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Franklin D. Roosevelt

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1920

November

02
- Roosevelt loses the vice-presidential raceOn 2 November 1920 the Democrats James Cox and Franklin D. Roosevelt lost to Harding and Coolidge. The election became a verdict on Wilson's policies.

1928

November

06
- Hoover wins the presidential electionOn 6 November 1928 the Republican Herbert Hoover soundly beat Al Smith. A year later the Wall Street Crash began the Great Depression, which changed the world.

1932

November

08
- Roosevelt wins the presidential electionOn 8 November 1932 Franklin Delano Roosevelt routed Herbert Hoover, winning 472 electoral votes. A Depression-stricken America put its faith in a “new deal”.

1933

March

04
- Roosevelt's inauguration and the New DealOn 4 March 1933 Roosevelt took office as US president, saying that the only thing to fear was fear itself. The Hundred Days of the New Deal began.

November

16
- The US recognises the USSROn 16 November 1933 Roosevelt and Litvinov exchanged notes in Washington establishing relations. The US was the last great power to recognise the USSR.

1935

August

31
- The Neutrality ActOn 31 August 1935 Roosevelt signed the first Neutrality Act. It banned arms sales to all belligerents, aggressors and victims alike.

1936

November

03
- Roosevelt re-electedOn 3 November 1936 Roosevelt defeated Alf Landon, carrying 46 of the 48 states and 523 of 531 electoral votes. Americans backed the New Deal.

1937

January

20
- Roosevelt's second termOn 20 January 1937 Roosevelt took the oath for a second term in the rain. It was the first inauguration held on that date, moved by the 20th Amendment.

October

05
- The Quarantine SpeechOn 5 October 1937 in Chicago, Roosevelt called for a “quarantine” of states spreading an “epidemic of lawlessness”. No action followed; isolationists protested.

December

12
- The Panay incidentOn 12 December 1937 Japanese aircraft sank the US gunboat Panay and three tankers on the Yangtze near Nanjing. Tokyo apologised and paid compensation.

1938

July

06
- The Évian ConferenceOn 6 July 1938 delegates of 32 countries met at Évian-les-Bains to help refugees from the Reich. Nearly all expressed sympathy and declined to take in Jews.

September

27
- Roosevelt's appeal to HitlerOn 27 September 1938, at the height of the Sudeten crisis, Roosevelt again urged Hitler to keep negotiating and proposed a conference of the nations concerned.

1939

April

14
- Roosevelt's appeal to Hitler and MussoliniOn 14 April 1939 Roosevelt asked Hitler and Mussolini to pledge not to attack 31 named states. Hitler ridiculed the appeal in the Reichstag.

May

17
- The Scandinavian countries reject pacts with GermanyIn mid-May 1939 Sweden, Norway and Finland declined non-aggression pacts with the Reich, citing their neutrality. Only Denmark agreed.

August

02
- Einstein's letter to RooseveltThe letter of 2 August 1939, written by Leó Szilárd and signed by Einstein, warned Roosevelt that Germany might build an atomic bomb.

September

November

04
- The United States adopts cash and carryOn 4 November 1939 Roosevelt signed a new Neutrality Act. It lifted the arms embargo: belligerents could buy arms for cash and carry them in their own ships.

1940

May

13
- “Blood, toil, tears and sweat”On 13 May 1940, in his first speech as prime minister, Churchill offered the Commons “blood, toil, tears and sweat”. The House backed him by 381 votes.

July

10
- Roosevelt calls for rearmamentOn 10 July 1940 Roosevelt asked Congress for $4.85 billion for defence. That summer the US voted for a two-ocean navy and prepared its first peacetime draft.

August

16
- The draft destroyers-for-bases dealOn 16 August 1940 Roosevelt announced US talks with Britain on bases. Behind the scenes, a swap of 50 old destroyers for leased bases hung in the balance.

September

October

November

05
- Roosevelt elected to a third termOn 5 November 1940 Roosevelt became the first US president to win a third term, beating Willkie by 449 electoral votes to 82. London hoped for more help.

