The interactive timeline below depicts important events and milestones relevant to this exhibition, from the period of the early 1930’s through today. Events are tracked across three categories:
Franklin D. Roosevelt 
Norman Rockwell 
world events
Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the 32nd President of the United States of America
March 4, 1933 / 1930sDuring his speech, FDR utters this now famous line, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
President Roosevelt gives the first “Fireside Chat”
March 12, 1933 / 1930sBroadcasting from the White House, Washington, D.C.
The first of many ‘fireside chats’ – FDR declares a “bank holiday,” temporarily closing all national banks and meets with Congress to discuss the Bank Crisis
Photo: Public Domain
FDR – “Fireside Chat”
May 7, 1933 / 1930sPresident Roosevelt’s “Fireside Chat” – Outlining the New Deal Program
Radio Address of the President:
To you, the people of this country, all of us, the Members of the Congress and the members of this Administration owe a profound debt of gratitude. Throughout the depression you have been patient. You have granted us wide powers, you have encouraged us with a wide-spread approval of our purposes. Every ounce of strength and every resource at our command we have devoted to the end of justifying your confidence. We are encouraged to believe that a wise and sensible beginning has been made. In the present spirit of mutual confidence and mutual encouragement we go forward.- President Franklin D. Roosevelt
FDR “Fireside Chat”
July 24, 1933 / 1930sFirst Hundred Days: The Purposes and Foundations of the Recovery Program
Mrs. Roosevelt helps to launch a campaign by women
January 15, 1934 / 1930sA women run campaign for the Roosevelt Administration’s recovery projects in the Democratic National Committee.
Photo Credit: Mrs. Roosevelt in Puerto Rico – with fellow friends and feminists, including, Emma Bugbee, a journalist who covered the First Lady, as a reporter and friend. Bugbee’s reporting helped to promote the Roosevelt administration in a positive light
Photo: Courtesy of the FDR Library Photograph Collection
President Roosevelt encourages “Birthday Balls”
January 30, 1934 / 1930sPresident Roosevelt uses his birthday to encourage Americans to host “Birthday Balls” to raise awareness and money for the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation – founded in 1927 as a polio rehabilitation center.
Photo: Courtesy of the FDR Library Photograph Collection
“Fireside Chat”
June 28, 1934 / 1930sPresident Roosevelt’s “Fireside Chat” on the merits of the recovery program
Photo: Public Domain
FDR “Fireside Chat”
September 30, 1934 / 1930sPresident Roosevelt delivers “Fireside Chat” on Moving Forward to Greater Freedom and Security
Photo: Public Domain
Mrs. Roosevelt is the honored guest at the Cause and Cure of War Conference
January 22, 1935 / 1930sPhoto: Public Domain
This year President Roosevelt’s annual “Birthday-Balls” celebration
January 30, 1935 / 1930sFundraising money to be given to local infantile paralysis treatment centers across the country and to medical research to find a cure
Photo: Courtesy of the FDR Library
FDR – “Fireside Chat”
April 28, 1935 / 1930sWorks Progress Administration and Social Security
President Roosevelt speaks on the establishment of the work relief program, which includes the structure of Social Security
Photo: Public Domain
Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act into law
August 14, 1935 / 1930sPhoto: Public Domain
President Roosevelt & the leader of the NAACP
January 2, 1936 / 1930sMrs. Roosevelt secures a meeting with Walter White, leader of the NAACP, and President Roosevelt
President Roosevelt gives a speech at the American Museum of Natural History
January 19, 1936 / 1930sA dedication ceremony of the Theodore Roosevelt Wing – New York
Theodore Roosevelt is seen here pointing out his explorations
Photo: Creative Commons
Photo Credit: Theodore Roosevelt
FDR “Fireside Chat”
