The Nation Mourns After Learning of the Death Of F.D.R.
This is how the New York newspapers announced the death of F.D.R. on April 12, 1945.
70 years ago today when the 32nd President of the Unites States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt died suddenly of a massive stroke at the age of 63 in Warm Springs, GA there was an overwhelming outpouring of grief across the globe.
With the exception of Adolf Hitler and a few die hard anti-FDR Republicans most of the world was saddened to learn of Roosevelt’s death. Roosevelt was held in high esteem by most Americans, even those that did not agree with many of his policies. There were also those who could not stand the man, but were in awe of Roosevelt as a shrewd politician and the job he had done in seeing the United States through the Great Depression and World War II.
It was especially sad that Roosevelt never got to witness the end of the war which brought final victory to the Allies. Less than four weeks after Roosevelt’s death, Hitler and Mussolini were dead and Victory in Europe Day was celebrated May 8, 1945. Japan unconditionally surrendered on August 15, 1945.
What I cannot imagine happening now in today’s world of partisan politics is having a universal outpouring of sorrow if a President were to die suddenly while in office. There is so much outright hatred and disrespect in modern politics that we will never see anything like this again.
FDR’s funeral procession in Washington D.C.
The Brooklyn Eagle in their summary of Roosevelt’s life on April 13, 1945 opened with, “Franklin Delano Roosevelt crippled at 39, conquered a malady that would have cut short the public career of any ordinary man to become President of the Unites States an unprecedented four times and the greatest leader of his era in peace and in war.”
Roosevelt’s death and funeral were among the few days in modern history when almost all Americans were grieving and united in paying their respects and offering tribute to a remarkable leader.
Here is the 1945 newsreel footage covering the death of F.D.R.
I am 83 yrs. old and, was about 2 months old when WWII started. My father a coalminer for 30 yrs. told me about the depression, and my mother also. They had much praise for FDR & much criticism for Taft & Hoover. We should appreciate the job F.D.R did especially how he fixed the laws he passed so the Republicans couldn’t mess with them. It took them 35 yrs. to figure a way to screw with some of them. These hypocrite Evangelicals say what would Jesus do, I say what would FDR or JFK DO. JFK seen & used TV like FDR did with the radio. My generation are becoming one of the last to know what life was like before TV. A lot less lies & propaganda.
Eight years after this essay was published, the divisions have gotten even worse. Elected “public servants” would openly celebrate the assassination of the president, or any politician, if they were of the opposing party. Not all, but many. I don’t blame them; I blame the voters who put them in office.
I used to wonder what could possibly bring us together as a nation as 9/11 did. And I realized: nothing. It could be that one day things will change, but I don’t expect to see it in my lifetime. It’s a damn shame.
You’re right: The sort of grief evident after Roosevelt’s death, and after the death of Kennedy, Lincoln and McKinley, seem unimaginable in today’s polarized political world. However, an assassin has a way of bringing divergent camps together. Hopefully, it’s not something we’ll have to experience again, though.