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Franklin D. Roosevelt | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | January 30, 1882 Hyde Park, New York, United States |
| Died | April 12, 1945 (age 63) Warm Springs, Georgia, United States |
| Political orientation | Social democracy Imperialism |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Eleanor Roosevelt |
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945), commonly known as FDR, was a Statesian politician who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 to 1945. He previously served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy from 1913 to 1920 during the First World War and as Governor of New York from 1929 to 1932. Roosevelt is the longest serving U.S. president and the only one to serve more than two terms.
He viewed the outside world as a threat and encouraged militarism that continued into the Cold War after his death.[1]
Family[edit | edit source]
Roosevelt's grandfather, Warren Delano, became rich from the opium trade in China.[2]
Pre-presidency[edit | edit source]
Giuseppe Zangara shot at Roosevelt in Miami 17 days before his inauguration. He missed Roosevelt but hit and killed Antonín Čermák, the mayor of Chicago.[3]
Presidency[edit | edit source]
Foreign policy[edit | edit source]
The Roosevelt era corresponded with a awareness in the U.S. that in regards to Latin America, direct intervention was becoming too costly and supporting comprador elites was more efficient. To this end Roosevelt introduced the Good Neighbour policy, which spouted proclamations of peace whilst supporting right wing dictators to allow the Statesian bourgeoisie to exploit their resources. Examples of this included repealing the Platt Amendement in 1933, which had essentially made Cuba a U.S. protectorate, only to back Fulgencio Batista against a left wing Cuban government from 1940, along with supporting dictators such as Anastasio Somoza García of Nicaragua and Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic.[4]
Second World War[edit | edit source]
In 1940, Roosevelt made an agreement with Winston Churchill to give the UK 50 destroyers from the First World War in exchange for 99-year leases for U.S. military bases in eight British colonies: Antigua, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Jamaica, Newfoundland, Saint Lucia, Trinidad, and Guyana. He compared this action to Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase. It was the first U.S. expansion into British territory since the War of 1812.[5] Presidential candidate Wendell Wilkie criticized him for taking this action without approval from Congress.[6]
Towards the end of the Second World War, Roosevelt stated that he's "more thirsty than ever for German blood," and suggested the idea of castrating Germans.[7]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Vine 2020, p. 280.
- ↑ Vine 2020, p. 206.
- ↑ Ed Rampell (2022-03-18). "Oliver Stone Criticizes Stephen Sondheim for Promoting Lone JFK Assassin Theory in Broadway Musical “Assassins”" CovertAction Magazine.
- ↑ Livingstone, Gloria (2009). America's Backyard : The United States and Latin America From the Monroe Doctrine to the War on Terror: 'The Monroe Doctrine to the Second World War'. Zed Books. ISBN 978-1-282-30408-6
- ↑ Vine 2020, p. 222–8.
- ↑ Vine 2020, p. 235.
- ↑ “While toward the end of the war F.D. Roosevelt insists he’s “more thirsty than ever for German blood” because of the atrocities they committed, and even entertains the idea, for some time, of “castrating” such a perverse people, Stalin’s position is quite different;”
Domenico Losurdo, David Ferreira (2020). Stalin: The History and Critique of a Black Legend: 'How to Cast a God into Hell: The Khrushchev Report; Lacking “Common Sense” and “The Mass Deportations of Entire Populations”' (p. 29). [LG]
Sources[edit | edit source]
- Vine, David (2020). The United States of War. Oakland: University of California Press. ISBN 9780520972070 [LG]