I was watching the History Channel on television today, and was treated to a day of programs about the Presidents of the United States. There were about six hours devoted to mini-biographies of all the men who served in the office, from George Washington to George W. Bush. This programming served as a precursor to a new documentary that premiered recently called “FDR: A Presidency Revealed.” This program offers new insites to the man who served in the office longer than anyone ever has, or ever will. The reason for the program debuting now is that this past week marked the 60th anniversary of his death at Warm Springs in Georgia. The site we visit today takes a look at the nuts and bolts of what it means to run the Presidency and the country by visiting the site of this great man.

The site we visit today is the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library & Museum, located in the President’s hometown of Hyde Park, New York. This was the first Presidential library, and the only one that opened when the President was still in office, and is located next to the Roosevelt family home, Springwood. Here you cannot only explore the term of the President, but view the actual documents that were created during his administration.

[Continue reading The Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum]

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 - April 12, 1945), 32nd President of the United States, the longest-serving holder of the office and the only man to be elected President more than twice, was one of the central figures of 20th century history. Born to wealth and privilege, he overcame a crippling illness to place himself at the head of the forces of reform. He became and remains a hero to liberals and a hated figure to conservatives. His family and close friends called him Frank. To the public he was usually known as “FDR.”

Roosevelt’s inspirational leadership helped the United States recover from the Great Depression, although he had no consistent economic policy and the benefits of his New Deal programs are doubted by many economists. In World War II he led the coalition of Allied powers that defeated Nazi Germany and the Japanese Empire, but aspects of his leadership, particularly what is seen as his naive attitude toward Joseph Stalin, are criticized by some historians. Finally his vision of an effective international organization to preserve peace was brought to fruition as the United Nations after his death. [Encyclopedia Lockergnome]