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The statement published on the website only television station as part of a complete interview on 60 Minutes Overtime.

According to a transcript posted on the page that, Obama said he would retain his achievements as president against Lyndon B. Johnson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.

“I would put the accomplishments of the legislature and our foreign policy in the first two years of my administration against any president, except Johnson, FDR, and Lincoln, just in terms of what we’ve done in modern history,” Obama told Steve Kroft from CBS.

14. Born January 30, 1882 in Hyde Park, New York and died April 12, 1945.

13. F.D. Roosevelt was the first president to speak on television.

12. Was one of the eight presidents that died while in office.

11. The only American president elected to more than two terms (he served for 4 terms).

10. He was the first president to fly in an airplane.

9. FDR was the only child of James Roosevelt and his second wife, Sara Delano.

8. Franklin Roosevelt grew up in a wealthy family and often travelled overseas with his parents. His privileged upbringing included meeting Grover Cleveland at the White House when he was five.

7. Inoffice, which began March 4, 1933, Roosevelt instituted the New Deal—a variety of programs designed to produce relief (government jobs for the unemployed), recovery (economic growth), and reform (through regulation of Wall Street, banks and transportation).

6. During World War II, President Roosevelt served as Commander-in-Chief of the United States Armed Forces.

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5. He enjoyed reading books by Rudyard Kipling, Charles Dickens and Mark Twain.

4. His favorite meal was scramble eggs and fish chowder.

3. President Roosevelt died of cerebral hemorrhage on April 12, 1945 at the Little White House, his cottage at Warm Springs, Georgia.

2. A majority of polls rank Roosevelt as the second or third greatest president.

1. Reflecting on Roosevelt’s presidency, “which brought the United States through the Great Depression and World War II to a prosperous future”, said FDR’s biographer Jean Edward Smith in 2007.

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America was hurting during the great depression. From 1929 to 1933, unemployment in the U.S. increased from 4% to 25%, and manufacturing output decreased by one third. Prices fell by 20%, causing a deflation which made the repayments of debts much harder. The mining, lumber, construction, and farming sectors were hit especially hard, along with railroads and heavy industries such as steel and automobiles. When President Roosevelt was accepted in to office in 1932, he promised “a new deal for the American people”.

The First New Deal dealt with the immediate reform of banks and addressed the growing unemployment rate. Starting in 1933, Congress passed the bank act and the Economy Act. The Bank Act provided for a system of reopening sound banks under Treasury supervision, with federal loans available if needed. Three-quarters of the banks in the Federal Reserve System reopened within the next three days after being closed. Billions of dollars in hoarded currency and gold flowed back into them within a month, thus stabilizing the banking system. The economy act proposed to balance the “regular” (non-emergency) federal budget by cutting the salaries of government employees and cutting pensions to veterans by fifteen percent. It saved $500 million per year.

 The New deal also helped to create jobs for artisans, women, minorities and farmers. The Federal writers program provided jobs to be record keepers, folklore preservers and guide book makers. Other related programs were the Federal theater project and the Federal Art Project. Many women were employed on FERA projects run by the states with federal funds. The first New Deal program to directly assist women was the Works Progress Administration (WPA), begun in 1935. It hired single women, widows, or women with disabled or absent husbands. Many different programs were directed at farmers as well. The first 100 days produced the Farm Security Act to raise farm incomes by raising the prices farmers received, which was achieved by reducing total farm output.

The Second New Deal is thought of as part 2 to the New deal. It is characterized by a redistribution of wealth and many welfare programs to help out the needy. Roosevelt called for three major goals: improved use of national resources, security against old age, unemployment and illness, and slum clearance, as well as a national welfare program (the WPA) to replace state relief efforts. The most important programs included Social Security, the National Labor Relations Act (”Wagner Act”) and rural electrification. The Social Security Act gave assurance to people with disabilities while the The National Labor Relations Act Made working conditions better.

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Overall, The New Deals were defiantly an improvement to America. Some of the Acts and programs still live on even through today. The Deals brought America back from the tipping point and back in to normalcy.

As an example, the language and the rights used could be found in the principles of the old french socialist party, who had formed the government before WW2, and whose principles would end up being part of the preambles of the 4th and 5th republics’ constitutions, but also in the, admittedly symbolic, soviet constitution of 1936. These sentiments were repeated in the modern constitutions of Peru, Spain, Finland, Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria.

The speech

It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an American standard of living higher than ever before known. We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth—is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.

This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty.

As our nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.

