UNION PRESS.COURIER PAGE SEVEN Thursday, April 19th, 1945, | Presidents Life | % Entire Nation Mourns Death Of Franklin D. Roosevelt; Vast Tasks Face Truman FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT JANUARY 30, 1882—APRIL 12, 1945. S THE guns of America’s fighting forces sounded ever closer the doom of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, Franklin Delano Roosevelt died in Warm Springs, Georgia, where he had been resting for 10 days. Death resulted from a cerebral hemorrhage at 4:35 p. m. on April 12. Mr. Roosevelt was 63. He had been President for 12 years, one month and nine days. The White House was announced as the site of the funeral, with interment at the family estate at Hyde Park, N. Y. Less than four months had elapsed since he had taken his his- toric oath of office for a fourth term. Only a few weeks before he had returned from the Yalta conference where in company with Marshal Stalin of Russia and Prime Minister Churchill of Great Britain he had labored to built an enduring peace. Fate denied Franklin Roosevelt the chance to enjoy the fruits of victory over the Axis. Yet history seemed destined to enshrine him as one of the immortal American Presidents. And every citi- zen who mourned the untimely passing of the Commander-in- Chief felt that he was a casualty of the war just as every G.I., Marine and Sailor who had fallen in battle. Never before had an American President died in wartime. Abra- ham Lincoln fell under Assassin Booth’s bullet just five days after the surrender of General Lee’s army at Appomattox in 1865. Woodrow Wilson lived to see victory over Germany in World War I, but he fought a losing battle for the League of Nations and died early in 1924, a defeated leader. Many historians believe Lincoln's great- ness might have been dimmed in the conflicts over reconstruction that followed the War Between the States, just as Wilson’s prestige was lost in the conflict over the league that followed World War I. Thus Franklin Roosevelt, dying at the height of his career just as vic- tory was to be achieved over Ger- many, seemed likely to live in his- tory as a great man. As the American people from Main Street to Riverside Drive mourned the death of Franklin Roosevelt, their prayers went up for his successor, Harry S. Truman. For on the shoulders of this slight, gray, 60-year-old Missourian had been laid a responsibility such as no American President had ever borne. What the consequences of the President’s death would be to the United States and the world, time alone “would tell. But as Americans recovered from their first shock at the news, they quickly determined two things. The war must be prosecuted to as speedy and victorious a finish as possible. Lasting peace must be estab- lished. And so, regardless of party or of past political differences, the peo- ple have rallied behind Mr. Truman. The new President faces the im- mediate task of directing American participation in the United Nations’ blueprints for a permanent world organization. He likewise faces the responsibility of establishing work- ing relations with other members of the Big Three, so that the per- sonal cooperation which existed be- tween Franklin D. Roosevelt, Josef Stalin and Winston Churchill in leading the Allies toward victory PRECEDENTS OUT: Throughout his career as Presi- dent, Franklin D. Roosevelt was known as the ‘precedent breaker.” That title was first conferred in 1932 when he flew out to Chicago from Albany, N. Y., to address the Demo- cratic convention that had nomi- nated him. It continued after his election as a result of his informal methods of transacting business. But®it reached a climax in his de- cision to seek a third term in 1940 and a fourth term in 1944. agrees HARRY S. TRUMAN 33rd PRESIDENT OF U. S. may be maintained in helping win the peace. He faces the long-range job of guiding the nation to postwar economic prosperity once Nazi Ger- many and Japan are finally defeated. Known as a plain, modest man who has not dramatized himself personally, President Truman nevertheless has dem- onstrated on many occasions that he can be a leader of force and determination. His work as chairman of the Truman com- mittee in the U. S. senate in- vestigating the conduct of the war is cited as an example of this. And his conduct of the Vice Presidency has shown that he can work successfully with political leaders of both parties in getting needed measures passed and in reconciling op- posing points of view. The 33rd President was born in Lamar, Mo., May 8, 1884, although the home of the family for four generations had been on a farm near Independence, Mo. : Served in World War I. 8 When World War I broke out, Truman became captain of Bat- tery D in the field artillery of the 35th Division and saw ae- tion at St. Mihiel and in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. \ Back in Independence, Truman and a war buddy opened a haber- dashery business. He married his boyhood sweetheart, Bess Wallace, and they have one daughter, . Truman later turned to politics for a career, which started with his electic. as County Judge of Jack- son county, Mo. In 1926 he becarne the presiding judge of Jacks.n county, with the endorsement of Tom Pendergast, political boss of Kansas City. He studied law at night and supervised the construction of a great highway system. Was Characterized By Vigorous Action ' Unlike the ‘“‘log-cabin’’ presidents, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was not born into poverty. When Franklin