Franklin D. Roosevelt statistics at a glance
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s life and presidency are often described in broad historical terms, but the numbers make the arc much sharper.
The timeline below uses only the supplied source statistics and keeps the major milestones in view: education, political rise, four elections, wartime communication, and the long afterlife of Roosevelt Library research.
Table of contents
- Fast facts
- Early life and education
- Political rise before the White House
- 1932 and the road to the presidency
- Presidency in numbers
- Fireside Chats by the numbers
- The Depression context
- Roosevelt Library research legacy
- How the source statistics fit together
Fast facts
Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882 (FDR Biography). He married Anna Eleanor Roosevelt on March 17, 1905 (FDR Biography). The couple had 6 children, and 5 of them survived infancy (FDR Biography). He attended Groton from 1896 to 1900, Harvard from 1900 to 1903, and Columbia Law School from 1903 to 1905 (FDR Biography). He passed the bar examination in 1907 and entered politics in 1910 (FDR Biography). He was elected to the New York State Senate in 1910 and re-elected in 1912 (FDR Biography). He was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1913 and served until 1920 (FDR Biography). He ran for vice president in 1920 on the Democratic ticket with James Cox and lost to Warren Harding (FDR Biography). He was stricken with polio in 1921 while vacationing at Campobello Island, at age 39 (FDR Biography; FDR and Polio). He was elected governor of New York State in 1928 and re-elected in 1930 (FDR Biography).
Early life and education
The earliest statistics show a fast-moving educational path. Roosevelt’s schooling moved from Groton to Harvard to Columbia Law School in a compact sequence that ended with a law degree path and bar admission (FDR Biography).
That sequence matters because it shows how quickly he moved from elite schooling into public service. He was born in 1882, attended Groton from 1896 to 1900, attended Harvard from 1900 to 1903, received a BA in history from Harvard, and then attended Columbia Law School from 1903 to 1905 (FDR Biography). He passed the bar examination in 1907, which positioned him for practical political work rather than a long private legal career (FDR Biography).
A compact timeline of formative years
| Year or period | Statistic | Source label |
|---|---|---|
| 1882 | Born on January 30, 1882 | FDR Biography |
| 1896-1900 | Attended Groton | FDR Biography |
| 1900-1903 | Attended Harvard | FDR Biography |
| 1903-1905 | Attended Columbia Law School | FDR Biography |
| 1907 | Passed the bar examination | FDR Biography |
| 1910 | Entered politics | FDR Biography |
The table shows a steady climb rather than a single leap. The statistical pattern is simple: schooling, credentialing, then politics (FDR Biography).
Political rise before the White House
Roosevelt’s pre-presidential career was already substantial before national office. He entered politics in 1910, won a seat in the New York State Senate that same year, and returned to that chamber in 1912 after re-election (FDR Biography).
From there the pace accelerated. He was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1913 and remained in that post until 1920 (FDR Biography). That seven-year stretch is an important number because it shows how long he stayed inside the machinery of federal government before seeking higher office.
The 1920 vice-presidential race is another useful marker. Roosevelt ran on the Democratic ticket with James Cox and lost to Warren Harding (FDR Biography). That defeat did not end his rise; it became part of a sequence that included his 1921 polio diagnosis, his 1928 gubernatorial victory, and his 1930 re-election as governor (FDR Biography).
Pre-presidential milestones
- 1910: entered politics and was elected to the New York State Senate (FDR Biography)
- 1912: re-elected to the New York State Senate (FDR Biography)
- 1913: appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy (FDR Biography)
- 1920: ran for vice president and lost nationally (FDR Biography)
- 1921: stricken with polio at age 39 while vacationing at Campobello Island (FDR Biography; FDR and Polio)
- 1928: elected governor of New York State (FDR Biography)
- 1930: re-elected governor of New York State (FDR Biography)
The numbers here reveal resilience. He moved from state politics to national administration, then through a major personal health crisis, and back into elected power. That sequence is one of the clearest statistical narratives in the source set (FDR Biography; FDR and Polio).
1932 and the road to the presidency
Roosevelt won the presidency in November 1932 by seven million votes (FDR Biography). The electoral and popular-vote numbers make the scale of that victory concrete. He received 22,809,638 popular votes, or 57.4% of the popular vote, and won 472 electoral votes (FDR Presidential Library). Herbert Hoover received 15,758,901 popular votes, 39.7% of the popular vote, and 59 electoral votes (FDR Presidential Library).
Those figures show a decisive national shift. Roosevelt’s margin in the popular vote was not close, and the electoral college result was overwhelming by any modern standard.