September 6, 1936 / 1930sDrought Conditions and the Plight of Farmers
Photo: Courtesy of Library of Congress (Harris & Ewing, photographer)
FDR is elected for a second US presidential term with an increased share of the vote
November 3, 1936 / 1930sPhoto: Public Domain
President Roosevelt orders two battleships to be built
January 8, 1937 / 1930sIn response to foreign powers decline to renew treaties limiting navel armaments
Photo of USS Yorktown – example of Battleship to be built
Photo: Courtesy of the Naval History and Heritage Command
President Roosevelt appoints Thomas Edison’s son, Charles Edison
January 18, 1937 / 1930sFDR appoints, Charles Edison, Assistant Secretary of the Navy
Photo: Public Domain
Photo Credit: Charles Edison
Congress rejects President Roosevelt’s proposed reform of the US Supreme Court
1937 / 1930sRejection due to amid furious accusations that he is trying to pack the Court with his nominees
FDR signs the second Agricultural Adjustment Act
February 16, 1938 / 1930sCongress passes the Revenue Act of 1938
May 27, 1938 / 1930sAfter FDR veto, the Revenue Act is passed to stimulate the economy by corporate income tax reduction
FDR signs the Fair Labor Standards Act
June 25, 1938 / 1930sMrs. Roosevelt goes on record in favor of passing the federal anti-lynching bill
January 13, 1939 / 1930sAt the Second National Conference on Problems of the Negro and Negro Youth
German-born US physicist Albert Einstein writes to President Roosevelt
August 2, 1939 / 1930sThe letter is a warning of the potential of an atomic bomb
Photo: Public Domain
Photo Credit: Albert Einstein
FDR – “Fireside Chat”
September 3, 1939 / 1930sPresident Roosevelt speaks on, the war in Europe – The radio press is there to capture his ‘fireside chat’
Photo: Public Domain
FDR signs the Neutrality Act of 1939
November 4, 1939 / 1930sFDR signs the Selective Training and Service Act
1940 / 1940sAuthorizing the first peace-time military draft in U.S. history
FDR – “Fireside Chat”
May 26, 1940 / 1940sNational Defense and Military Readiness (May 26, 1940) WH
President Roosevelt speaks to the American public, reassuring the nation that the US is prepared to deal with threats and points out that military strength is expanding
President Roosevelt, campaigning for a third term
October 3, 1940 / 1940sHe assures Americans that he will not send their sons to fight in Europe’s war
FDR wins an unprecedented third US presidential term
November 5, 1940 / 1940sAlbeit it with a considerably reduced share of the vote
Photo: Public Domain
Photo Credit: Campaign Photo, Franklin D. Roosevelt
President Roosevelt – Delivers the “Four Freedoms”
January 6, 1941 / 1940sPresident Roosevelt defines to Congress his concept
Four Freedoms – of speech, of worship, from want, from fear
Photo: Engraving of the Four Freedoms at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Photo: Creative Commons
“Four Freedoms” – promotion begins
January 6, 1941 / 1940sPoster promoting FDR’s Four Freedoms
Photo: Public Domain
Congress passes the Lend-lease Act
March 11, 1941 / 1940sLend-lease Act enables President Roosevelt to provide much needed help to US allies
Roosevelt appoints Douglas MacArthur
July 26, 1941 / 1940sMacArthur appointed commander of US forces in the Far East
Photo: Public Domain
Roosevelt and Churchill claim the future
August 14, 1941 / 1940sRoosevelt and Churchill publish a joint Atlantic Charter, foreseeing a future free from ‘Nazi tyranny’
Roosevelt and Churchill
August 14, 1941 / 1940sRoosevelt and Churchill publish a joint Atlantic Charter, foreseeing a future free from ‘Nazi tyranny’
Their relationship grew throughout the war, and in the end was authentically self-serving, candid, and strongly connected
Photo: Courtesy of the FDR Library Photograph Collection
FDR – “Fireside Chat”
September 11, 1941 / 1940sPresident Roosevelt speaks on Freedom of the Seas
Photo: Public Domain
“A date which will live in infamy.”
December 8, 1941 / 1940sPresident Roosevelt declares “a date which will live in infamy.” Congress responds by declaring war on Japan.
