Today in History: Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Today in History–January 20–the Library of Congress features Franklin Delano Roosevelt, inaugurated as U.S. President in January on this day in 1937. This was the first inauguration held in January but FDR’s second of four inaugurations, his first was held on March 4, 1933. Find out more about the longest serving president in our nation’s history by visiting the Today in History section, then follow the links below to access more resources and individual primary sources related to the 32nd president of the United States.
Primary source collections
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- FDR first inauguration
- FDR second inauguration
- FDR third inauguration
- FDR fourth inauguration
- FDR correspondence
- FDR historical newspaper coverage
- President Roosevelt historical newspaper coverage
- FDR mentions in the Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection
- FDR images
- Contemporary U.S. legislation related to FDR
Individual primary sources
- FDR address to Congress asking that a state of war be declared between the US and Japan (audio)
- FDR speech: Americanism (audio)
- FDR 1940 State of the Union address (document)
- FDR last message to the American people (document)
- Memo from Stalin
- Why I voted for Franklin D. Roosevelt, February 21, 1938
- Winston Churchill to the Franklin Roosevelt, October 6, 1939
- President Franklin D. Roosevelt to Winston Churchill, January 20, 1941
- Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, August 9, 1941
- Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill proposed declaration, August 12, 1941
- President Franklin D. Roosevelt to Winston Churchill, April 3, 1942
- President Franklin D. Roosevelt to Harry Hopkins for transmission to Winston Churchill, April 12, 1942
- President Roosevelt and his globe, 1942
- Winston Churchill to Franklin Roosevelt, August 23, 1944
- W. Averell Harriman to Franklin Roosevelt, October 11, 1944
- The Order of Service for Saturday, January 20, 1945
- Notes of sympathy from Churchill to Mrs. Roosevelt 1945
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt on freedom c1963
- President Franklin Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms (poster)
- Norman Rockwell’s Four Freedoms
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial tourist map
- American Memory Timeline: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal (select primary sources & analysis activities)
- Roosevelt Is a “Damned Good Man” (personal narrative & analysis activity)
Secondary sources
- That First Fireside Chat was All About the Banks Inside Adams
- FDR related stories from America’s Library
- Webcasts related to FDR
- POTUS: Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- Franklin D. Roosevelt Library
Related teaching resources
- Primary Source Learning: Great Depression
- Find Your Freedom Beyond the Bill of Rights elementary lesson
- Securing Our Freedoms Beyond the Bill of Rights middle school lesson
- Speaking Out: Four Freedoms Then and Now high school lesson
Related primary source sets