Biography of Roosevelt. Roosevelt - President in a Wheelchair

Roosevelt Franklin Delano (1882-1945), 32nd President of the United States

from 1933 to 1945 (elected to this post 4 times). Came to power at the height of the Great Depression with the support of the most far-sighted sections of the bourgeoisie in order to prevent the development of a social revolution. Conducted a number of reforms (“New Deal”). In 1933, the Roosevelt government established diplomatic relations with the USSR. Since the beginning of World War 2, he came out in support of Great Britain, France and the USSR (from June 1941) in their fight against Nazi Germany. Made a significant contribution to the creation anti-Hitler coalition. He attached great importance to the creation of the UN and post-war international cooperation, including between the USA and the USSR.

ROOSEVELT Franklin Delano (1/30/1882, Hyde Park, New York - 4/12/1945, Warm Springs), statesman USA, US President 1933-45. He graduated from a privileged private school in Groton (1899), Harvard (1904) and Columbia (1907) universities. In 1907-1910, he was a lawyer at Carter, Ledyard & Milburn, which served major corporations. In 1910 he was elected to the state senate. New York from the Democratic Party.

In 1913-20 pom. Secretary of the Navy, advocated strengthening US naval power.

Roosevelt Franklin Delano (January 30, 1882, Hyde Park, New York - April 12, 1945, Warm Springs, Georgia), statesman, 32nd President of the United States of America (1933-45). Roosevelt is the only person in US history to be elected president four times. His name is strongly associated with the New Deal reforms, the formation and strengthening of the anti-Hitler coalition, the military successes of the Allies, plans for the post-war world order and the idea of creating the UN.

Early life

The future president was born into the wealthy and respectable family of James Roosevelt, whose ancestors emigrated from Holland to New Amsterdam in the 1740s. Their descendants became the ancestors of two branches of this family, one of which produced US President T. Roosevelt, and the other - Franklin Roosevelt. Roosevelt's father owned the Hyde Park estate on the Hudson River and substantial stakes in a number of coal and transportation companies. Roosevelt's mother, Sarah Delano, also belonged to the local aristocracy. As a child, Roosevelt traveled with his parents to Europe every summer (so he had a good command of foreign languages) and rested on sea coast New England or on the Canadian island of Campobello (near East Port, Maine), where he became interested in sailing.

Until the age of 14, Roosevelt was educated at home. In 1896-99 he studied at one of the best private schools in Groton (Massachusetts). From 1900-04, Roosevelt continued his education at Harvard University, where he received a bachelor's degree. He attended Columbia Law School from 1905-07 and was admitted to the bar, which he began in a well-established Wall Street law firm.

In 1905 he married his fifth cousin, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962). Her father was the younger brother of President T. Roosevelt, who was Franklin's idol. The Roosevelts had six children, one of whom died in infancy. Eleanor Roosevelt played a significant role in her husband's political career, especially after 1921, when he contracted polio and was no longer in a wheelchair.

Start of a career

In 1910, Roosevelt accepted a tempting offer from the US Democratic Party in his home district to run as a senator in the New York State Legislature and won. In the 1912 presidential election campaign, he actively supported the Democrat T.W. Wilson. In President Wilson's administration, Roosevelt was offered the post of Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Before completing his third term in the state legislature, Roosevelt moved to Washington. As Assistant Secretary of the Navy (1913-21), he advocated for a stronger navy, stronger U.S. defenses, a strong presidency, and an active foreign policy.

In 1914 he attempted to become a senator in the US Congress, but failed. In 1920, under the slogan of the United States joining the League of Nations, Roosevelt ran from the Democratic Party for vice president of the United States together with presidential candidate J. Cox. The defeat of the Democratic Party amid growing isolationist sentiments and a serious illness temporarily removed Roosevelt from active political activity. But in 1928 he was elected governor of the economically and politically influential state of New York, which opened the way to the White House.

Having served two terms as governor, Roosevelt acquired very valuable experience that was useful to him during his presidency. In 1931, at the moment of exacerbation economic crisis, he created a Temporary Emergency Administration in the state to provide assistance to unemployed families. The tradition of communicating with voters via radio (the famous “fireside chats”) also dates back to Roosevelt's governorship.

White House

In the 1932 presidential campaign, Roosevelt won an impressive victory over H. Hoover, who failed to lead the country out of the economic crisis of 1929-33 (the “Great Depression”). During the election campaign, Roosevelt outlined the main ideas of socio-economic transformations, which, on the recommendation of his advisers (the brain trust), received the name “New Deal”.

In the first hundred days of his presidency (beginning in March 1933), Roosevelt implemented a number of important reforms. The banking system was restored. In May, Roosevelt signed legislation creating the Federal Emergency Hunger and Unemployment Relief Administration. The Farm Debt Refinancing Act and the Recovery Act were passed. agriculture, which provided for state control over the volume of agricultural production. Roosevelt considered the Industrial Recovery Act the most promising, which provided for a whole range of government measures to regulate industry.

In 1935, important reforms were carried out in the field of labor (see Wagner Law), social security, taxation, banking, etc.

The impressive victory in the 1936 election allowed Roosevelt to advance in the areas of civil engineering, wages, and labor laws in 1937–38. The laws adopted by Congress on the initiative of the President were a bold experiment in government regulation aimed at changing the distribution mechanism of the economy and social protection population.

Pre-war foreign policy Roosevelt was distinguished, on the one hand, by flexibility and realism, and on the other, by inconsistency and extreme caution. One of the foreign policy initiatives in the first months after Roosevelt came to power was the diplomatic recognition of the USSR in November 1933. In relations with Latin American countries, the “good neighbor” policy was proclaimed, which contributed to the creation of the inter-American system collective security.

However, fear for the fate of domestic political reforms and the reluctance to bind the United States with any obligations in a difficult international situation contributed to the fact that Roosevelt’s foreign policy was of a neutral nature (i.e., it ignored the differences between the aggressor and the victim). As a result of non-intervention in the Italo-Ethiopian conflict (1935) and civil war in Spain legitimate governments were prevented from purchasing American weapons and ammunition in the fight against the well-armed powers of the Berlin-Rome Axis. Only in November 1939, when the war in Europe was already raging, Roosevelt achieved the lifting of the arms embargo and began to pursue a policy of helping victims of aggression.

World War II

Hitler's blitzkrieg in Europe and Roosevelt's third consecutive victory in the 1940 elections intensified American aid to Great Britain. At the beginning of 1941, the President signed an “Act for Further Strengthening the Defense of the United States and Promoting Other Purposes” (see Lend-Lease). The Lend-Lease Law applied to the USSR, which was granted an interest-free loan in the amount of $1 billion.

US President F. Roosevelt signs the amendments
to the law on neutrality. November 4, 1939

Roosevelt sought to limit himself to arms supplies for as long as possible and, if possible, to avoid large-scale US participation in the European war. At the same time, under the slogan of “active defense”, from the fall of 1941, “ undeclared war"with Germany. It was allowed to conduct targeted fire on German and Italian ships that entered the US security zone, and articles of neutrality legislation that prohibited the arming of merchant ships and the entry of American ships into combat zones were repealed.

