1. I think that Roosevelt's upbringing, background and character made it easy for him to understand the concerns and fears of ordinary Americans.
Firstly, when Roosevelt was a child, his father James Roosevelt would teach Franklin that being wealthy also brought with it the responsibility of helping persons who were not so lucky. This no doubt influenced the young Franklin and made him more aware to the poor and needy.
Secondly, the Roosevelts were rich, and this made Franklin Roosevelt more conscious of the gap between the poverty-stricken and the wealthy. It would enable him to sympathize with those who have none of the luxuries he enjoyed throughout his childhood.
Thirdly, Roosevelt was paralyzed with the disease polio. Since such a disease made both of his legs immovable, he was able to understand the worries, fears, and agony of the elderly, the sick, and the handicapped. At the time when he was president, the Great Depression had left many ordinary American citizens with nothing.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933. Lietuvių: Frankl...
English: Calvin Coolidge.
English: Franklin D. Roosevelt (left) and Governor...Thus, those who fell ill and those who were handicapped would be especially numerous and consequentially, suffer the most. Roosevelt, through his disease, polio, would be able to empathize with such people.
In addition to the above, Roosevelt was once defeated in 1920 by Republican candidates, Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio and Governor Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts, when he campaigned with Governor James M. Cox for Presidency. This allowed him (when he was president himself) to sympathize with those who experience setbacks with the Depression, such as losing their entire fortunes and thus their homes.
And lastly, Roosevelt's charitable character only proves that he comprehends the fears of those who are not fortunate in life. Take for instance the time in 1926 when he bought Warm Springs and its surrounding land in Georgia, turning it...