We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. “Necessitous men are not free men.”[2] People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.

In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.

Among these are:

The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

The right of every family to a decent home;

The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.

America’s own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for all our citizens.

For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the wo

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945), also known by his initials, FDR, was the 31st President of the United States (1933–1945) and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war. The only American president elected to more than two terms, he facilitated a durable coalition that realigned American politics for decades. With the bouncy popular song “Happy Days Are Here Again” as his campaign theme, FDR defeated incumbent Republican Herbert Hoover in November 1932, at the depth of the Great Depression. FDR’s persistent optimism and activism contributed to a renewal of the national spirit, reflecting his victory over paralytic illness to become the longest serving president in U.S. history. He worked closely with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin in leading the Allies against Germany and Japan in World War II, but died just as victory was in sight.

In his “first hundred days” in office, which began March 4, 1933, Roosevelt spearheaded major legislation and issued a profusion of executive orders that instituted the New Deal—a variety of programs designed to produce relief (government jobs for the unemployed), recovery (economic growth), and reform (through regulation of Wall Street, banks and transportation). The economy improved rapidly from 1933 to 1937, but then relapsed into a deep recession. The bipartisan Conservative Coalition that formed in 1937 prevented his packing the Supreme Court or passing any considerable legislation; it abolished many of the relief programs when unemployment diminished during World War II. Most of the regulations on business were ended about 1975–85, except for the regulation of Wall Street by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which still exists. Along with several smaller programs, major surviving programs include the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which was created in 1933, and Social Security, which Congress passed in 1935.

As World War II loomed after 1938, with the Japanese invasion of China and the aggressions of Nazi Germany, FDR gave strong diplomatic and financial support to China and Britain, while remaining officially neutral. His goal was to make America the “Arsenal of Democracy” which would supply munitions to the Allies. In March 1941, Roosevelt, with Congressional approval, provided Lend-Lease aid to the countries fighting against Nazi Germany with Britain. With very strong national support he made war on Japan and Germany after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, calling it a “date which will live in infamy”. He supervised the mobilization of the U.S. economy to support the Allied war effort. Unemployment dropped to 2%, relief programs largely ended, and the industrial economy grew rapidly to new heights as millions of people moved to new jobs in war centers, and 16 million men and 300,000 women were drafted or volunteered for military service.

Roosevelt dominated the American political scene, not only during the twelve years of his presidency, but for decades afterward. He orchestrated the realignment of voters that created the Fifth Party System. FDR’s New Deal Coalition united labor unions, big city machines, white ethnics, African Americans and rural white Southerners. Roosevelt’s diplomatic impact also resonated on the world stage long after his death, with the United Nations and Bretton Woods as examples of his administration’s wide-ranging impact. Roosevelt is consistently rated by scholars as one of the top three U.S. Presidents.

Although America attempted isolationism, European and Asian affairs brought global 

tension that eventually hit the country’s traditional allies. An aim of World War I had 

been “to make the world safe for democracy”, but democracy in the 1930s was 

increasingly endangered. The roots of World War II lay in the totalitarian leaders of Asia 

and Europe and their agendas for expansion. 

Totalitarianism emerged in the Soviet Union, Italy, Spain, and Germany. The fascist 

leaders had expansionist goals and soon crushed neighboring societies. Italy invaded 

Ethiopia and established Italian East Africa. Meanwhile, Japan invaded Manchuria, 

seized Chinese land, and occupied French possessions in Southeast Asia.

In 1938 Europe, the war officially began when Germany’s Adolf Hitler invaded Austria 

and took Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland, which was home to 3.5 million ethnic Germans. 

Hitler claimed he was only “restoring rightful boundaries”, since Germany had lost 

territory in World War I. But Hitler had ideas of widespread domination. In 1939 he and 

Mussolini created the Rome-Berlin Axis alliance, a military agreement designed to last 

ten years. Japan entered the pact later that year. Hitler had the confidence to invade 

Poland in 1939. Poland’s allies, England and France, therefore declared war on Germany. 

America’s traditional allies were at war.

Initially, President Franklin Roosevelt limited his aid to arms sales, which were restricted 

in a neutrality act. But Hitler’s invasions continued. He took Denmark, Norway, and 

Holland, and the Belgian king surrendered his army shortly thereafter. And in June of 

1940, France succumbed to Nazi forces. The Axis alliance now dominated Europe from 

the North Cape of Africa to the Pyrenees. Great Britain’s Winston Churchill vowed to 

continue the battle for democracy.

