Opinion Delving into the past: the legacy of Franklin D Roosevelt
Ninety years ago in March 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was sworn in as the 32nd president of the USA. Roosevelt (commonly known as FDR) had come to power at a uniquely perilous moment in both American and global history. At home, the American people were suffering deeply in the aftermath of the Great Depression which had started after the Wall Street Crash of 1929. FDR, a Democrat, had won a landslide election in 1932 by promising a “New Deal”, pledging to use government power to help save the population from the worst excesses of the slump. His predecessor, Republican President Herbert Hoover had become very unpopular after refusing to intervene to help ease the crisis.