The attack on December 7, 1941 by Japanese aircraft on the American air force base at Pearl Harbor Pacific Ocean came as a surprise to Roosevelt, who was trying to recent months 1941 through diplomatic negotiations to delay the inevitability of war with Japan. The next day, the United States and Great Britain declared war on Japan, and on December 11, war was declared on the United States by Germany and Italy. Roosevelt, in accordance with the Constitution, assumed all the responsibilities of commander in chief in wartime. He made a lot of efforts to strengthen the anti-Hitler coalition, attaching great importance to the creation of the United Nations.

On January 1, 1942, the United Nations Declaration was signed in Washington, establishing this union in the international legal order. At the same time, Roosevelt for a long time took a wait-and-see approach to the opening second front. But after the impressive victories of the Red Army at Stalingrad and Kursk Bulge he became increasingly convinced that the USSR was the decisive factor in the defeat of the Axis powers in Europe and that active cooperation with it was necessary in the post-war world. At the Tehran Conference of the Big Three (1943), Roosevelt did not support W. Churchill, who shied away from addressing specific issues about opening a second front.

Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill at the Tehran Conference

Showing special attention to issues of post-war peace settlement, Roosevelt for the first time Quebec Conference(1943) outlined his project for creating international organization and the responsibility of the USA, Great Britain, the USSR and China (the “four policemen”) for maintaining peace. Discussion of this topic was continued at the Moscow Conference, the Tehran Conference and at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference, Washington (see Dumbarton Oaks Conference 1944).

Roosevelt (center) during the Crimea Conference

Re-elected in 1944 for a fourth term, Roosevelt made a significant contribution to the historical decisions of the Crimean Conference (1945). His realistic position was dictated by a sober consideration of the current military-strategic and political situation in connection with the successful advance of Soviet troops into Eastern Europe, the desire to negotiate the USSR's entry into the war with Japan and the hope of continuing post-war American-Soviet cooperation.

Upon returning from Yalta, Roosevelt, despite fatigue and illness, continued to engage in government affairs and prepared for the opening of the United Nations Conference in San Francisco on April 23. However, on April 12, the president died of a cerebral hemorrhage. He was buried in Hyde Park. In historiography, he is invariably placed on a par with the most outstanding US presidents John Washington, T. Jefferson and A. Lincoln.

N. I. Egorova

________________________________________ ___________________

ROOSEVELT, FRANKLIN DELANO (1882–1945), 32nd President of the United States, was born in Hyde Park (New York) on January 30, 1882. Received his elementary education under the supervision of private teachers, often with his parents been to Europe. Visited preparatory school in upscale Groton. After graduating from Harvard University in 1904, he moved to New York, where he studied at Columbia University Law School. In 1907, he passed the exam for the right to practice law and joined a well-known New York law firm.

In 1910, Roosevelt ran for the state Senate from his Hudson River district. He won because he campaigned hard, and Democrats were doing well that year everywhere. In Albany, he led a small group of them that opposed the party political machine in order to block the election of one of the leaders of Tammany Hall to the Senate by the state legislature. Soon after this, he organized a group of anti-Tammany Democrats in support of Wilson.

From 1913 to 1920 he served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in Wilson's cabinet. In 1914, Roosevelt sought nomination to the Senate from New York State, but was defeated. Cooperation with the Wilson administration and belonging to the Roosevelt family played a role in the Democrats' decision to nominate him as the running mate of presidential candidate J. Cox in 1920. Although Republicans Harding and Coolidge won landslide victories, Roosevelt established important contacts throughout the country and rose to prominence in the party.

In 1921 he contracted polio and was partially paralyzed. Limited physical capabilities did not narrow his range of interests. Roosevelt maintained extensive correspondence with political figures in the Democratic Party and tried to engage in entrepreneurial activities. At the party's national conventions in 1924 and 1928, he nominated New York Governor A. Smith for the presidency.

In 1928, Roosevelt was already able to abandon crutches during his public appearances. When Smith began persistently inviting him to run for governor of New York, Roosevelt doubted for a long time, but then agreed. As governor, Roosevelt anticipated many of the policies of his future New Deal. He fought to keep natural resources And rational use land fund, for state control over public services and the adoption of laws on social security. Authorized unemployment insurance and stated in the state legislature on August 28, 1931 that assistance to the unemployed should be considered by the government not as charity, but as a duty to society. Roosevelt founded the first state agency to provide social assistance led by G. Hopkins, who later became his closest adviser.

In the fourth round of voting at the Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1932, Governor Roosevelt was nominated as a presidential candidate. Under the able leadership of J. Farley, his candidacy received the largest number of votes in each of the ballots, but, according to the then rules of the Democratic Party, a two-thirds majority was required for nomination. It was received when W. Hurst and Speaker of the House of Representatives J. Garner secured the votes of California and Texas for Roosevelt. Garner became a candidate for the post of vice president.

The 1932 elections were America's reaction to the misfortune that befell the country. The anger and frustration of a vibrant people forced into idleness and poverty as a result of the economic depression drove the Republican Party out of power. Roosevelt won 42 states, receiving 472 electoral votes to Hoover's 59 (exclusively in the northeastern states). The winner's advantage was more than 7 million votes.

It was in the first hundred days after the inauguration, at the insistence of the White House, that a significant part of the New Deal bills was passed by Congress, and after this period, Roosevelt turned into a real leader of the nation. He was able to generate public support unprecedented in American history for a program aimed at achieving what its initiators called “a more democratic economic and social system.”

Before campaigning for re-election in 1936, Roosevelt added to the accomplishments of the New Deal with congressional approval of dollar devaluation and stock market regulation (1934), as well as Social Security and the Wagner Labor Relations Act (1935). Promising a continuation of New Deal policies and condemning "economic royalists" for establishing economic tyranny, Roosevelt and Garner inflicted a crushing defeat on Kansas governor A. Landon and Illinois publisher F. Knox, winning in all states except Maine and Vermont.

By 1936, Roosevelt had recruited into the Democratic Party many who had previously voted Republican or had not voted at all. He enjoyed the support of almost all groups of the population, except representatives of big business. During Roosevelt's second term, Congress advanced the New Deal program by creating the housing construction USA (1937) for the purpose of crediting local agencies and passing in 1938 the second agricultural regulation act and the Fair Labor Standards Act, which established a minimum wage for workers.

The Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional some of the New Deal laws, including the first Agricultural Adjustment Act and the National Industrial Recovery Act. Roosevelt decided to make changes to the composition of the court. He asked Congress to grant him the power to appoint new judges once members of the court reach 70 years of age. This proposal caused widespread protest and was rejected. But before it was rejected, the Supreme Court itself upheld the constitutionality of the Wagner Labor Relations Act and the Social Security Act.

Roosevelt's position was complicated by the fact that at the end of 1937 the economic situation deteriorated sharply. By 1938 the number of unemployed had increased to 10 million people. The President managed to obtain $5 billion from Congress to create new jobs and carry out public works. At the end of 1938, the economic situation improved, but unemployment remained high until the outbreak of World War II, when large-scale purchases of American goods by Great Britain and France began, and the army began to rearm. Roosevelt's attempt in 1938 to remove several conservative Democrats from Congress almost completely failed, and the Republicans achieved significant success in the midterm elections.

The president's foreign policy received recognition in Congress much later than his domestic policies. The only exception was the approach to Latin American countries. In furtherance of President Hoover's efforts to improve relations with states south of the US border, Roosevelt proclaimed the “Good Neighbor Policy.” With the help of Secretary of State C. Hull and his assistant (and then deputy) S. Wells, interference in the affairs of Latin American countries was stopped. In 1933, the texts of new treaties with Cuba and Panama were developed, changing their status as US protectorates. Marine units were withdrawn from Haiti. The Monroe Doctrine was transformed from a unilateral US policy into a multilateral policy for the entire Western Hemisphere.

