Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt: The New Modern Age Hero

What makes a hero? A hero is usually defined as one who is selfless, courageous, strong, smart, devoted, one who has a desire for glory, so on and so forth. These traits are those of epic heroes such as Beowulf, King Arthur, Achilles, and Odysseus. But, there is a different kind of hero not found in literature but seen in the modern world that can embody some of the virtues that epic heroes had and some that are unique to today’s heroes. So let us take the time to apply some of the old and new poetic virtues to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, better known as FDR, and the thirty-second president of the United States of America. This is how he was a hero from the epic poems and how he wasn’t.

Sometimes a hero cannot wait for an army, advice, or anything that could be helpful and just go in and make gut decisions based on instinct. FDR is similar to that. The USA was in its worst economic crisis in all of its history with over thirteen million people unemployed to support that claim. So FDR started initiating these labor programs to get the work force back on its feet. Examples included the Tennessee Valley Authority, Civilian Conservation Corps, Public Works Administration, and many others. Along with this, FDR initiated some reforms for the workers and to the economic system such as the Social Security Act and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which gave pensions to the elderly, workers who suffered accidents, etc., and protected deposited accounts respectively.

" THEY (WHO) SEEK TO ESTABLISH SYSTEMS OF GOVERNMENT BASED ON THE REGIMENTATION OF ALL HUMAN BEINGS BY A HANDFUL OF INDIVIDUAL RULERS ... CALL THIS A NEW ORDER. THIS IS NOT NEW AND THIS IS NOT AN ORDER. "Cooper, Rachel. “FDR Memorial in Washington DC (Parking and Visiting Tips).” FDR Memorial in Washington DC (Parking and Visiting Tips), Rachel Cooper, 16 Oct. 17ADAD, www.tripsavvy.com/fdr-memorial-inA hero must protect his or her people with all means available. But sometimes, if other nations ask for help, the hero is usually bound to help them as well because of his moral character. FDR was faced with this dilemma. He wished to help the Allied Powers of France, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China in their fights against Germany, Italy, and Japan. But the American people didn’t want to fight in another war. The Americans still wanted to recover from the Depression and didn’t want to lose their children as they lost their parents in the first World War. However, FDR felt duty bound to protect his country but, as a hero, he was also morally bound to help the Allies. At last he figured out a way to help both parties that mutually benefited them both. FDR would supply the attacked nations with as much supplies as American industry could afford such as rifles, tanks, planes, ships, ammunition, and much more with the expectation of not being paid back. At the same time, nobody in America had to send their kid to die in a foreign war, thereby keeping American isolationism for the time being.

Some epic heroes didn’t really believe in peace, much less a concept of globalized world peace to watch the aggression of aggressive countries. FDR is a modern hero who believed in this concept. To start, he changed the Monroe Doctrine from a simple declaration to a pact of defense. Instead of warning foreign countries to not invade South America where they would feel the US wrath, the US changed the Monroe Doctrine so that the US would protect South American republics from each other if one of them got aggressive. But what tops this and lasts today is his help in creating the United Nations. A new global organization devoted to peace that was supposed to replace and be better at its job than the League of Nations was at that time..

Similar to other heroes, FDR started off relatively unknown and would be placed in unpopular positions at various points in time.  In his political debut, he was running for a New York state senator for the state senate in a district that had voted for Republicans thirty-two years in a row. Through his hard campaigning, however, he won the race by a landslide. Then a few years later he was made Assistant Secretary of the Navy, where he wanted a big navy but his boss, the Secretary of the Navy, didn’t like that. On top of all that, he was at odds with the Democrats in New York for some of his progressive ideas, resembling that of his Republican cousin Theodore Roosevelt. Eventually FDR would repair his relationship with these Democrats.

So like the heroes in Epic Poems, FDR would protect his people and help others along the way. Also he had to be quick and decisive in some decision making to make sure his people didn’t wind up killing each other. Similar to some epic heroes, he was placed in unpopular positions in various points of time. An example of this was King Arthur when he was once a lowly squire. But, unlike some of them he was a believer in peace when he made new pacts of defense with the South American countries and was a prime component in forming the United Nations. This is how he was a hero from the epic poems and how he wasn’t.

Presidential Picture of Franklin Delano Roosevelt with arguably his most famous quote from his 1932 Inaugural Address.Quote Provided by The Presidential Papers of the President of the United States: F.D. Roosevelt, 1941, Volume 10 (1941 Edition). “FDR's Famous Quote on Fear from His 1932 Inaugural Address next to His Presidential Picture.” Franklin D. Roosevelt Quote, IZ Quotes, 0ADAD, izquotes.com/quote/157985  

Sources

History.com Staff. “Franklin D. Roosevelt.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009, www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/franklin-d-roosevelt. Date Accessed, 12/1/17

History.com Staff. “Lend-Lease Act.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009, www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/lend-lease-act. Date Accessed, 12/4/17

Freidel, Frank, and Hugh Sidey. “Franklin D. Roosevelt.” The White House, The United States Government, 16 Aug. 2017, www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/franklindroosevelt.Date Accessed, 12/1/17 Authors are from The President of the United States of America organization, Copyright 2006 by the White House Historical Association

Biography.com Editors. “Franklin D. Roosevelt.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 24 Aug. 2017, www.biography.com/people/franklin-d-roosevelt-9463381. Date Accessed, 12/4/17

Cooper, Rachel. “FDR Memorial in Washington DC (Parking and Visiting Tips).” FDR Memorial in Washington DC (Parking and Visiting Tips), Rachel Cooper, 16 Oct. 17ADAD, www.tripsavvy.com/fdr-memorial-in-washington-dc-guide-1039285

Quote Provided by The Presidential Papers of the President of the United States: F.D. Roosevelt, 1941, Volume 10 (1941 Edition). “FDR's Famous Quote on Fear from His 1932 Inaugural Address next to His Presidential Picture.” Franklin D. Roosevelt Quote, IZ Quotes, 0ADAD, izquotes.com/quote/157985