With Presidents' Day officially here, the two former Commanders in Chief who probably get mentioned most often are George Washington, the first president, and Abraham Lincoln, the one who preserved the Union during the Civil War. However, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president, isn't one to be overlooked; He helped shepherd the U.S. out of the greatest economic collapse in its history, created social programs that are still essential to the American fabric and led the country through the Second World War. Roosevelt remains the only person elected more than twice to the U.S. presidency, winning four elections handily and doing so while dealing with a disability that left him unable to walk. With so many hugely impressive achievements to his name, it's no wonder that FDR is also one of our most quotable presidents.Related: Celebrate Presidents' Day With 125 Quotes From George Washington
Who Was Franklin D. Roosevelt?
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His personal battles with his health primed him for the greater battles of the country, according to his wife. "Franklin's illness...gave him strength and courage he had not had before. He had to think out the fundamentals of living and learn the greatest of all lessons—infinite patience and never-ending persistence," she said, according to The Guardian. FDR had been diagnosed with polio in 1921, and he ultimately became unable to walk without assistance. In 1938, he founded the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (NFIP) to fight polio; it's known today as the March of Dimes.The Attack on Pearl Harbor and America's entry into World War II presented another challenge. For all the strength and leadership Roosevelt showed during the war, he still made grave errors that affect families to this day. In 1942, he signed Executive Order 9066; the order resulted in more than 100,000 people of Japanese descent, including many Japanese-American citizens, being involuntarily relocated into internment camps (including the family of Star Trek actor George Takei). Many relocated people lived in the camps for three or more years. "My childhood incarceration is what I consider my most strongly formative experience," Takei said in 2021. "I was shaped by that, and that's why here I am, 84 years old, and still talking about it."Roosevelt did not live to see the end of World War II, as he died just 11 weeks into his fourth and final term on April 12, 1945. Today, Roosevelt is still one of the most remembered U.S. presidents with a pretty favorable reputation at first glance, thanks in large part to those immortal words he uttered at his first inauguration: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." He's certainly one of the most quoted presidents, and it's easy to see why. Keep reading for 30 FDR quotes that not only offer a historic look back but are inspiring enough to show a way forward.Related: 75 Franz Kafka Quotes on Love, Life and Reading
Famous FDR Quotes
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1. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."2. "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."3. "This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly."4. "Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment."5. "In these days of difficulty, we Americans must and shall choose the path of social justice…the path of faith, the path of hope and the path of love toward our fellow man."6. "Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough."Related: Presidential Trivia
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8. "I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished."
10. "Industrial combination is not wrong in itself. The danger lies in taking government into partnership."
12. "Among American citizens, there should be no forgotten men and no forgotten races."
14. "We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties of all our citizens, whatever their background. We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization."
16. "I propose to create a Civilian Conservation Corps to be used in simple work...More important, however, than the material gains will be the moral and spiritual value of such work."
18. "Unless the peace that follows recognizes that the whole world is one neighborhood and does justice to the whole human race, the germs of another world war will remain as a constant threat to mankind."
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20. "The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith."
22. "It is time to extend planning to a wider field, in this instance comprehending in one great project many states directly concerned with the basin of one of our greatest rivers."
24. "We have faith that future generations will know here, in the middle of the twentieth century, there came a time when men of good will found a way to unite, and produce, and fight to destroy the forces of ignorance, and intolerance, and slavery, and war."
Related: 75 Seneca Quotes About Life, Wisdom and Greatness
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27. "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear."
29. "More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginnings of all wars."
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