Since 1933, Roosevelt used the White House platform to influence public opinion. Through his speeches and appearances at press conferences, he gradually convinced the public that Germany, Italy and Japan posed a threat to US security. In October 1937, after Japan's attack on Northern China, Roosevelt insisted on the need to take measures to isolate the aggressor countries. However, the public reacted negatively, and the president had to again convince the country of the importance of moving from a policy of isolationism to a policy of collective security. Meanwhile, in 1938 and 1939, he managed to achieve an increase in funding for the needs of the army and navy.

In April 1940 Germany occupied Denmark. On May 10, its divisions invaded Holland. Five days later, German troops punched a hole in the French defense line and within a week reached the English Channel, cutting off Belgian and British troops in Flanders. On June 10, Italy joined Germany in the attack on France. After 12 days, France capitulated. Massive raids on London began in September. The President's most important steps to assist allies were taken through executive branch funds. He returned the military aircraft to their manufacturers so that they could sell them to Britain. In August 1940, Roosevelt and British Prime Minister W. Churchill reached an agreement that for the supply of 50 American destroyers Since the First World War, Great Britain will provide the United States with 8 naval and air bases in British possessions from Newfoundland to South America.

During the Battle of Britain, Roosevelt ran for an unprecedented third term as president. His nomination caused quite widespread but impotent irritation among conservative Democrats, who were also dissatisfied with the nomination of Secretary of Agriculture G. Wallace for the post of vice president. Roosevelt was opposed by W. Wilkie, a lawyer and businessman, who wrested the Republican nomination from the hands of Senator from Ohio R. Taft, Senator from Michigan A. Vandenberg and T. Dewey from New York. Roosevelt won a landslide victory in the elections.

By December 1940, Great Britain found itself unable to pay cash for military goods. Speaking on the radio and at press conferences, Roosevelt actively promoted the Lend-Lease program, under which the United States could lease military equipment to Great Britain and receive payment for it after the end of the war. In March 1941, the corresponding law was approved by a significant majority in both houses of Congress. Economic resources America began to be used to defeat the Axis countries. Roosevelt also expanded the use of American military patrol vessels escorting merchant ships to Iceland and ordered American warships to open fire on Axis ships found in these waters.

During these months, Roosevelt's opponents, who created the America First Committee, accused the president of working to prepare the nation for war. During public debate, Roosevelt refused to discuss the issue and insisted that we're talking about about the security of the country. At the same time, he did everything through diplomatic channels to avoid war with Japan, which took advantage of the situation in Europe to invade French Indochina as a springboard for subsequent advances to Singapore and the Dutch East Indies. Negotiations were still ongoing when the Japanese attacked US forces at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Four days later, on December 11, 1941, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.

Two weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Churchill arrived in Washington. As a result of his negotiations with Roosevelt, a decision was made to organize joint Anglo-American military and economic planning and joint management various types activities. The difference in the positions of the United States and England manifested itself on the issue of actions in Europe. Roosevelt advocated a massive cross-Channel offensive as the fastest route to victory in the war. The British preferred an offensive through the Balkans - “the soft underbelly of Europe.” This strategy was of a military-political nature and was intended not only to defeat Hitler, but also to block the Soviets’ road to the Balkans. Ultimately, at the Quebec Conference in August 1943, the British were forced to agree that the invasion of Europe through Normandy was more important than operations in Italy and the Mediterranean. Both Western leaders met with Stalin at the Tehran Conference in 1943 and at Yalta in February 1945.

There was a lot that spoke in favor of convening the Yalta Conference and the meeting of the Big Three. It seemed advisable to agree on concerted actions against Germany and Russia's entry into the war against Japan. In addition, the Big Three needed to agree on the structure of the UN, the attitude towards states liberated from Hitler's tyranny, and the question of the future of defeated Germany. By that time, Western troops had not yet crossed the Rhine. Moreover, the German counteroffensive in December 1944 drove the Allied forces back to the Meuse River and prevented the implementation of plans for the spring offensive. Meanwhile, Soviet troops occupied all of Poland, most of the Balkan Peninsula and cut off East Prussia from the rest of Germany. The advanced units of the Russian army were located only a hundred kilometers from Berlin.

Western leaders convinced Stalin to agree to free elections in Poland and other countries in Eastern Europe liberated by the Soviet army. Under the agreement on the Far East, Russia regained the territory that had passed to Japan after the end of the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), and also received the Kuril Islands. This was the result of pressure from the American chiefs of staff, who demanded that the USSR be involved in the war with Japan. No one at that time had any idea about the real power of atomic weapons, and the chiefs of staff believed that without Russia's entry into the war it could last another two years and cost the United States 1 million human lives.

At Yalta, the Russians agreed to take part in the San Francisco conference on the establishment of the UN and withdrew some of their demands after Roosevelt said that the United States would not agree with them. There is no doubt that Roosevelt overestimated the possibilities of post-war cooperation with the USSR. His hopes that strong borders and membership in an efficient world organization would put an end to Russian expansion were dashed.

Roosevelt's health became a national concern during the 1944 re-election campaign, when he and vice presidential candidate Missouri Senator Harry Truman defeated New York Governor T. Dewey and Ohio Governor J. Bricker by 3.5 margins. million popular votes, receiving 432 electoral votes against 99 votes cast for rivals. Upon his return from Yalta, Roosevelt addressed Congress, and in early April he went on vacation to Warm Springs (Georgia). Roosevelt died in Warm Springs on April 12, 1945.

Materials from the encyclopedia "The World Around Us" were used

Literature:

Yakovlev N.N. Franklin Roosevelt is a man and a politician. Ed. 2nd. M., 1969;

Yakovlev N. N. FDR - a person and a politician. The mystery of Pearl Harbor // Fif. works. M., 1988.

Foster W. Essay political history America. Per. from English Ed. 2nd. M., 1955;

Sh e p u d R. E. Roosevelt and Hopkins through the eyes of an eyewitness. Per. from English T. 1 - 2. M., 1958.

Malkov V. L. Franklin Roosevelt. Problems of domestic policy and diplomacy: Historical and documentary essays. M., 1988.

Utkin A.I. Diplomacy of Franklin Roosevelt. Sverdlovsk, 1990.

Burns J. M. Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox. New York, 1956.

Burns J. M. Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom. New York etc., 1970.

Cole W. S. Roosevelt and the Isolationists, 1932-45. Lincoln ; London, 1983.

Davis K.S. FDR: The New Deal Years, 1933-1937. A History. New York, 1986.

Davis K. S. FDR: Into Storm, 1937-1940. A History. New York, 1986.

Freidel F. B., Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Rendezvous with Destiny. Boston etc., 1990.

Materials are presented on the website of the project "CHRONOS"

A wife, six children, a brilliantly launched political career - it would seem that a terrible disease should have put an end to everything. Senator in wheelchair? It was impossible to imagine this. But 7 years after his illness, Roosevelt was elected governor of New York. Franklin Roosevelt always knew that this was not the end point of his political journey. Two terms as governor gave Roosevelt enormous experience, but few believed that a wheelchair user could rise even higher. Roosevelt did it.