Churchill soon needed military aid, and Roosevelt declared that the United States must 

become “the great arsenal of democracy”. By 1941, he officially ended the country’s 

isolationist stance by passing the Lend Lease Act, which lifted restrictions on supporting 

foreign troops with defense gear; the Act first appropriated $7 billion to lend or lease 

supplies to any countries the president designated. President Roosevelt also started to call 

US National Guard members to war training.

Next, the Americans built a base in Greenland. Then, stationed aboard warships near 

Newfoundland, Roosevelt and Churchill issued the Atlantic Charter in June of 1941. 

Although the US had not officially entered the war, the Atlantic Charter presented the 

two countries’ goals for a war against fascism. It included their disinterest in acquiring 

new territories through the war. Shortly thereafter, the US became involved in the years-

long Battle of the Atlantic.

The United States officially entered World War II in December of 1941. Japanese 

military leaders, led by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, attacked a US naval base in Pearl 

Harbor, Hawaii. The Japanese aimed to destroy the US fleet docked in the Pacific, thus 

leaving the Japanese free to pursue oil mines in the region. A series of aerial attacks by 

361 airplanes succeeded in compromising eight important warships. The air attacks also 

killed more than 2,300 people. The following day, President Roosevelt asked Congress 

for a declaration of war against Japan. Congress obliged. By the time of this official 

declaration, there were battles to fight on many fronts, but “Remember Pearl Harbor!” 

became a rally cry for the war.

History – The Tehran and Yalta Conferences

The Tehran and Yalta Conferences are the only two wartime meetings where the Big Three met to discuss on the World War 2 plans.

The >Big Three= is:       – Franklin D. Roosevelt (President of U.S.A.)

- Joseph Stalin (Premier of the U.S.S.R.)

- Sir Winston Churchill (Prime Minister of the U.K.)

The Tehran Conference in Tehran, Iraq was held on November 28 to December 1, 1943 and was the most significant meeting of them all. The planning of >Operation Overlord= (D-Day) and the territorial border adjustments of Poland and Germany were discussed. Although Churchill opposed initially, it was decided that the invasion of France which was Nazi occupied would take place in Normandie on May 1944.

The Yalta Conference in Yalta, Ukraine was held on February 4 to 11, 1945. Many things were discussed during this meeting. Since Germany was defeated in Europe, the Big Three discussed the restoration and the liberation of Europe: freeing the Jews from the Holocaust genocide, and the economical issues that were involved. Since the war in Japan was not yet over, Roosevelt=s main goal from this conference was to get Soviet participation of the Red Army against Japan. Stalin summed that the total costs of reparations from the war in Europe would be 20 billion, and he wanted 50% of it for the Soviet Union.

The Yalta Conference is significant in planning the post World War 2 period (Cold War). The division of Germany into 4 governing countries (France, U.S.A., U.S.S.R., and the U.K.), was discussed but was never final. Many other discussions helped set the stage for the Cold War once WWII ended. Stalin obtained all of his goals by taking advantage of Roosevelt=s weak health and Britain=s declining power.

Link with Animal Farm

In Animal Farm, the uniting between the humans and the pigs represents the World War II conferences. Here, Mr Pilkington represents Britain and the other men (farmers) are the capitalists (representing the United States). Napoleon represents Joseph Stalin and the rest of the pigs are the other soviet leaders. In the end of chapter 10, Mr Pilkington and Napoleon get into an argument: AYes, a violent quarrel was in progress. There were shoutings, bangings on the table, sharp suspicious glances, furious denials@ (Orwell 120). This argument is the fall of the union between the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom with the United States and this lead to the Cold War which would be demonstrated if the novel were to continue.

                In Hoovers second annual message to congress (Doc.B) Herbert Hoover states that the economy cannot be fixed by legislation or government intervention. He claims if people would not have bought stocks on margin, and received mortgages they could not afford.* People lived in Hoovervilles, also known as shanty towns,* and they had Hoover Blankets, a slang term for there empty pockets.* Hoovers main idea was  that the Government could not get the U.S. out of the depression. We must encourage outside groups to help people and get us out of the depression

                In Herbert Hoovers statement to the press in February of 1931, Hoover is telling the press how to prevent people from going hungry and cold.(DOC. C) He claims that he will boost federal construction work from 275,000,000 to about 750,000,000 a year. This is called the reconstruction Finance program and it is the depressions biggest problem because the government will not do anything.* Hoover claims this will work because people will end up relying on the government for everything and will not spend money they do not have.*