arrived at Hyde Park, N. Y., on January 30, 1882, he came into a family that had possessed wealth for many generations. The Roose- velts had been thrifty land-owners in the Hudson valley since the first of the family came over from Hol- land. On his mother’s side also there was a substantial fortune. Among his ancestors were many men who had served the state in various capacities. Young Franklin attended the very fashionable Groton school, where he prepared for Harvard university. After completing the liberal arts course he entered Columbia U. law school, from which he was gradu- ated in 1907. Two years earlier, however, he married his distant cousin, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt. Eleanor was a niece of Theodore Roosevelt, at that time in the Whte House. After two years of legal prae- tice, Franklin entered politics, running on the Democratie ticket for the New York state senate. He unexpectedly defeat- ed a strong Republican candi- date. From the beginning of his career he identified himself with _ reform movements, opposing the poverful Tammany organi- zation in the statehouse. He was re-elected in 1912, by which time he had become a leader of the anti-Tammany faction. Woodrow Wilson appointed Roose- velt assistant secretary of the navy. When World War I broke out Roosevelt proved himself an effi- cient administrator, handling bil- lions of dollars’ worth of contracts for ships and supplies. He served in this post throughout the war. Ran for Vice President. In 1920 the Democratic national convention chose him as running mate for James Cox. While cam- paigning for the vice presidency Roosevelt made many acquaint- ances valuable in later political life. Cox being defeated, F.D.R. returned to legal practice. The following year the great tragedy of his life struck him— infantile paralysis. The big, strong young man became a bedridden invalid. For months he lay without ambition, almost without hope. Slowly his pow- erful will took command, how- ever, and by persistence he partially regained the use of his muscles. It was during his convalescence at Warm Springs, Ga., that he determined to do what he could to eradicate the scourge that had almost ruined him. The ‘March of Dimes” campaign was the result. At the Democratic conventions of | 1924 and 1928, he aligned himself | with the group supporting Alfred | E. Smith, New York’s governor. | When Smith was nominated in 1928, | Roosevelt ran for governor of his |§ state and was elected. At the end of his two-year term he was again elected, this time by the greatest majority ever given to a New York governor. As governor he continued the ree form and improvement policies of his predecessor Smith. His achieve- ments attracted nationwide atten- tion. As the depression that began late in 1929 deepened, his efforts to control the mounting business failures, unemployment and dis- tress in his state revealed his abili- ties as a vigorous leader in grave times. ( Swept in as President. When the national convention met in Chicago in 1932 Roosevelt was quickly chosen. He was swept into office by a plurality of seven million votes, carrying 42 states. Both houses went Democratic. Before he could take office a wave of bank failures threat- ened the whole economic strue- ture. The famous “bank mora- torium” order, one of Roose- velt’s first official acts, closed all banks until they eould be re- organized on a sounder basis, thus preventing disastrous runs. In the spring of 1932 came the repeal of the 18th, or prohibi- tion amendment. Then came the National Industrial Recov- ery Act, or “NRA,” under which extensive emergency pow- ers were granted to the Presi- dent. A series of public works were authorized to combat un- employment, together with huge appropriations for direct relief. The numerous executive and leg- islative acts of this first term were approved in general as necessary in the face of widespread suffer- ing. A phrase from one of the President’s speeches, “a new deal,” developed into a title for the whole Roosevelt program. In 1936 the convention in Phil- adelphia nominated Roosevelt by acclamation en the first bal- lot. He carried 46 states in the elections. This second term ma- jority was so overwhelming that many New Dealers began to call it a “mandate from the people.” During this second term a great number of mea- sures were passed to increase the economic security of the in- dividual, particularly the work- ers, farmers and small busi- nessmen, We join the nation in mourning the loss of our leader . . . Franklin Delano Roosevelt The nation has suffered a stunning blow, a tragic loss, in the passing of its President and Commander-in-chief His death comes at a moment when hearts, including his own, were filled with hope for the speedy end of hostilities in Europe, and for the success of the imminent peace conference. As the full impact of this great loss makes itself felt throughout the nation and the world, it falls on each and every one of us to unite, with increased zeal, in the single purpose of carrying on in the great tasks still remaining . . . of winning both the war and the peace, May our new President be given the vision and judgment and help that will be needed to lead us in the accomplishment of these great tasks - John White Post, No. 779, Veterans of Foreign Wars Patton Aerie No. 1244, Fraternal Order of Eagles Patton Lodge, No. 488, Loyal Order of Moose Italian-American Club, Patton, Pa. Union Press-Courier
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