In 1932, Roosevelt won the presidential election, becoming one of the most active and productive US presidents. He is responsible for numerous economic and political reforms and transformations, establishing “good neighborly” relations with the countries of Latin America and the USSR. The same man also played the role of commander-in-chief of US troops in World War II. In 1944, Roosevelt was re-elected to a fourth term.

Despite his poor health and physical weakness, throughout the entire time the president actively participated in the negotiations; it was he who made a significant contribution to the historical decisions of the Crimean Conference; Roosevelt constantly tried to come to an agreement with the USSR. Who knows how much more benefit this could have brought to his country and the world? outstanding politician, but on April 12, 1945, he died of a hemorrhagic stroke.

The disease struck Franklin at the age of 39. In early August 1921, while vacationing on Campobello with his eldest sons, he rode a yacht around the bay. On one of the islands they noticed a forest fire and went ashore to put it out. Fighting the fire took a lot of time and a lot of stress. Tired Roosevelt said that best way restore strength - bathing. Heated, they rushed into cold water. Then we headed home in our wet bathing suits. There, Franklin, without changing clothes, began to sort out the mail, but after two hours he felt unwell. The temperature has risen. The next day his condition worsened, and on August 12 he could no longer get up: he was paralyzed to the chest. Eleanor and Howe found an experienced doctor who diagnosed polio.

Franklin very soon realized that he was struck by a serious illness, which could only be overcome by mobilizing all his will. From now on, no one saw it bloom. From hip to foot, his legs were shackled in heavy orthopedic devices. With them, leaning on crutches, he learned to walk again.

In the fall of 1924, Roosevelt visited the abandoned Warm Springs resort and hot mineral springs. The water turned out to be truly healing: after a month of treatment, Franklin became noticeably stronger and felt his feet for the first time in the last two years. He bought a resort and a nearby farm and began raising livestock and planting forests there. Roosevelt fell in love with Warm Springs, this place became his second home, and yet the dream of starting to walk again never came true.

IN recent years physician and researcher of Roosevelt's life, professor emeritus of pediatrics at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Dr. Armond S. Goldman, studying medical documents, questioned the generally accepted version that the US President was confined to a wheelchair after suffering from polio. Based on known facts from the life of one of the most popular American politicians, he expressed the opinion that his disease is more similar to Guillain-Barre syndrome. This disease appears to be of an autoimmune nature and affects primarily the nerve fibers extending from the spinal cord.

Expressing this opinion, which runs counter to what is written in all biographies, the famous doctor made a reservation, however, that at this stage it is not possible to completely rule out that the president did suffer from polio.

The scientist confirmed that significant stress before the disease, fever at the onset of the disease and constant paralysis fit into the clinic of polio. However, his age, the diagnosed form of polio and the pain that he had most likely indicate that the true cause of Roosevelt's disease was still Guillain-Barre syndrome.

Dr. Goldman's statement in the Journal of Medical Biography was received with skepticism by colleagues and historians. They indicate that age for polio is rare but not unique. In addition, the diagnosis was made at the height of the polio epidemic, and it is difficult to imagine that doctors who dealt with the disease constantly could confuse it with something.

However, as Armond Goldman notes, in any case, a correct diagnosis would have changed little. There was no effective treatment for Guillain-Barré syndrome at that time, so it would not have been possible to help the president avoid paralysis in any case.

Another doctor and researcher, a psychiatrist who studied the medical history of one of the greatest American presidents, claims that at the final stage of the Second World War he gave a significant part of Eastern Europe to Joseph Stalin because he was in deep clinical depression. The research by Alain Salerian, the former chief psychiatric consultant to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), challenges historians who say that even in the final months of his battle with poor circulation and polio, Mr Roosevelt remained realistic about the possibility that he might vomit back from the Soviet Army, which occupied a significant part of Europe.

Mr. Salerian's work supports the privately expressed views at the time of Winston Churchill, Mr. Roosevelt's ally at the Yalta Conference in February 1945, where the continent was divided, that a stronger American president could have saved Czechoslovakia and perhaps , Hungary.

Mr. Salerian, who based his conclusions on new interpretations of scant medical records and "recollections" of witnesses, said Mr. Roosevelt suffered from "chronic depressive conditions" after contracting polio in 1921. Charles Bohlen, a White House aide, said he observed Mr. Roosevelt in the Oval Office for 30 minutes shortly before Yalta, semi-comatose and drooling from his mouth. As Mr. Salerian argues, the president, who died two months later during his record fourth term in office, should have ceded his seat in Yalta to vice president and eventual heir Harry Truman. “For the last half century I have been studying, from a psychiatrist’s point of view, the reports that Mr. Roosevelt’s political heirs shoved into different corners,” Mr. Salerian said. “It was irresponsible of Mr. Roosevelt to represent our country in Yalta, and his illness , quite possibly had dire consequences.”

Andrew Johnsson, a history professor at the University of Southern California, is preparing his own study of Mr. Roosevelt's legacy. “Churchill could not understand why his old ally made so many concessions at Yalta,” he said. “The fact that Roosevelt was mentally and physically weak at Yalta explains a lot.”

Other historians disagree with this statement, stating that the line, which later became known as the “Iron Curtain,” was determined by the military position of the Soviet and American armies. "There are unanswered questions about his health, but I don't think there is any doubt about his sanity and his judgment," said Professor David Woolner, director of the Roosevelt archives at Marist College in New York.

ROOSEVELT FRANKLIN DELANO

(b. 1882 - d. 1945)

Franklin Delano Roosevelt is perhaps one of the most famous political figures of the 20th century. He was not just the President of the United States. He was a man who, through his example, proved the validity of the American dream. He brought the country out of the greatest economic crisis in its history and gave jobs and hope for the future to millions of people. He overcame the isolationist sentiments of the United States and brought it into the foreign policy arena (however, the events of subsequent decades showed that this state has rather specific ideas about foreign policy).

Roosevelt still stands out today from a series of political figures just as he once stood out from the “American nation” with its amazing collectivism, which is the flip side of an equally amazing individualism. Perhaps he became the president of America precisely because he was its true son. America needed a person who would revive its blood circulation and help abandon the stereotypes that had been ingrained into consciousness over the past centuries.

Roosevelt was an American by birth, but not by spirit. Born into a family with roots dating back to the first settlers who arrived on the Mayflower, he lived from childhood in an atmosphere of European rather than American culture. As a boy, Franklin often traveled around Europe, which he knew better than the United States, and even managed to study in Germany. He spoke English with a strong British accent, one of the many factors that separated him from the world of “ordinary Americans.” He smelled of aristocracy, which was considered a manifestation of unacceptable arrogance in a country of farmers, factory workers, and sailors.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882. By birthright, he was the darling of fate, for his family was part of the elite of New England society. Franklin was the only child in the family of 54-year-old James Roosevelt and his wife Sarah, who by that time was only 28 years old. This was James's second marriage, and his wife was a profitable match - Sarah brought her husband a million dollars as a dowry. Franklin's father led a quiet life as a farmer associated with high society countries. He was a farmer, a businessman, a socialite, a theatergoer, and a travel enthusiast (he constantly traveled to Europe, which at that time was the prerogative of only very wealthy people).

In general, Franklin was guaranteed a brilliant future, because he inherited a high social position and significant capital from his parents. In addition, James and Sarah gave their only and beloved son a diverse education, careful and caring upbringing. Reliable rear, the regularity of the family life, the care and love of his parents influenced Franklin, laying the foundation for his unshakable self-confidence and fearlessness in front of the world around him. This confidence, coupled with the highest self-discipline, served him well when he suffered from polio in 1921 and became disabled.

