Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born in 1882 in Hyde Park, New York, to James and Sara Roosevelt. James Roosevelt was a landowner and businessman of considerable wealth. His parents sent Franklin D. Roosevelt at the age 14 to the Groton School, a prestigious boarding school in Massachusetts. As stated in the “Miller Center” American President: Franklin Delano Roosevelt: A Life in Brief, “At Groton FDR grew increasingly fond of his distant cousin, Theodore Roosevelt, a rising star in the Republican Party.“ FDR went to Harvard College; here he spent most of his time working on the college newspaper than he did on his studies. While in college FDR declared himself a Democrat and soon after began courting his distant cousin, Eleanor Roosevelt. Franklin and Eleanor got married in New York in 1905, soon after Franklin began law school at the University of Columbia. Roosevelt had very little interest in law, but began to gain interest in politics. In 190 he ran successfully for the New York State Senate and was reelected to the Senate in 1912. FDR became assistant secretary of the Navy, playing a key role in readying the United States for entry into the world war. …show more content…
FDR came down with polio, a terrifying and incurable disease that left him paralyzed in the legs. FDR was able to regain some use of his legs after enduring a vigorous rehabilitation process, with support from his wife and children and his close confidantes. In the late 1920s, FDR invested a generous amount of his fortune into the Warm Springs Spa in Georgia where he spent most of his time rehabilitating. He built a cottage there and called it “the Little White House.” Even though polio had affected FDR’s body physically, his determination helped him grow stronger as a person. Eleanor later stated about FDR during this time, “I know that he had a real fear when he was first taken ill, but he learned to surmount it. After that I never heard say he was afraid of