by Franklin D. Roosevelt

Born in Hyde Park, New York, in 1882, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) grew up in a family that enjoyed both wealth and political power. (President Theodore Roosevelt was a fifth cousin.) After beginning a promising political career of his own, FDR was stricken by polio in 1921. His condition left him unable to walk, but he nevertheless pursued an active political life. In 1932, as the Democratic nominee for president, FDR defeated Herbert Hoover, under whom the nation had plunged into the Great Depression. Taking office in a time of national crisis, Roosevelt saw that one of his first tasks was to restore American morale and faith in democratic government. He set out to achieve this aim in his first inaugural address.

Events in History at the Time of the Speech

The Great Depression. The Great Depression struck in 1929 and lasted until World...