1941

January

10
- The Lend-Lease bill in CongressOn 10 January 1941 bill H.R. 1776, letting Roosevelt lend arms to the British, went before Congress. On 23 January Lindbergh urged that it be rejected.

February

March

11
- Key eventRoosevelt signs the Lend-Lease ActOn 11 March 1941 Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease Act and that day declared the defence of Britain and Greece vital to the US, approving the first deliveries.

May

15
- The first Civilian Public Service campOn 15 May 1941 the first Civilian Public Service camp opened near Baltimore. American conscientious objectors were to work there unpaid instead of in the army.

June

July

August

09
- Key eventThe Atlantic CharterOn 9–12 August 1941 Roosevelt and Churchill met aboard warships in Placentia Bay. On 14 August they announced eight common principles, the Atlantic Charter.

September

October

November

December

1942

January

February

March

09
- The reorganisation of the US ArmyOn 9 March 1942 the US Army was split into three great commands – Ground Forces, Air Forces and Services of Supply – and its General Headquarters was abolished.

April

01
- The Pacific War CouncilOn 1 April 1942 the Pacific War Council met at the White House. Roosevelt heard out the allies fighting Japan there, but decisions were taken elsewhere.

May

15
- The creation of the WAACOn 15 May 1942 Roosevelt signed the act creating the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. Women could now serve with the US Army, though not yet in its ranks.

June

August

October

12
- The 100th Infantry BattalionIn summer 1942 over 1,400 Japanese Americans from Hawaii formed the 100th Infantry Battalion – a Nisei unit that was to prove their loyalty.

December

01
- Gasoline rationing in the United StatesOn 1 December 1942 gasoline rationing covered the whole United States. The aim was not to save fuel but to save tyres after the loss of Asian rubber.

1943

January

February

07
- Shoe rationing in the United StatesOn 7 February 1943 the US announced that from 9 February leather shoes would be rationed – three pairs per person a year. The army needed the leather.

May

12
- The Trident ConferenceOn 12 May 1943 Churchill and Roosevelt opened the Trident Conference in Washington. It set 1 May 1944 as the date for the cross-Channel invasion.

June

04
- The French Committee of National LiberationOn 3 June 1943 de Gaulle and Giraud set up the French Committee of National Liberation in Algiers – a joint authority for fighting France with two chairmen.

July

28
- Jan Karski meets RooseveltOn 28 July 1943 Jan Karski, courier of the Polish Underground State, told President Roosevelt at the White House about the occupation and the Holocaust.

November

December

24
- Key eventEisenhower to command the invasionOn 24 December 1943 Roosevelt announced on the radio that General Dwight Eisenhower would command the invasion of France. Marshall stayed in Washington.

1944

January

12
- The launch of United VictoryOn 12 January 1944 United Victory, the first Victory ship and a faster successor to the Liberty ships, was launched in Portland. 534 were built.

July

11
- Roosevelt's fourth candidacyOn 11 July 1944 Roosevelt wrote to Hannegan that he would accept a fourth-term nomination, though his doctors had known of his heart disease since March.

August

09
- The dispute over the road to JapanIn summer 1944 the Americans argued over whether to strike Luzon or Formosa. Roosevelt favoured MacArthur, but the Joint Chiefs decided on 3 October.

November

07
- Key eventRoosevelt's fourth termOn 7 November 1944 Roosevelt defeated Thomas Dewey, the only US president ever to win a fourth term. He died less than three months after his inauguration.

1945

January

20
- Roosevelt's fourth inaugurationOn 20 January 1945 Roosevelt took his fourth presidential oath on the White House portico and Truman became vice-president. The speech lasted about six minutes.

February

23
- The flag on SuribachiOn 23 February 1945 Marines raised the US flag on the summit of Suribachi on Iwo Jima. Joe Rosenthal’s photograph of the second flag became a symbol of the war.

April

12
- Key eventThe death of RooseveltOn 12 April 1945 President Franklin D. Roosevelt died of a cerebral haemorrhage at Warm Springs. That evening Harry Truman took the oath at the White House.