Franklin Rossevelt was not a great president. Everyone blames Hoover's policies for getting America into the Depression but FDR had the same policies for the first six years of his presidency! Those policies only extended and deepened the Depression. And the New Deal was a disaster. It created a culture of dependency and helped socialize America. We still suffer from FDR's New Deal policies to this day. However, FDR had singular vision and fortitude when it came to WWII. FDR defeated Nazism and he should be lauded for his wartime policies. The combination of bad domestic policies and superb wartime policies makes FDR only an average president. If I ranked all forty-two presidents from best to worst, FDR would likely fall somewhere between fourteen and twenty.

Historic figure for his leadership during a particularly rough patch in our past. The packing the court incident keeps from a 5 star rating.

The last truly great president we ever had. Now Bush is completely undermining every decision this great man made, and is undoing the good things he did. Damn shame. Oh and the New Deal and first hundred days, without a doubt, saved america from being stuck in the depression for ever. He is deffinetly turning in his grave right now. And one more thing, he didn't start socailism, just socail security, which is now going to be lost the next time the stock market crashes or even falls on rough times. Carl Marx started socailism. You can't deny he was a great presient, he was elected to 4 terms, by an absolute landslide every single time, and one them winning all but 2 states. Don't mess with FDR.

Amazing handling of government through such tough periods of handling government.

People who give F.D.R. a bad rating aren't true Americans at all, without him there would be no America, and no Jewish people.

Brought us out of the depression and helped win WWII, no one better.

I think Roosevelt was a great president, he got the U.S. back on it's feet after WW II. He had to bend quite a few laws to do it but without his projects we wouldn't have become one of the strongest countries in the world. He was also instrumental in beginning to rebuild Europe.

The Roosevelt years were the make or break years for this country. He came into office leading a starving, impoverished nation and left it a military super power in firm control of the world economy.

The godfather of socialism who is responsible for expanding government and sky high taxes that we have to pay for him. Before FDR, the average federal income tax was only 8%. Now, even the smallest tax bracket pays more than this. Everyone would have more money if he wouldn't have been our president

Saved democracy and capitalism, although World War II had a lot to do with it.

Greatest president of the 20th century. He's da man!

unorthodox methods, but got us out of the second largest crisis in this country's history; however, he ignored the holocaust until we got attacked and had to fight necesary

Responsible for prolonging the Great Depression (New Deal), handed Eastern Europe over to Stalin, violated Washington's two-term precedent, let Stalin get away with crimes twice as bad as Hitler, tried to illegally pack the Supreme Court, Social Security is an unconstitutional pyramid scheme that anyone under 50 years old should oppose or at least want reformed, I could keep going.

The man saved the world, if anything the greatest leader EVER.

He was a fast machine. He kept his motor clean. He was the best damn President we have ever seen.

People can call him socialist if they want but there is a reason that he spent more time as president than anyone else. He had tremendous foresight callimg on the congress to appropriate funds to begin strengthening the military well before Pearl Harbor. Using fireside chats he was able to relate to the people and was more open than any other president. The WPA and TVA along with the CCC created many utilities, hospitals and schools still in use today. Unlike welfare today FDR had the people earn wages instead of taking handouts. This country is lucky that he risked being called a socialist by showing compassion instead of allowing millions to die.

LED U.S. THROUGH 14 OF THE MOST TURBULENT YEARS IN U.S. HISTORY. Defeated the third anti-christ that was Adolph Hitler, and also did more for the domestic welfare of citizens than any president.

Hands down the greatest President, if not the greatest politician or even the greatest person of power in American history!!!

This anti-American tyrant illegaly locked up thousands of innocent Japanese Aericans for one reason alone: being Japanese. He is the cause of the massive amounts of taxation we se today. Increased the size of government to new heights. New that the threat of Japan was high, yet pulled resources out of Pearl Harbor, thus, leaving it defenseless. He did everything in his ability to save and support the Soviet Union. Too bad he gave the Communists so much support they soon became one of the 2 wold powers. But the worst thing he did was lock up the innocent Japanese in camps. Can you imagine the flak that Bush would recieve if he locked up all Muslims after 9-11? The outcry would be enourmous! Let's expose FDR for what he really is: A socialist, racist pig.

