History probably considered the top three greatest american president s along with washington and lincoln. It is an assessment based on the fact he steered the nation through the two greatest crises. One internally, the Great Depression and one externally, world war ii. There has been a long and ongoing debate among historians as to whether history is influenced more by individuals or larger social, cultural and economic forces. I think it is of course both of those. Certainly it seems to me that Franklin D Roosevelt is a prime example of the significant of an individuals impact on history. Broader social and Economic Conditions that allowed fdr to become a great leader, but in his case i believe it was force of personality that was a paramount element as i think we will see as we go along. Rooseveltse presidency beginning with a brief look at the conditions in the country that led to his election in 1932. The economic collapse of 1920 nine had brought the worst conditions the country
Ongoing debate among historians as to whether history is influenced more by individuals or larger social, cultural and economic forces. I think it is of course both of those. Certainly it seems to me that franklin d. Roosevelt is a prime example of the significant of an individuals impact on history. It was broader social and Economic Conditions that allowed fdr to become a great leader, but in his case i believe it was force of personality that was a paramount element as i think we will see as we go along. Lets examine roosevelts presidency beginning with a brief look at the conditions in the country that led to his election in 1932. The economic collapse of 1920 9 had brought the worst conditions the country had experienced since the civil war. Herbert hoover seemed incapable of leading the way out of it despite some moderate attempts to do so. The suffering was widespread with approximately one quarter of the workforce unemployed and others having to take substantial pay cuts. The c
Welcome to todays lecture on Franklin Delano roosevelt. The man generally considered by historians to be the greatest president of the 20th century and even beyond that. Throughout all of American History probably considered the top three greatest american president s along with washington and lincoln. It is an assessment based on the fact he steered the nation through the two greatest crises. One internally, the Great Depression and one externally, orld war ii. There has been a long and ngoing debate among historians as to whether history is influenced more by individuals or larger social, cultural and economic forces. I think it is of course both of those. Certainly it seems to me that ranklin d roosevelt is a prime example of the significant of an individuals impact on history. It was broader social and Economic Conditions that allowed fdr to become a great leader, but in his case i believe it was force of personality that was a paramount element as i think we will see as we go alon
Speaking of engagement, i hope you will take the opportunity during our interview to doing todays discussion by submitting questions as we go along. You can do that by clicking the q a button at the bottom of your screen. Today, as vicente mentioned, we are joined by my friend robert zoellick, he has served america and served her well across multiple administrations and in a range of key roles in the late 80s he served as counselor to the secretary of the treasury under secretary of state as well as White House Deputy chief of staff. In the george w. Bush years he served as ab and later president of the world bank. Hes received numerous honors the state departments highest award, the treasury departments Alexander Hamilton award, and dod medal for distinguished public service. The American Government werent the only ones, the German Government awarded him the night commanders cross, the Mexican Government awarded him their aztec eagle and chili gave chile abof course the author of a re
Me it is my belief that the only thing that we have to fear is fear itself. By the time Franklin Roosevelt gives his march 1933 inaugural speech, almost a quarter of the nation is unemployed. More than 5,000 banks have failed and drought is persisting in key agricultural areas of the country. People must have faith. Coming up in the next hour, stories from the Great Depression as we take you to places like toledo and then in 1931 five of the six largest banks all failed at the same time which made it the largest banking failure of the Great Depression. To successful infrastructure of the times still impacting us today. And to one ending in tragedy. Well talk you to st. Paul with gangsters and the corrupt police force strike a bargain. Well explore the impact of new deal programs like the Conservation Corp as we go just outside of amarillo, texas. We wouldnt have a park here if it wasnt for the Conservation Corp. And well hear from artists who tell tales. We begin our cities tour featur