Acute epidemic polio - acute viral disease, which affects the central nervous system and can lead to paralysis of the limbs with muscle atrophy and lack of sensation. Poliomyelitis is a “childhood” infection, and therefore adults tolerate it extremely hard (as, indeed, other “childhood” diseases - measles, chickenpox, rubella) and the risk of complications increases many times over. Until the end of the 50s of the 20th century, when the vaccine appeared, polio was a formidable disease, epidemics of which different countries claimed thousands of lives: of those sick, about 10% died, and another 40% became disabled.

There was no polio vaccine in Roosevelt's time, and he became one of many victims of the disease epidemic that swept the United States in the early 1920s. It is unknown how or when Roosevelt contracted polio. But there is a version that he did not have it at all: A. Goldman claims that the future president became a victim of Guillain-Barre syndrome, although the presence of stress before the disease, fever at the onset of the disease and subsequent paralysis fit into the clinic of polio.

The researcher points out that Roosevelt fell ill at the age of 39, and polio is a predominantly childhood disease. In addition, the pain that tormented the patient indicates rather that the real reason Roosevelt's disease was still Guillain-Barre syndrome. This disease is considered unique, not so much because of its rarity (2:100,000 population), but because of the possibility of complete rehabilitation of the patient, despite the fact that sometimes the patient is impaired not only motor, but also sensory functions, up to complete extinction of tendon reflexes. In severe cases, the doctor sees a person lying motionless in bed, who cannot breathe, swallow, or even open his eyes at all, although the activity of the cerebral cortex is not impaired. Moreover, the disease is reversible. However, as A. Goldman notes, a correct diagnosis would change little. Methods effective treatment Guillain-Barré syndrome did not exist at that time, so it would not have been possible to help the future president avoid paralysis.

Dr. Goldman's sensational announcement was met with skepticism by his colleagues, who point out that polio is rare in adults, but such cases are by no means unique. In addition, the diagnosis was made at the height of the polio epidemic and it is difficult to imagine that doctors, who dealt with the disease constantly, made a mistake with the diagnosis - this could cost them their jobs.

So, at the age of 39, Franklin Delano Roosevelt fell ill with polio and, despite many years of attempts to defeat the disease, remained confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

Franklin Delano probably grumbled at fate for sending him such a painful ordeal, but from his appearance it was impossible to guess his suffering. He always radiated a love of life, once and for all putting on his face a mask of confidence in himself and his abilities. He forbade himself to complain about life and feel sorry for himself. He demanded the same from those around him - as a result, no one perceived Franklin as a cripple. He was a strong politician, a real leader with a bit of authoritarianism.

By the way, Franklin Roosevelt, by his example, confirmed the well-known truth that a person becomes disabled largely thanks to those around him. It is their fearful and pitiful glances, attempts to protect them from “excessive” and “harmful” loads (with the best intentions, of course), whispers behind their backs that largely form the idea of their own inferiority and limitations in comparison with people who do not have physical limitations. And perhaps it was precisely thanks to his illness that Franklin Roosevelt, having become President of the United States, paid so much attention to social problems, to people (however, mostly white) who, for various reasons, found themselves “on the sidelines” - after all, he learned from his own experience how subtle the line that separates a successful politician from a helpless cripple. And he showed how to overcome this line, becoming the only - to this day - head of state with serious physical limitations.

Roosevelt's illness changed not only himself, but also his wife Eleanor, and their entire family life. Roosevelt married Eleanor Roosevelt, his distant relative and niece of President Theodore Roosevelt, back in 1905. Their first daughter was born in 1906, and then within 10 years Eleanor gave birth to five more sons. A busy family schedule, the need to raise six children and run a home gave her an excellent chance to realize her leadership ambitions and gradually turned Eleanor from an inconspicuous housewife into a role model for many generations of women in the United States and around the world. Eleanor Roosevelt still remains an unattainable ideal for many “first ladies” of the United States, who are constantly compared to her.

Eleanor concentrated her efforts not only on her family, she led social activities: spoke out in defense of the oppressed and poor people of the United States, wrote articles, and was an excellent speaker and organizer. In 1922–1928 she actually became Roosevelt's deputy, who no longer left his wheelchair. Their marriage became a political partnership in which Eleanor, guided by Christian morality and socialist beliefs, was Roosevelt's conscience.

For Eleanor, the change in role meant more than entering the political arena as public figure. She allowed her to escape from loneliness - back in the First world war Roosevelt started an affair “on the side”, and this killed her love; the marriage only seemed ideal on the surface. However, when Franklin Delano became President of the United States in 1933, Eleanor realized that, despite all her talents and efforts, she would never be able to become her husband’s equal and trusted partner. The brilliant and witty Roosevelt attracted people to himself like a magnet, and then used them, demanding absolute loyalty from those around him, but he never revealed his innermost feelings to anyone. Even my wife.

Having graduated from an elite private school at one time, as befits the scion of a “noble family,” Roosevelt entered Harvard, where he studied until 1904. Then he became a law student at Columbia University, but did not graduate, preferring to take the bar exam and become an intern at the New York City Bar. However, Roosevelt was little interested in the details of business law - he was sufficiently wealthy and had a stable position in society so as not to worry about making money. Under these conditions, only political activity could become the object of his ambitious plans. And he got involved in politics - especially since he had before his eyes the example of Theodore Roosevelt, his distant relative. Anyway, Franklin visited the Oval Office at the age of five, when his father introduced him to President Cleveland.

Franklin Roosevelt developed a clear timetable for moving up: in a favorable year for Democrats, he would become a member of Congress from New York State. And then his career would follow the path blazed by Theodore Roosevelt: assistant secretary of the navy, governor of New York, president.

In November 1910, Franklin became a senator from New York and threw in his lot with the “progressive” Democrats. In March 1913, he received the coveted position of Assistant Minister of Navy in the government and spent seven years in this position. In 1920, the Democratic Party nominated him as their candidate for vice president, but a year later the Democrats were defeated, and Franklin himself suffered from polio.

We usually think of the president's famous wheelchair as an unfortunate obstacle to his career. Like, how much he could accomplish if, in addition to all his other advantages, he also had good health. It seems that in reality everything was different - if there had been no chair, Roosevelt’s life and career would have turned out differently, he would not have become such a strong and revered president. The disease overtook a tall, strong and energetic man on the eve of his fortieth birthday. It fell out of the blue just as he finally decided on his future career and took part in a political campaign as a candidate for the post of vice president. Roosevelt was faced with the question of what his entire later life. Will it be the realization of plans that have been brewing for four decades, or will he be left with only memories, regrets and complaints about the variability of fortune?

And he made his choice, linking his recovery with a return to big politics. From that moment on, weakness no longer had a place in his life. In 1928, Roosevelt became governor of New York. He traveled all over the state, sometimes climbing fire escapes on his hands, since his legs could not carry him up ordinary steps. And on November 8, 1932, after a fierce election battle with then-President Herbert Hoover, he was elected President of the United States. Hoover later wrote about these events: “This election fight was more than a rivalry between two men. It was more than a clash between two parties. It was a struggle between two points of view about the purpose and objectives of government."

