Franklin D. Roosevelt - Legacy

Legacy

A majority of polls rank Roosevelt as the second or third greatest president, consistent with other surveys. Roosevelt is the sixth most admired person from the 20th century by U.S. citizens, according to Gallup. Roosevelt was also widely beloved for his role in repealing Prohibition.

The rapid expansion of government programs that occurred during Roosevelt's term redefined the role of the government in the United States, and Roosevelt's advocacy of government social programs was instrumental in redefining liberalism for coming generations.

Roosevelt firmly established the United States' leadership role on the world stage, with his role in shaping and financing World War II. His isolationist critics faded away, and even the Republicans joined in his overall policies. After his death, his widow continued to be a forceful presence in U.S. and world politics, serving as delegate to the conference which established the United Nations and championing civil rights and liberalism generally. Many members of his administration played leading roles in the administrations of Truman, Kennedy and Johnson, each of whom embraced Roosevelt's political legacy.

Reflecting on Roosevelt's presidency, "which brought the United States through the Great Depression and World War II to a prosperous future", said FDR's biographer Jean Edward Smith in 2007, "He lifted himself from a wheelchair to lift the nation from its knees."

Both during and after his terms, critics of Roosevelt questioned not only his policies and positions, but even more so the consolidation of power in the White House at a time when dictators were taking over Europe and Asia. Many of the New Deal programs were abolished during the war by FDR's opponents. The powerful new wartime agencies were set up to be temporary and expire at war's end.

Roosevelt's home in Hyde Park is now a National Historic Site and home to his Presidential library. His retreat at Warm Springs, Georgia is a museum operated by the state of Georgia. His summer retreat on Campobello Island is maintained by the governments of both Canada and the United States as Roosevelt Campobello International Park; the island is accessible by way of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Bridge.

The Roosevelt Memorial is located in Washington, D.C. next to the Jefferson Memorial on the Tidal Basin, and Roosevelt's image appears on the Roosevelt dime. Many parks and schools, as well as an aircraft carrier and a Paris subway station and hundreds of streets and squares both across the U.S. and the rest of the world have been named in his honor.

Roosevelt was a strong supporter of scouting, beginning in 1915. Roosevelt's leadership in the March of Dimes is one reason he is commemorated on the American dime.

Roosevelt was honored by the United States Postal Service with a Prominent Americans series 6¢ postage stamp, issue of 1966. Roosevelt also appears on several other U.S. Postage stamps.

The airport of the Dutch Caribbean island of St. Eustatius is named F.D. Roosevelt Airport after Roosevelt, whose ancestors lived on the island in the 18th century. Most of the arms and supplies for George Washington's fight against the British came to North America through St. Eustatius. When in the port of the island in 1939, Roosevelt presented the inhabitants with a plaque commemorating that in 1776 "Here the sovereignty of the United States of America was first formally acknowledged to a national vessel by a foreign official", the famous "First Salute". The plaque hangs on the flag pole of the island's Fort Oranje.