I wish I had been around when FDR was President. He seems like he was wonderfully inspiring;but not only did he inspire, he took action. He was truly a hero, and all the presidents who followed him pale in comparison to his resplendent example. UPDATE: Yes, wasn't FDR so demonic actually coming up with these awful programs to help people get jobs and get out of the hole! Shameless government interference! I hear that before the evil FDR took office starving families lived in tent cities called Hoovervilles. Isn't this just so cute and original? Talk about cheap housing!

The damage of the New Deal is still being felt. Cuddled up to Stalin.

Was the hardest workin president EVER. Brought us out of the depression with his New Deal programs.

Shouldn't even be on the lisr. We can thank him for Pearl Harbor. Same as Bush for 9/11

SOCIALIST!!!

Again, another leader that saved our country. The Republicans are still trying to reverse everything this man accomplished.

got us out of the depression and WWII, what more could we ask for.

FDR was one of the greatest Presidents ever. He led us out of the depression by creating jobs and jumpstarting the economy. If not for Abraham Lincoln, he would be the greatest President, ever.

An old socialist from day one. Was in a socialist fog most of his presidency and a misty fog when he delt away most of Europe to the murdering Communist after they had suffered through the Nazis. He was truly a proped up president physically and by the leftest press in this country.

Prolonged the depression. He should have had a reality radio show instead. He new how to talk into the mike but we are still paying for his lack of leadership economicly.

He took a liquidity crisis and made it much worse by raising tax rates - reverse supply side. He took unemployment from 10-15% up to 25% by shear ignorance. The confiscatory tax rates made tooling up for World War II very difficult. The military supplied tax lawyers and accountants to help companies evade the tax rates so they could expand in order to provide supplies and munitions to the military. These are two major screwups in a time of crisis. His abilities barely raise his performance to mediocre.

A socialist that started more entitlement programs than almost any other president.

Best Prez ever. Wheeled America straight out of the depression.

the depression would have been worse without his insight,,,,,,great man....i am a republican.

stupid commie he should of been pres only once and he didnt inform his vice about what was going on.

He did what a President is SUPPOSED to do! He protected the little guy from the wealthy scumbags. Best US Prez ever!

Led us through the Great Depression and WWII.

The only reason I give him a 2 is for winning WWII. Clearly though, he was overrated in many aspects. He was not some white knight who rode in an ended the great depression. To echo what others said, fighting the most important war of all time and winning will work wonders with a struggling economy. The expansion of the welfare state impeded the economic recovery. To be fair though, FDR also deviated from Hoover's protectionist economic policies and gravitated toward a global market, which spurred economic growth. I can't say much positive about social security; it's predicated on the notion that people aren't smart enough to handle their own finances and retirement, thus, we must create a government program coupled with the usual bureaucracy which generates a paltry 2 percent interest by retirement. Finally, I can't look past FDR placing Japanese-Americans in concentration camps during WWII. Just imagine the outrage and hysteria from the Left today if George W. Bush placed Muslims in concentration camps. Yet FDR is a hero to these very same people!

FDR was a good man and a good president. He was responsible for saving america from the great depression. WW2 didnt do anything about that because we werent in world war 2 when FDR became president and created jobs as well as social security, which is still helping people to this day. Nobody should blame him for what happened in the concentration camps because, Hitler was responsible for that and america didnt even enter the war until peal harber was attacked by the japanese. if it wasnt for him entering into the war, even more people could have been killed, and america would have been taken over by the nazis which is what they wanted. FDR was a very intelligent, and moral president.

FDR did some positive things with the New Deal. WWII did at least as much as he did to end the Great Depression. FDR can be considered a murderer, for his lack of caring when many people were being murdered in concentration camps. The jerk could've easily had the planes bomb the train tracks when they were nearby anyway. I hold him responsible for the deaths of thousands.

