3.Franklin D. Roosevelt

His fight with polio gave him a strong character and he could use this to his advantage as he could show public he knew what it was like to suffer when dealing with the Great Depression
Charismatic personality helped reassure Americans what he was doing was right and would work- e.g fireside chats
Great communicator- e.g fireside chats or quarantine speech
Boundless confidence with political skills which helped him get his vission communicated and enacted
Broke the unwritten rule that a president shouldn’t serve for more than two terms, therefore making him one of the most significant presidents in the 20th century.

New deal brought about unprecedented government intervention for the first time. In 100 days he created 42 new agencies to follow his agenda of relief, recovery and reform.
Emergency Banking Relief Act- Brought back stability as well as people’s confidence in banks
Fireside Chats- Became a key turning point in how presidents communicated with the public and was further expanded under Kennedy. Also encouraged Americans to put money back into their banks and by April $1 Billion had been returned to bank deposits.
Social Security Act- First federal measure in providing old age pensions as well as aid for unemployement, and became an important precedent his successors like Truman built upon.
Wagner Act- first time federal government gave uions rights in law- set up to improve poor relations between employers and workforce
The New Deal Agencies- CCC provided work for 300,000 men, PWA built nearly 13000 schools and 50,000 miles of road while providing work for thousands.
Judiciary Reform Bill- Made Roosevelt be seen as a dictator, found 11 of his policies unconstitutional in 18 months

Came to power when US had returned back to an isolationist approach under the passives
Good Neighbour Policy- forced to continue on with Hoover’s policy due to the lack of support for entry into war - a Gallup opinion poll 1937 showed 95% of people opposed any involvement in war

Quarantine Speech- Warned the public of the dangers of neutrality and suggested a quarantine for the aggressors in war.
Neutrality Acts- ammended to introduce a cash and carry of armaments to countries at war, as well as allowing FDR to specify which areas were theatres of war, further exspanding presidential control.
Aided Britain in war effort- Introduced a lend lease and traded 50 US destroyers for 8 bases in Britain.

These attempts succesfully steered congress as well as the US population into supporting the war

Bombing of Pearl Harbour signified US entry into war. FDR became commander in chief and was responsible for guiding the largest war effort since Wilson during WWI - This represents a significant expansion of the federal government.
United Nations- After the war USA joined the United Nations which can be seen something similar to what Wilson had proposed with the League of Nations. This established the US president as the leader of the free world.
Unlike after WWI, USA remained on the world stage as a military and economic super power, which allowed others like Truman to build upon this.