Freedoms” FDR Speech, January 6, 1941. Mach 1, 2003. web.
