Like his cousin, Franklin considered himself a friend of working people, but he seems to have had less instinctive feel for their plight than TR. it was his wife Eleanor who was his real social conscience, while Teddy had gotten his feel for the working class man from his exploits in the West, his command of the Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War, and his time as police Commissioner when he walked the streets of New York at night to observe policemen on their beat.

Franklin also had to overcome physical challenges, at least as severe as those that plagued cousin Theodore. He was struck with poliomyelitis in 1921 and never walked again. But he fought his handicap with tenacious courage, and many of his biographers believe that the effort strengthened his character as well as his body.

Elected in his own right in the depths of the depression in 1932, he was reelected three times, the only president to serve more than two terms. His New Deal program, although it did not end the depression, gave the American people hope and the feeling that their government was trying to do something to help them. His leadership in World War II, while clouded with speculation about his motives or tactics, nevertheless carried the United States to a smashing victories over Germany and Japan.

It is safe to say that Franklin Roosevelt had two separate presidencies, one during the Depression, the other when the world was at war. Like his cousin Theodore, he left a permanent mark on the office of President and on the United States itself.