The Importance of Franklin Delano Rosevelt as a President and the great things he did for the United States of America during his Presidency.

The Most Influential Person of the Century Franklin D. Roosevelt

How does one measure great influence? Perhaps influence can be measured by the number of people influenced or the how long the trace of influence lasts. Perhaps influence is measured by its impact on history or the impact felt by the world. Franklin Roosevelt's influence encompasses all these measurements. His life and legacy influenced the lives of millions in the past and is still affecting those who live today. During his four terms as President, Roosevelt faced a Great Depression and a World War.

His leadership, during both, has changed the government of the United States as we know it. He presidency protected freedom and democracy, and has even lead to a change in our constitution. Franklin Roosevelt is easily the most influential person of the century.

The Great Depression and Roosevelt's Changes in Government

The Great Depression was a horrible time for the nation and for capitalism itself.

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In other countries, economies were so bad that people, according to famous economist Maynard Keynes, "began trading personal freedoms for economic security". Roosevelt's New Deal was his policy for trying to pull the United States out of the Great Depression, but according to well-respected TCU economics professor John Harvey, "The New Deal did not solve the great depression." In their book, Heilbroner and Milberg describe the New Deal as on too small of a scale, it never contributing more that six percent to the gross national product and even caused businesses to be frightened at the amount of government interference, leading to slower economic recovery (113). This opinion of the New Deal might be a surprise in a paper supporting Roosevelt for most influential person of the century, but consider what the New Deal really accomplished. In the U.S., people were...