Summary: On this episode of A New York Minute In History, co-hosts Devin Lander and Don Wildman examine how two New Yorkers – Al Smith and Franklin Delano Roosevelt – influenced the Progressive Era of the early 20th century. The episode also explores how the administrations of Smith and Roosevelt shaped modern day politics and the role of government. Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was born in Hyde Park, New York on January 30, 1882. He was the son of James Roosevelt and Sara Delano Roosevelt. He attended prestigious preparatory school Groton, received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Harvard University, and studied law at Columbia University. Roosevelt passed the bar examination in 1907. He left Columbia without having received a degree and practiced law in New York City until he entered politics. Roosevelt married Anna Eleanor Roosevelt in 1905 and the pair had six children, of whom five survived infancy. Roosevelt ran for the New York State Senate as a progressive Democrat. He was elected 1910 and reelected in 1912. In the State Senate, Roosevelt stood in opposition to “machine politics” and “political bossism.” He sponsored a resolution for New York’s congressional delegation to approve the U.S. Constitution’s seventeenth amendment for the direct election of senators. Roosevelt also championed conservation. Woodrow Wilson appointed Roosevelt Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1913, a position that Roosevelt held until 1920. His experience, success and popularity in naval affairs resulted in Roosevelt’s nomination for the role of vice president by the Democratic Party in 1920. He shared the ticket with James M. Cox. The pair lost the 1920 presidential election to Republican candidate Warren Harding. The loss prompted Roosevelt to take a hiatus from politics. Roosevelt contracted poliomyelitis (infantile paralysis) in 1921, while vacationing at Campobello Island, New Brunswick. Due to the illness, Roosevelt permanently lost the use of his legs. Roosevelt’s diagnoses and treatment for polio encouraged his work to combat the disease, including the establishment of a recovery center in Warm Springs, Georgia and the organization of the March of Dimes, which eventually funded the creation of an effective polio vaccine. Despite his illness, Roosevelt resumed his political career at the encouragement of political confidant Louis Howe and his wife, Eleanor. Roosevelt’s appearance and speech at the Democratic National Convention of 1924 won him acclaim. He spoke on behalf of Alfred E. Smith. Although Smith lost the Democratic presidential nomination to John W. Davis in 1924, Smith won the presidential nomination in 1928. In 1928, Smith arranged for Roosevelt to succeed him as New York’s governor. Smith did not win the presidency, but Roosevelt was elected Governor of New York. While Governor of New York, Roosevelt established himself as a progressive governor by increasing enhancing the power of state agencies, increasing regulatory supervision of business, providing by tax relief to farmers, advocating cheap electric power, and establishing relief programs for people out of work following the 1929 stock market crash, including the New York State Unemployment Relief Act and the creation of the Temporary Emergency Relief Administration (TERA). Roosevelt’s campaign for the presidency began on 1930. Roosevelt’s policies in New York aimed at combating the Great Depression provided a stark contrast to President Herbert Hoover’s national efforts. Roosevelt’s activist approach, calls for government intervention in the economy, and the Republicans unpopularity in the United States propelled Roosevelt to earn the Democratic nomination and eventually become the 32nd President of the United States. Roosevelt entered the White House at the height of the great Depression. In response to a worsening economy and rapidly increasing unemployment, Roosevelt took immediate action and in