The deep antagonism between Roosevelt and Hoover was a consequence of their contrasting views on the functions of the state. While Hoover appealed to the classic American virtues of individualism and free will, warning against the tyranny of the state, Roosevelt advocated the broadest possible government intervention in the planning of American life. This came as a shock to society: not a single politician has ever advocated such a powerful introduction of the state into all spheres of economic and social life in peacetime.

While still governor, in the spring of 1930, Roosevelt wrote: “There is no doubt in my mind that the country must radically change in his lifetime current generation. History teaches that nations which from time to time experience such a shake-up are spared revolutions.” He saw his mission as being both a guardian of American traditions and an innovator, a supporter of social progress. He never even thought of questioning the basic foundations of the well-being of US citizens: individualism and competition, private property, focus on increasing one’s own income, the separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial, freedom of speech and freedom of religion. But if the American system cannot serve the common good, then the government must intervene. Common sense and human decency require this.

Despite his sharp attacks against self-interested people at the top of the social pyramid, he was not an ideologist of class struggle, since this deeply contradicted his conviction that the president is, first of all, a defender of public interests. When asked about his political beliefs, Roosevelt answered with disarming simplicity that he was a Christian and a democrat - and that said it all.

The ideology proposed by Roosevelt turned out to be close to ordinary Americans, tormented by the economic crisis that went down in history as the Great Depression. They voted not so much for Franklin Roosevelt as a person, but for the confidence in the future that he promised them.

The White House has become a source of new ideas, driving force trade, the engine of social transformation, thereby embodying concern for the common good. For Americans, accustomed to relying only on themselves, the federal government and the president became an integral part of everyday life, an institution to which they could and should appeal. Roosevelt increased the importance of the institution of the presidency in the United States, the strength of which is not in doubt. This became possible due to the fact that Roosevelt led the country out of the Great Depression and extracted serious political and economic dividends from the US participation in World War II.

Roosevelt constantly balanced on the line that the US Constitution establishes the powers of the president. He was a real political artist - he expanded the legislative function of the institution of presidents, broke all records for using the veto power (in total, he vetoed 635 times). Roosevelt, of course, could not make a decision alone, and therefore negotiated with significant political figures and even, if necessary, put pressure on Congress using public opinion.

This use of public opinion became something of a trademark of Roosevelt's reign. He became the first president to actively use the “fourth estate” - the press and radio. His name never left the newspaper pages, not least thanks to his politics “ open doors” in relation to journalists accredited in Washington. From year to year, the semi-paralyzed president gathered journalists at a round table twice a week, who could ask him any question. These conferences became a model for how a politician could communicate with the press. Roosevelt was the first to conduct “radio fireside chats”, which won an audience of millions, and dialogue with the people was not a way of manipulation for him public opinion.

However, Roosevelt, being a strong leader, was not a good administrator - during his reign, the staff of the ministries was inflated (in 1933, 600,000 people were employed in the federal government, and in 1940 - already 1.5 million people; after Roosevelt, the number of government officials never increased fell below 2 million). Federal services duplicated each other, congressional control of the government weakened, and wide opportunities for abuse and corruption opened up. However, the intersection of responsibilities and areas of competence of government structures corresponded to the principle of “divide and conquer”, so close to Roosevelt, who reserved the right to make decisions final decisions, based on information from various sources.

Roosevelt - a seriously ill man - appeared on the national stage after the 1932 election and left it on the day own death- April 12, 1945. He served four terms as President of the United States - he was re-elected three times in 1936, 1940 and 1944. When Roosevelt took office, the United States was in an unprecedented crisis: in a country suffering from overproduction of food, cases of starvation were recorded among people who could not afford to buy these products.

The Roosevelt government immediately began to solve the problem of unemployment, which had reached incredible proportions. The means of temporarily improving the situation were direct welfare payments, as well as a universal government employment program, which, starting in March 1933, ended only with the entry of the United States into World War II.

Roosevelt's idea was simple: to remove able-bodied unemployed people who could not find a place in the private sector of the economy from the streets, to protect them from impoverishment. People received temporary work, fulfilling government orders that were not related to the production of new products, mainly at construction sites. Roosevelt's policies resulted in the construction of 122,000 public buildings, 664,000 miles of new roads, 77,000 bridges, and 285 airports. Even teachers, artists and writers got jobs - this is how Roosevelt won the support of people who shape public opinion. In total, the temporary employment policy alleviated the situation of 25–30 million people, including family members of the unemployed.

At the same time, large-scale government intervention was carried out in the affairs of agriculture and the industrial sector, which suffered most from the crisis of overproduction during the Great Depression. For the first time in US history, employees were given the right to negotiate wage rates, the length of the working day and the level of the minimum wage were established, and the labor of children under 16 years of age was completely prohibited. The decisive step was the Social Security Act of 1935, which introduced unemployment insurance and old-age pensions, although health insurance was introduced much later.

To this day, historians and economists debate how successful Roosevelt's New Deal was, since full employment and a surge in production were only possible thanks to World War II. Analysts argue that the New Deal would have foundered without her. National and racial minorities, people who did not have US citizenship, remained outside the framework of the “new course”. The New Deal failed to change the income structure and reduce the gap between the earnings of the richest and poorest sections of society - it remained huge. The influence of monopolies and concerns has weakened, but has not disappeared.

One way or another, Roosevelt went down in history as the man who defeated the Great Depression. At the same time, the successes of the “New Deal” are considered to be Roosevelt’s merit, and his failures are attributed to the insurmountable barriers that the US political-economic and bureaucratic system placed before the president. Reorganization failure Supreme Court and the unsuccessful attempt to get rid of the Conservative opposition in his own party after the victory in the 1936 elections are the most striking examples. These attempts, which were supposed to intensify the implementation of the New Deal policies, failed, as Roosevelt overestimated his capabilities and the degree of influence on events.

Roosevelt's main achievement was that he breathed new strength and faith into a nation that had lost heart, lost hope, and had no reliable guidelines. The only thing people now had to fear was their own fear.

Roosevelt was probably the first globalist - the interdependence of all states of the world was the cornerstone of his foreign policy. The United States should not turn inward, since the security and common good of the country were inextricably linked to the fate of Europe and Asia. True, in order to remain president and not lose the support of voters, Roosevelt was forced to give in to isolationist sentiments. US citizens naturally wanted to isolate themselves from Europe, where the war was going on.

The American Congress, by passing the Neutrality Act, did what Hitler had tried in vain to achieve in 1940 with the Three Power Pact, the attack on the Soviet Union in 1941, and the alliance with Japan: keep America out of Europe. Military operations intensified in Eurasia, and Congress added to the list of foreign policy activities prohibited during periods of war and crisis. Roosevelt's powers under acts passed by Congress and supported by public opinion were minimal.

At the same time, Roosevelt understood that the war would sooner or later end and a redistribution of spheres of political influence would begin. The United States could not stand aside from the division if it wanted to remain the great power that it was in the minds of American citizens. Roosevelt was aware that if he wanted to gain freedom of action in foreign policy, he must change the “sense of threat,” the American people’s perceptions of the potential of National Socialist Germany. He must demonstrate to his people that the belief in the possibility of isolation in Fortress America is a dangerous illusion. Preparedness for war - industrial, economic and psychological - was the most important goal of his foreign policy until 1941.

Roosevelt acted very skillfully. To avoid being suspected of spreading his views through “administrative resources,” he relied on the creation of so-called “information departments,” the sole purpose of which was supposedly to inform the American people about the international situation. The government was joined by Hollywood, documentary film studios, radio stations, newspapers and magazines, working to destroy the illusion of US security.

