The Impact of Franklin D Roosevelts Personal and Professional Experiences - Essay Example

Franklin D. Roosevelt The personal life of an individual may contribute to their professionallife regarding the decisions that they made. For leaders, the policy decisions that they adopted may be a result of their experiences from their personal lives, which ensures that they acted based on their experiences to make decisions that affected the entire population. Importantly, these decisions might play an important role in ensuring that the immediate challenge that required solutions is solved. On the other hand, the solutions may not achieve the best results since the decisions might not be well thought out with an individual acting out of impulse or the experiences only applicable on a personal level. Nonetheless, the individuals whose personal experiences played an immense role in obtaining the appropriate outcomes achieved heroic status with history classes filled with lessons about these personalities. One such personality is Franklin Delano Roosevelt whose experiences contributed to his political, social, and economic views, which were instrumental in defining the approach that he used to handle the Great Depression. Roosevelt was born as the only child of Sara and James in Hyde Park, New York on the January 30, 1882 (“Franklin D. Roosevelt”). Hyde Park used to be an estate for farmers who lived a rural life in the Hudson Valley, which played an immense role in the life of young Roosevelt who developed a lifelong passion for forestry, which was instrumental in shaping some of his political, social, and economic views. In addition, his love for the rural life and people contributed to some of the policies that were immense in his career. Roosevelt went to school in various places and he joined Harvard Law School in 1900. However, he focused more on his social life and extracurricular activities, failed to complete his LL.B. degree, and only joined Columbia University Law School although he did not complete the courses required to get a degree although he gained admittance to the bar. Nonetheless, Roosevelt ventured into law practice, which effectively made him venture into politics and started his rise on the political ladder of the United States. In this case, he became a freshman senator for the State of New York in 1990 and the first legislation that he introduced was a legislation that was meant to protect farmers (“Franklin D. Roosevelt”). In line with this, it is important to point out that this first legislation was a result of his personal upbringing among the rural people and his love for these people. In addition, Roosevelt headed the Senate Committee on Forest, Fish, and Game and this role helped him emerge as a leading conservationist. However, his conservation efforts did not emerge from his role in this Senate committee, but it was due to his background and his personal life in the rural setup. Following the election of Woodrow Wilson, Roosevelt was appointed to the position of assistant secretary of the navy for seven years. This role was instrumental since he was able to thrust the navy into the limelight with the navy participating in the First World War. Importantly, Roosevelt advocated for a strong military that played an influential role in the war despite the then president advocating for a lesser military role. Consequently, Roosevelt played an instrumental role in absorbing the president from the war and he consequently gained a combination of idealistic and realistic ideas that helped him during the formation of the United Nations (“Franklin D. Roosevelt”). Roosevelt suffered the effects of polio at the age of 39 years, which paralyzed his lower part of the body starting at the waist region going down to the legs (“Franklin D. Roosevelt”). In effect, he could not walk again although he knew “with characteristic energy, optimism, ingenuity, and determination” that he would regain his strength (“Franklin D. Roosevelt”). Consequently, he was able to start exercise regimens that helped him regain his senses later on in life. It is crucial to point out that this determination and zeal to fight disability was to play an instrumental role in his life as an administrator and president, which was at a time when America was undergoing the Great Depression. Before his election as president, Roosevelt was the Governor of the State of New York and he was able to fight the depression that had started during his time as governor. In effect, he transferred this experience to his presidential role during the Great Depression. In addition, he had the courage of fighting disability and a glowing optimism that lifted the spirits of a nation that was facing the Great Depression (“Franklin D. Roosevelt”). Roosevelt’s term, as President of the United States, was marked with the Great Depression that had devastating effects on the Americans. However, his personal and professional life helped him lead the country to institute a number of policies that cautioned Americans from the effects of the depression. First, Congress passed the Emergency Banking Relief Act in order to ensure that banks and credit facilities were stable to provide the important reassurance to the depositors (“Franklin D. Roosevelt”). In this regard, it is crucial to point out that this policy was guided by his passion for the ordinary people, and the hardworking Americans in general; who would have suffered if banks were not stable. In addition, Roosevelt led Congress in legislating new laws dubbed “New Deal” that ensured that the government protected the ordinary citizens during the depression. These legislations included legislations that led to the establishment of Civil Works Administration, National Recovery Administration (NRA), Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), and other organizations that were instrumental in ensuring the needs of ordinary citizens were addressed. Importantly, Roosevelt engaged Americans in radio talk shows whereby he outlined his initiatives in a language that was simple for the ordinary people to understand (“Franklin D. Roosevelt”). In effect, this was crucial to ensure that the ordinary citizens realized the importance of the measures that the president was advocating with the president succeeding in rallying the whole country behind his policies. Briefly, it is crucial to point out that the New Deal legislations were instrumental in providing Americans with renewed hope about the country. In this case, Roosevelt’s personal life resonated with the hope that he wanted to provide Americans since he once overcame disability due to the optimism that he exuded within him. On the other hand, Roosevelt addressed the key areas of banking, housing, work relief, and the elderly people, which were key areas that he viewed as important as they addressed the plight of the ordinary people, which is based on his upbringing among rural and ordinary people. Work Cited “Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945).” N.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2012. http://www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/glossary/roosevelt-franklin.cfm Read More