Franklin D. Roosevelt 32nd U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, often referred to by his initials FDR, served as the 32nd President of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945, the only president ever elected to four terms. His life and presidency were defined by an indomitable spirit in the face of immense personal and national adversity. Born in 1882 into a wealthy New York family, FDR was a distant cousin of President Theodore Roosevelt, whose progressive politics he greatly a