Roosevelt disseminated his global vision and views on the future role of the United States in the world. He shared the view of Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan that the balance of power in Europe was vital to the United States. He believed that only a free world economy could support a sustainable world. Hitler threatened everything: the balance of power in Europe and the world, the free economy. Roosevelt insisted with manic insistence: the right of peoples to self-determination and the subordination of states to the principles of international law are inseparable. Violence and aggression as a means of changing the status quo are illegal.

He understood war as a battle between aggressors and peaceful nations, between liberal democracy and barbarism, between citizens and criminals, between good and evil. Roosevelt ruled out the possibility of concluding peace treaties with the “forces of evil,” knowing at the same time that the United States must enter the war. Two days before Pearl Harbor, he ended a traditional radio fireside chat with the phrase: “We will win the war, and we will win the peace.”

At the same time, Roosevelt was forced to take into account public opinion and pretend to believe that the assistance the United States provided to its allies would protect the country from war. The gap between Roosevelt's own understanding of foreign policy and public opinion became increasingly noticeable and reached a critical level. And then the Japanese carried out an air raid on Pearl Harbor, and Hitler declared war on the United States. The country entered the war.

The contradiction between Roosevelt's beliefs and his actions gave rise to the myth that he allegedly knew in advance about the Japanese attack on the US Pacific fleet, but deliberately did not take any action. Whether this is true or not is unknown, but the fact is clear - the raid on Pearl Harbor made it easier for Roosevelt to solve foreign policy problems.

When the United States entered the war, the 61-year-old Roosevelt faced new problems. The transition to a war economy, the functions of the commander-in-chief, negotiations with allies, “conference diplomacy,” the opening of a second front, the division of post-war spheres of influence - all this physical and psychological stress undermined the president’s strength so much that by 1944 his weakness was obvious to everyone.

Roosevelt was forced to solve the problems facing him, constantly justifying himself by public opinion, which, having not given him freedom of action in the war, reserved the right to constant criticism. In addition, Roosevelt had to constantly remember the Congress and the elections of 1944. In this regard, the American president was much less mobile than Winston Churchill, not to mention Stalin and Hitler.

Roosevelt was implacable and ruthless in everything that concerned the interests of the American people - he had to win the war as quickly as possible. possible application equipment and minimal human losses. He needed the Soviet Union (Roosevelt's policies towards the USSR were often criticized after 1945). More precisely, not so much in the Union as a state, but in Russian soldiers - it is calculated that for every American who died in that war, there were 15 German lives and 53 - Soviet soldiers. Already in 1942, Roosevelt knew “that the Russian army would kill more enemies and destroy more military equipment"than the armies of all member states of the League of Nations.

The inevitable conclusion followed from this that the influence of the Soviet Union after the joint victory would be incomparably higher than in 1939. No one will be able to prevent the fact that after the victory the USSR will become a powerful Eurasian power, and world politics will depend on cooperation with the Soviet Union. It was impossible to escape this logic of power; Roosevelt and Churchill saw this very clearly.

However, Roosevelt believed that cooperation between the USSR and the Atlantic Alliance could be achieved on American terms. Roosevelt was already preparing to run the postwar world order. In his imagination, old boundaries were erased and new ones were drawn. Germany was divided into small states, as if the single country was the creation of Hitler. East Prussia went to Poland, the Baltic states were left to Stalin, fortunately the USSR occupied an important place in the plans for the post-war reorganization of the world. But the main product of Roosevelt's geopolitical thinking was Wallonia - a state that had never existed in history, which was supposed to become a buffer between Germany and France. Most of Wallonia was formed at the expense of France (it is not surprising that the French still do not like the United States).

Control over the post-war world was assigned, according to Roosevelt, to the four global “policemen” - the USA, the USSR, Great Britain and China. There were no special hopes for democracy in the states entrusted to police supervision: nuclear bombing became a means of punishing aggressors. Hiroshima and Nagasaki happened under Truman, but they were prepared by Roosevelt.

Three more important events that completed the formation of the new world occurred after Roosevelt’s death: the creation of NATO; implementation of the Marshall Plan; Suez crisis.

Roosevelt himself did not live to see the start of the restructuring post-war world three weeks. He planned new world and was forced to leave him without even seeing him. The sources do not answer the question of whether Roosevelt continued to believe in the common goals of the Allies in the last months of his life. The objective reality is this: after Roosevelt’s death on April 12, 1945, which occurred from a cerebral hemorrhage, everything that he began to build collapsed - from political cooperation with the Soviet Union to a new world tailored according to US patterns.

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Roosevelt is the only person in US history to be elected president four times. His name is strongly associated with the New Deal reforms, the formation and strengthening of the anti-Hitler coalition, the military successes of the Allies, plans for the post-war world order and the idea of creating the UN. Franklin Roosevelt managed to contrast the deadening canons with life-giving common sense. And he became, perhaps, the greatest president of his country in the twentieth century. A president doomed to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

Early life

The future president was born into the wealthy and respectable family of James Roosevelt, whose ancestors emigrated from Holland to New Amsterdam in the 1740s. Their descendants became the ancestors of two branches of this family, one of which produced US President T. Roosevelt, and the other - Franklin Roosevelt. Roosevelt's father owned the Hyde Park estate on the Hudson River and substantial stakes in a number of coal and transportation companies. Roosevelt's mother, Sarah Delano, also belonged to the local aristocracy. As a child, Roosevelt traveled every summer with his parents in Europe (so he had a good command of foreign languages) and vacationed on the New England coast or on the Canadian island of Campobello (near East Port, Maine), where he became interested in sailing.

Start of a career

In 1914 he attempted to become a senator in the US Congress, but failed. In 1920, under the slogan of the United States joining the League of Nations, Roosevelt ran from the Democratic Party for vice president of the United States together with presidential candidate J. Cox. In 1921, Roosevelt contracted polio and was partially paralyzed. Limited physical capabilities did not narrow his range of interests. Roosevelt maintained extensive correspondence with political figures in the Democratic Party and tried to engage in entrepreneurial activities. In 1928, he was elected governor of New York, paving the way for the White House.

Having served two terms as governor, Roosevelt acquired very valuable experience that was useful to him during his presidency. In 1931, at a time of worsening economic crisis, he created the Temporary Emergency Administration in the state to provide assistance to the families of the unemployed. The tradition of communicating with voters via radio (the famous “fireside chats”) also dates back to Roosevelt's governorship.

White House

In the first hundred days of his presidency (beginning in March 1933), Roosevelt implemented a number of important reforms. The banking system was restored. In May, Roosevelt signed legislation creating the Federal Emergency Hunger and Unemployment Relief Administration. The Farm Debt Refinancing Act was passed, as well as the Agricultural Recovery Act, which provided for government control over the volume of agricultural production. Roosevelt considered the Industrial Recovery Act the most promising, which provided for a whole range of government measures to regulate industry.

In 1935, important reforms were carried out in the fields of labor, social security, taxation, banking, etc.

The impressive victory in the 1936 election allowed Roosevelt to advance in the areas of civil engineering, wages, and labor laws in 1937–38. The laws adopted by Congress on the initiative of the president were a bold experiment in government regulation with the aim of changing the distribution mechanism of the economy and social protection of the population.