                In Presidential candidate Franklin Roosevelt’s speech to  the press,  FDR is telling of the problems of the Hoover administration.(DOC.E) Roosevelt’s plan once in office is to center everything in Washington, and to create plans to enact legislation to help people as quickly as possible, called the   100 days*. These new plans to fix the economy are called the New Deal.* Roosevelt also gave pep talks to the economy called Fireside chats.* Roosevelt’s main plan is to make all new spending to help the unemployed.*

                In the chart of the Unites States Government Finances between 1929-1941,(Doc.F) the U.S. was in a surplus in the years 1929-1930. This was the first two years of the crash when Hoover was president. He was a conservative and did not believe in deficit spending.* When Roosevelt took over, we ended up in a deficit because Roosevelt was a liberal and believed in deficit spending. He spent cast in a grander way  to help people get out of the depression.*

                In Franklin Roosevelt’s speech on his inauguration day, March 4, 1937,* he claims that he has had a partial victory on the war against the Great Depression. He says that there has been victories won, but the Unites States has to continue its course to solve the problems.(Doc. H) These claims in the document clearly present that Franklin Roosevelt was a liberal and Herbert Hoover was a conservative based on there ways that the presidents handled the Great Depression.

            In September 1929, the stock market prices fell gradually but the people were told by the government not to worry. Until on October 24, 1929, stock prices continued to get even lower. Investors were worried about their money and other people were worried about the economy and how it would affect them.

            On October 29, 1929, Tuesday, there was a collapse on stock markets that fell greatly and seemed to get even worse. People thought that it would go right back to normal but it did not and instead more stock markets crashed, which was also called and known as the Great Crash. That tragedy on Tuesday was known and called as Black Tuesday for its dreading event. After the stock prices fell, thousands of investors quickly rushed to get their money out of the stock markets – most were wiped out and some were recovered after a period of time.

            During the Great Crash, many results from it occurred. Thousands of investors lost their money in the stock markets before they had the chance to take it out; millions of people lost their jobs. Grocery stores began closing as well as banks. Farmers tried to lower the prices of the product that they wanted to sell, but it was not enough for the people to buy, and the money that the people paid for the products was not enough for the farmers as well. Millions of deaths occurred after the Great Crash. Even though stock investors tried to regain their losses, it was not enough to say everything was alright.

            Franklin D. Roosevelt became the United States President in 1933. He promised a “New Deal” under which the government would intervene to reduce unemployment by work-creation schemes such as painting of the post offices and street cleaning. Both agriculture and industry were supported by policies to limit output and increase prices. The Great Depression ended as nations augmented their production of war materials at the beginning of World War II. This increased production provided jobs and put considerable amounts of money back into circulation. In Germany Hitler developed a massive work-creation scheme that had largely removed unemployment by 1936. Rearmament, paid for by government borrowing, started in a major way. In order to control inflation, consumption was restricted by rationing and trade controls. By 1939 the Germans’ Gross National Product was 51 per cent higher than in 1929 which was due mainly to the manufacture of machinery and armaments (Pillai).

            By 1941, the United States entered WWII, which put an end to the Great Depression. The main and major cause of the Great Depression was the collapse of the stock markets.

1. Jimmy Carter: Was the first President that was born in a hospital.

2. Herbert Hoover: He was the first President to have a telephone in his office.  his son also had two pet alligators.

3. There have been 8 US Presidents that have died while in office.  They are William H. Harrison (1841), Zachary Taylor (1850), Abraham Lincoln (Assassinated in 1865), James Garfield (Assassinated in 1881), William McKinley (Assassinated in 1901), Warren G. Harding (1923), Franklin D. Roosevelt (1945) and John F. Kennedy (Assassinated in 1967)

4. Martin Van Buren: He was the very first US Citizen to become President.  He was born after the constitution came into effect after independence was won from England.

5. Gerald Ford: The only person to serve as President without being elected to either the Presidency or Vice Presidency.  This was due to what happened with Richard Nixon (Watergate) and Spiro Agnew who resigned

6. Ronald Reagan: Was the oldest man to be elected President at 69 years.

7. Ulysses Grant: Was the first President who ran against a woman for the Presidency.  He ran against Victoria Woodhull.

8. Franklin D. Roosevelt: Was the first President to appear on television.

9. Three Presidents have died on the 4th of July.  Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and James Monroe.  Jefferson and Adams actually died just a few hours apart.

10. Rutherford B. Hayes: First President to use a phone.  His phone number was 1.

Enjoy and there will be more to come.