Biography of Franklin Delano RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt, popularly known as FDR, was born on January 30, 1882 on the family estate in Hyde Park, New York. His father, James, graduated from Harvard Law School, married, had a son, and assumed his family's rights to coal and transportation. Despite losing a good amount of money in financial gambles, he remained wealthy enough to travel by private rail car, live comfortably at his Hudson River estate in Hyde Park, and travel extensively. After the death of his first wife, James waited four years before remarrying Sara Delano, a sixth cousin. He was also a member of the Hudson River aristocracy, and although he was only half the size of James? At the age of 52, he settled quite comfortably into their Hyde Park estate. Did the marriage work well until it was broken up by James? death in 1900. Young Franklin Roosevelt had a safe and pleasant childhood. His half-brother was already an adult when Franklin was born, and therefore had no rivals for his parents' attention. During the summer months he traveled with his parents to Europe, to the seaside in New England, or to Campobello Island off the coast of New Brunswick, where he developed a love of the ocean and sailing. Until the age of 14 FDR received his education from private tutors. FDR's most lasting educational experience was at Groton School in Massachusetts, which he attended from 1896 to 1900. Groton's principal, the Reverend Endicott Peabody, instilled the virtue of public service in Franklin, and this would be something he would carry with him for a lifetime. At Groton FDR was not academically outstanding, nor did he achieve great popularity? Franklin struggled to fit in, but he was only a very thin five-year-old… middle of paper… danger. But both did so while simultaneously holding free elections in which their opponents could have won office. Through widespread national support, Roosevelt managed to rekindle the American spirit within himself: "A man who could not walk became president of a country that had lost hope." With a simple set of beliefs – the belief that things could be improved, the belief in the democratic process – did he convey his confidence to the nation? (Morgan 772). And the nation followed his example. Bibliography: Works Cited Davis, Kenneth S. FDR: The War President 1940-1943. New York: Random House, 2000. Miller, Nathan. FDR: an intimate story. New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1983.Morgan, Ted. FDR: A Biography. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985. Robinson, Edgar Eugene. Roosevelt's leadership 1933-1945. New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1955.