ROOSEVELT, FRANKLIN DELANO ), thirty-second President of the United States, was born at Hyde Park, N. Y., Jan. 3o, 1882. His father, James Roosevelt a wealthy landowner, vice-president of the Delaware & Hudson Railroad, and Democratic politician, held several minor dip lomatic offices under President Cleveland; his mother, Sara Delano, had sprung from a family of New York merchants and shippers. The upper Hudson Valley community in which Franklin D. Roosevelt was reared was devoted to sports, and he early learned to hunt to hounds, shoot, play polo and tennis, and manage an ice-boat. In summers at Campobello on the New Brunswick coast he made long cruises by catboat and yacht. European travel began when the boy was three and he learned to speak German and French fluently. Passing through Groton School, he entered Harvard in 190o and on graduation went to the Columbia Uni versity Law School in 1904. In March, 1905, he married Anna Eleanor Roosevelt of New York, a sixth cousin, the wedding being attended by President Theodore Roosevelt, who was uncle of the bride and fifth cousin of the groom. Thereafter the couple frequently saw President Roosevelt in Washington or at Oyster Bay. In 1907 Franklin D. Roosevelt completed his course at Columbia, was admitted to the bar, and began practise in New York City. His father had meanwhile died, and he combined his legal work with frequent visits to Hyde Park where he took an important position in business, philanthropic and social activities.
Contact with Theodore Roosevelt inspired the young man with an interest in politics; the Democratic leaders in Dutchess County saw in him a promising recruit. In 1910 they gave him the nomi nation for State Senator. Though only one Democrat had been elected to that post since 1856, by virtue of a pleasing personality, a strenuous automobile campaign, and a schism in the Republican party, he obtained a narrow majority. In his first year in Albany he attained prominence by leading a small band of Democratic legislators who refused to accept the Tammany Hall candidate for election to the U. S. Senate, William F. Sheehan. Declaring Sheehan unfit for the place by his character and close association with predatory traction corporations, Roosevelt held his fellow insurgents firm against the party caucus till a better candidate was substituted. The reputation for progressivism and independ
ence which he thus obtained was extended by his championship of reform legislation. In 1911 he was prominent in the New York movement for nominating Woodrow Wilson to the Presi dency, and in June, 1912, led an unofficial delegation of 150 men to the Democratic Convention in Baltimore, where he did effec tive work. Reelected that fall to the State Senate, he introduced some notable bills for protecting the farmers against unfair com mission merchants and stimulating rural co-operation. The in coming Wilson Administration offered him a choice of several mi nor posts; he accepted the Assistant Secretaryship of the Navy.
Spending the years 1913-1921 in the Navy Department, Mr. Roosevelt was the principal lieutenant of Secretary Josephus Daniels in administering naval affairs. During 1913-1916 he was an unwearying advocate of greater naval preparedness, producing many speeches and articles ; he set about converting useless navy yards into industrial plants for making naval supplies; and he and Mr. Daniels broke up an alleged combination of armour plate manufacturers. Before war broke out he had built up a small Naval Reserve on the basis of systematic civilian training. Dur ing the conflict he gave much attention to the submarine problem. He was one of the earliest and most enthusiastic advocates of the mine barrage between Norway and the Orkneys, refusing to heed American and British experts who pronounced it impossible ; and he was also largely responsible for the i io-foot submarine chasers, of which about 40o were built. In the summer of 1918 he had charge of the inspection of American naval forces in European waters and did much to promote co-operation with the British Admiralty. After the armistice he took charge of demobilization in Europe and helped dispose of naval supplies stored there. He returned to the United States on the same ship with Wilson (February, 1919) and began speaking for the League of Nations. The following year he received the Democratic nomination for Vice President, made approximately a thousand speeches, and after the Democratic defeat returned to New York to practise law.