Photo: Public Domain
Photo Credits: Vice President Henry Wallace, Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn, Rayburn, is Roosevelt’s son James
FDR – “Fireside Chat”
December 9, 1941 / 1940sPresident Roosevelt signs the declaration of war against Imperial Japan, and then speaks to the nation on War with Japan
Photo: Public Domain
President Roosevelt – “United Nations” inception
January 1, 1942 / 1940sPresident Roosevelt informally meets with Winston Churchill, Soviet Foreign Minister Maxim Litvinov, and Chinese Ambassador T.V. Son
They sign a declaration pledge for liberty, religious freedom, and the preservation of human rights. FDR later names this coalition the “United Nations”
Photo: Public Domain
Image Credit: Poster created during the Second World War (1943)
The Roosevelt administration
January 10, 1942 / 1940sSupported price control bill is voted by the Senate 83 to 1
FDR – “Fireside Chat”
February 23, 1942 / 1940sPresident Roosevelt speaks on Progress of the War
Photo: Public Domain
FDR appoints Anna M. Rosenberg
1942 / 1940sTo the National Recovery Administration and then to War Manpower Commission as Regional Director. She is the first woman to serve as a Regional Manager for Social Security
FDR – “Fireside Chat”
October 12, 1942 / 1940sPresident Roosevelt speaks on Report on the Home Front
FDR brings forth many subjects of discussion, including a workforce of women, the imperative after-war need for peace time, and the drafting age
We, therefore, fight for the restoration and perpetuation of faith and hope and peace throughout the world. The objective of today is clear and realistic. It is to destroy completely the military power of Germany, Italy, and Japan to such good purpose that their threat against us and all the other United Nations cannot be revived a generation hence. We are united in seeking the kind of victory that will guarantee that our grandchildren can grow and, under God, may live their lives, free from the constant threat of invasion, destruction, slavery, and violent death. - President Franklin D. Roosevelt
President Roosevelt talks about the United Nations at a press conference
January 1, 1943 / 1940sHe states that maintaining peace is the most important objective
President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill
January 22, 1943 / 1940sMeet in Casablanca for a strategic conference
Photo: Courtesy of the Roosevelt Library
First Lady Roosevelt christens the USS Yorktown
January 22, 1943 / 1940sPhoto: Creative Commons
The War Refugee Board is formed by FDR
January 2, 1944 / 1940sThe board is formed for the rescue of persecuted minorities of Europe
Mrs. Roosevelt “My Day” column
January 5, 1944 / 1940sShe explains the deceitful strategies of developing segregated neighborhoods
FDR – “Fireside Chat”
January 11, 1944 / 1940sPresident Roosevelt – State of the Union: National Service and Economic Bill of Rights
Photo: Public Domain
FDR – “Fireside Chat”
June 12, 1944 / 1940sLaunching the Fifth War Loan Drive (June 12, 1944)
I urge all Americans to buy War Bonds without stint. Swell the mighty chorus to bring us nearer to victory! - President Franklin D. Roosevelt
President Roosevelt is elected for a fourth term
November 7, 1944 / 1940sPresident Roosevelt, although seriously ill, is elected for a fourth term with Harry S. Truman as his vice-president
Photo: Public Domain
FDR’s LAST – “Fireside Chat”
January 6, 1945 / 1940sPresident Roosevelt gives his last message to Congress on Return from Yalta Conference.
Work-or-Fight and Vision for the United Nations
Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill meet
February 4, 1945 / 1940sThe three leaders meet at Yalta to discuss Allied post-war plans
Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill
Mrs. Roosevelt’s column “My Day” column
February 9, 1945 / 1940sShe writes about the joy of going to see an American-folk Broadway Musical Sing Out, Sweet Land!
President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies
April 12, 1945 / 1940sLast photo of President Roosevelt – April 11, 1945
He is succeeded by his vice-president, Harry S. Truman
Photo: Public Domain
President Roosevelt’s funeral procession
April 14, 1945 / 1940sWashington, D.C.
Photo: Public Domain
Eleanor Roosevelt joined the United Nations Human Rights Division
1946 / 1940sMrs. Roosevelt holding the Spanish publication of Universal Declaration of Human Rights
This includes FDR’s Four Freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear
Cuatro Libertades: libertad de expresión, libertad de culto, vivir libres de necesidad, libertad del miedo
Photo: Public Domain
“Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect.” — Eleanor Roosevelt American Delegate to the United Nations
Eleonor Roosevelt – United Nations
1947 / 1940sEleanor Roosevelt speaking at the United Nations
Photo: Public Domain
“I believed the United Nations to be the one hope for a peaceful world. I knew that my husband had placed great importance on the establishment of this world organization. So I felt a great sense of responsibility.”
- Eleonor Roosevelt
American Delegate to the United Nations