Roosevelt's pre-war foreign policy was distinguished, on the one hand, by flexibility and realism, and on the other, by inconsistency and extreme caution. One of the foreign policy initiatives in the first months after Roosevelt came to power was the diplomatic recognition of the USSR in November 1933. In relations with Latin American countries, the “good neighbor” policy was proclaimed, which contributed to the creation of an inter-American system of collective security.

However, fear for the fate of domestic political reforms and the reluctance to bind the United States with any obligations in a difficult international situation contributed to the fact that Roosevelt’s foreign policy was of a neutral nature (i.e., it ignored the differences between the aggressor and the victim). As a result of non-intervention in the Italo-Ethiopian conflict (1935) and the Spanish Civil War, legitimate governments were prevented from purchasing American weapons and ammunition in the fight against the well-armed powers of the Berlin-Rome Axis. Only in November 1939, when the war in Europe was already raging, Roosevelt achieved the lifting of the arms embargo and began to pursue a policy of helping victims of aggression.

World War II

Hitler's blitzkrieg in Europe and Roosevelt's third consecutive victory in the 1940 elections intensified American aid to Great Britain. In early 1941, the President signed an Act for Further Strengthening the Defense of the United States and Promoting Other Purposes. The Lend-Lease Law applied to the USSR, which was granted an interest-free loan in the amount of $1 billion.

Roosevelt sought to limit himself to arms supplies for as long as possible and, if possible, to avoid large-scale US participation in the European war. At the same time, under the slogan of “active defense,” an “undeclared war” with Germany was going on in the Atlantic since the fall of 1941. It was allowed to conduct targeted fire on German and Italian ships that entered the US security zone, and articles of neutrality legislation that prohibited the arming of merchant ships and the entry of American ships into combat zones were repealed.

The attack on December 7, 1941 by Japanese planes on the American air base at Pearl Harbor in the Pacific Ocean came as a surprise to Roosevelt, who in the last months of 1941 tried to delay the inevitability of war with Japan through diplomatic negotiations. The next day, the United States and Great Britain declared war on Japan, and on December 11, war was declared on the United States by Germany and Italy. Roosevelt, in accordance with the Constitution, assumed all the responsibilities of commander in chief in wartime. He made a lot of efforts to strengthen the anti-Hitler coalition, attaching great importance to the creation of the United Nations.

On January 1, 1942, the United Nations Declaration was signed in Washington, establishing this union in the international legal order.

Showing special attention to issues of post-war peace settlement, Roosevelt for the first time at the Quebec Conference (1943) outlined his project for the creation of an international organization and the responsibility of the USA, Great Britain, the USSR and China (“four policemen”) for maintaining peace.

Re-elected in 1944 for a fourth term, Roosevelt made a significant contribution to the historical decisions of the Crimean Conference (1945). His realistic position was dictated by a sober consideration of the current military-strategic and political situation in connection with the successful advance of Soviet troops in Eastern Europe, the desire to negotiate the USSR's entry into the war with Japan and the hope for the continuation of post-war American-Soviet cooperation.

Afterword

Most Americans had no idea that Roosevelt was disabled. No one could imagine that the first joyful moments of Roosevelt's new morning were associated with a request to a servant. Whatever they say about the American press, it retained its honor in that it never published a photo of the president revealing his sad secret. The vast majority of the American people have never seen a picture of him in a wheelchair or on crutches.

The great actor Gregory Peck, as a boy, waited for Roosevelt's arrival at the port to see the president “live.” At the dock, it was impossible to hide the true state of affairs - Roosevelt was carried off the side of the ship, and the amazed Peck began to sob. Then something unimaginable happened. Roosevelt settled into a chair and quickly calmed the sullenly silent crowd. He took the hat in his hands, placed the cigarette in the mouthpiece, raised the mouthpiece with a movement of his lower cheekbone, and waved to the crowd, addressing them with his famous serene smile. Peck recalls that the tears dried up and he began to applaud the president, who with every gesture said that he was fine, that if he did not see the tragedy in his existence, why should others see it? Courage is always rewarded. In the small port, the small crowd fully appreciated the man's composure. And pity turned into admiration.

Franklin Roosevelt had a God-given trait - ineradicable optimism. “In the evening, when I lay my head on the pillow - it happens quite late - and I think about everything that has passed before me throughout the day, about the decisions that I have made, I say to myself: well, I did the maximum that I could. capable. Then I turn over and go to sleep.” The country needed to regain lost confidence, and this character trait of Roosevelt turned out to be the most necessary for his country, which was going through the greatest economic depression in its history and through the bloodiest world war.

“People must have the courage to seek a means of their own salvation. It doesn’t matter what the remedy is.” Those who expected to see rigid consistency, linking political course with ideology, were clearly disappointed by Roosevelt and his political philosophy. He changed his economic plans at the same speed as the cure for the polio that left him disabled. He tried a variety of measures - direct government funding, a public works system, industrial regulation, etc. etc. There were two things he had never tried: pessimistic idleness and delight in the status quo.

On April 12, 1945, the president died of a cerebral hemorrhage. He was buried in Hyde Park. When Roosevelt passed away, even the far from sentimental New York Times thought it possible to write: “And centuries from now people will thank God for FDR’s years in the White House... The pronounced, fresh and spontaneous interest expressed by “as natural as breathing is to the troubles and difficulties, disappointments and hopes of the little man, of modest people.”

Gilenya is better at reducing relapse rates than Takfidera or Abagio. Gilenya (fingolimod) is associated with significantly lower year-over-year relapse rates in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis compared to Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) or Aubagio (teriflunomide), according to the study. All three therapies showed similar effects on disability.

The study, “Comparison of fingolimod, dimethyl fumarate, and teriflunomide in multiple sclerosis,” was published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry.

Oral immunotherapies Novartis Gilenya, Biogen Tecfidera and Sanofi Genzyme Aubagio, are currently the standard therapy for the treatment of RRMS. But although these treatments are effective in changing MS activity, there is no study comparing their effectiveness with each other. For MS patients, this is a very important point, because if a drug change is necessary (for example, due to lack of tolerance), the decision about more appropriate therapy must be based on scientific evidence.

To address this issue, the team used an international observational MS cohort study to identify patients with RRMS who were treated with Gilenya, Tecfidera, or Aubagio for at least three months.

Tremors are involuntary, uncontrolled movements of body parts.

The patient may experience tremors as twitching or trembling, shaking movements. Tremor is a common symptom that occurs in many neurological conditions, including Parkinson's disease and MS. It can also appear in families in the absence of neural injuries, diseases and predisposition. In multiple sclerosis, tremors are usually associated with ataxia, which is a problem with coordinating body movements.

In multiple sclerosis, the most common type of tremor is intention tremor or cerebellar tremor. This is a tremor that gets worse when using the affected limb, such as when the hand shakes, if the patient reaches for an object or tries to touch his nose. Some people with MS may experience postural tremors, which is when the person maintains a certain posture, such as sitting upright.

Other names: natalizumab.

Tysabri is a disease-modifying multiple sclerosis drug (DMD) for very active relapsing-remitting MS.

The patient takes Tysabri as an intravenous infusion (drip) once every four weeks, the drug reduces the number and severity of relapses. It is believed that tysabri reduces the number of relapses by approximately 2/3 (70%) compared to taking placebo.

Common side effects of the drug include dizziness, nausea, hives (skin rash), and shaking.

Treatment with Tysabri may increase the risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a rare brain infection that can cause severe disability or even death.