Franklin Roosevelt is clearly an overrated president, but he also does not get credit for some things that often go unnoticed in today's revisionist history. First, FDR often gets credited for ending the depression when World War II actually accomplished this. Even one of RIA's most qualified presidential critics (at least from my readings of his comments) holds the opinion that FDR did not solve the depression or exacerbate it; however, this was Roosevelt's presidential challenge (as he should have never been in office during WWII as he was in his third and fourth terms). Perhaps, FDR could not do anything to end the depression or accelerate its end, but one does not get credit either way under those circumstances. FDR also ran for unprecedented third and fourth terms for no compelling reason (ie no one man is irreplaceable) as the war did not start until after FDR decided to run for a third term and the U.S. didn't enter the war until during his third term. This action would have set a dangerous precedent that would have worked against the timely and peaceful transfer of power that American democracy depends had not the Constitution been amended to remedy this danger. Furthermore, as others have noted, FDR's attempt to pack the Supreme Court (by increasing the number of justices from 9 to 13 if memory serves) evidences his tendency to be Machiavellian to a tragic fault. The most costly failure was that FDR failed to keep Truman involved in the war and post-war decision-making process resulting in costly mistakes and a longer and exacerbated Cold War. On the plus side, Roosevelt was finally successful in dragging the United States into WWII, even if it meant intentionally dangling a vulnerable Pearl Harbor in front of the Japanese, and he wisely listened to his military advisors (most notably Gen. Marshall) in concentrating on the European theater first (though Adm. King strongly advocated a Japan first strategy); however, as it took a Japanese attack to push the U.S. over the edge (something that a wiser Japan would not have done and need not have done to achieve its shorter term necessities), Roosevelt failed in this regard as well from an efficient planning perspective. As for the monumental growth of the social structure during the Franklin Roosevelt Administration, the book is still out on that for me. While the end result has been undeniably disastrous to some degree, some good has been gained, and I am not convinced that the subsequent perversions and abuses can be attributed to FDR in good faith.

Sorry, I'm repeating what others have already said but I couldn't agree more. Roosevelt was an overated socialists who instituted programs like welfare and social security. If it wasn't for his programs, the depression would probably have ended sooner. Unfortunately his programs paved the way for even more wasteful programs that continue to this day.

I believe FDR to be a moderate to overrated president. Many historians like to think he was the most influential president ever, and he was! However, teh question of whether he was influential in a *good* way or a *bad* way is up to you. . . I thought it was very chicken-like to find something else to help him out of his own handicaps. If he hadn't been able to declare war, he never would've gotten the U.S. out of Depression! And no, Eleanor was *not* lesbian :)

FDR was not a perfect president, but then we haven't had many. In answer to Ploopy, FDR did not like appeasement, and tried to halt Hitler's expansion by sending him a list of countries he'd rather not have Hitler attack. Hitler, rather understandably, laughed, because the US had no enforcement power. FDR wanted to fight in the war but the anti-war opinion of Americans kept him chained. WWI had taken a toll and also there had been some studies into the role business had taken in the first world war that caused this feeling. It was only after Pearl Harbor that people were willing to enter. So don't judge the man that presided over the worst section of history over that.

Was president when WWII came and Truman was in office to see it end. Truman gets more of the credit for this victory in my opinion, but FDR did well for sure. His placement of Japanese-Americansin concentration camps may have made since then, but by today's standards he would have been throw out of office. Funny how neither party talks about this today? Also, authored many of the alphabet soup programs that should have only lasted 5 years, instead they morphed into gigantic social programs that continues to drag our economy today. Attempted to stack the Supreme Court with anti-union justices to break the steel unions, this led to presidential term limits. Died in office.

best president ever

Thanks to Franklin Roosevelt, we got out of the Great Depression, and the United States still exists today. FDR was truly one of the greatest presidents ever.

Let's see..........Packing our own people into internment camps. Internment camps that had moldy food, only hay to sleep on, and disease around. Sounds more like a concentration camp.

Socialist piece of trash. America would have been SO much better off without him.

The creator of the American welfare state on the domestic side. On the foregn side, he was one of several world leaders who stood by and watched Hitler sweep through Eastern Europe. Only a surprise attack on the American Naval base at Hawaii jolted FDR to military action. After the war, he allowed communist Russia to enslave all countries east of Germany in the chain of communism, setting up decades of unmitigated slaughter of innocents. Awful.

wow!