1932 election snapshot
| Candidate | Popular votes | Popular vote share | Electoral votes | Source label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | 22,809,638 | 57.4% | 472 | FDR Presidential Library |
| Herbert Hoover | 15,758,901 | 39.7% | 59 | FDR Presidential Library |
The election also lines up with the broader crisis environment. By the time Roosevelt was inaugurated, nearly 25% of the labor force was unemployed, prices and productivity had fallen to 1/3 of their 1929 levels, and the banking system had collapsed by March 4, 1933 (Great Depression Facts).
That context is essential because it explains why the presidency began under such intense pressure. The numbers surrounding the election are not just electoral statistics; they sit inside an economic emergency (Great Depression Facts; FDR Biography).
Presidency in numbers
Roosevelt was first inaugurated as president on March 4, 1933 and became the 32nd President of the United States (FDR Presidency; White House bio). He was elected president 4 times: 1932, 1936, 1940, and 1944 (FDR Presidency). He had 3 vice presidents during his presidency: John Nance Garner from March 4, 1933 to January 20, 1941; Henry Agard Wallace from January 20, 1941 to January 20, 1945; and Harry S. Truman from January 20, 1945 to April 12, 1945 (FDR Presidency).
That alone gives the presidency a strong numerical structure. Four elections, three vice presidents, and a single long era of executive leadership spanning depression, recovery, and war (FDR Presidency).
Presidency by the numbers
- 4 presidential victories: 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944 (FDR Presidency)
- 3 vice presidents during the presidency (FDR Presidency)
- 31 speeches identified as Fireside Chats (FDR Presidency)
- 1 first inauguration date: March 4, 1933 (FDR Presidency)
- 1 presidential rank in the White House list: 32nd President of the United States (White House bio)
Roosevelt’s presidency also had a distinctive communications pattern. The 31 Fireside Chats are a useful measure of his direct public contact. They were not random speeches; they formed an identifiable series across the full span of the presidency (FDR Presidency).
Fireside Chats by the numbers
The Fireside Chats are among the most data-rich parts of the source set because they create a numbered sequence with dates and themes. The first was on March 12, 1933 about the bank crisis (FDR Presidency). The second was on May 7, 1933 about the New Deal program (FDR Presidency). The third was on July 24, 1933 about the first hundred days (FDR Presidency). The fourth was on October 22, 1933 about the currency situation (FDR Presidency).
By the end of the sequence, the topics had shifted from domestic recovery to wartime leadership. The seventeenth Fireside Chat on May 27, 1941 proclaimed a national emergency. The nineteenth on December 9, 1941 addressed war with Japan. The twenty-first on April 28, 1942 discussed national economic policy during war. The twenty-eighth on January 11, 1944 covered national service and the Economic Bill of Rights. The thirty-first on January 6, 1945 addressed work-or-fight and the United Nations (FDR Presidency).
Selected Fireside Chat milestones
| Chat number | Date | Main topic | Source label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | March 12, 1933 | Bank crisis | FDR Presidency |
| 2 | May 7, 1933 | New Deal program | FDR Presidency |
| 19 | December 9, 1941 | War with Japan | FDR Presidency |
| 28 | January 11, 1944 | National service and the Economic Bill of Rights | FDR Presidency |
| 31 | January 6, 1945 | Work-or-fight and the United Nations | FDR Presidency |
A chart is not necessary to see the structure. The numbering itself tells the story. The series began with bank stabilization and ended with the architecture of wartime and postwar thinking (FDR Presidency).
Two later details are especially notable. Roosevelt’s first-year banking-crisis Fireside Chat was delivered on March 12, 1933 (FDR Presidency). He also announced the “Arsenal of Democracy” Lend-Lease Fireside Chat on December 29, 1940 (World War II Facts). Those two dates show how the public messaging moved from emergency banking to wartime industrial mobilization.
The Depression context
The source statistics place Roosevelt’s presidency inside a severe economic collapse. By the time of his inauguration in 1933, nearly 25% of the labor force was unemployed, prices and productivity had fallen to 1/3 of their 1929 levels, and the banking system had collapsed (Great Depression Facts).
Those three facts work together. High unemployment, depressed prices and productivity, and banking instability created the conditions for the early New Deal response (Great Depression Facts). Roosevelt’s first bank-crisis Fireside Chat on March 12, 1933 fits directly into that setting (FDR Presidency).
The crisis numbers also help explain why the presidency is remembered as a turning point. Roosevelt did not begin in normal political weather. He began in a system under pressure at nearly every level the source statistics mention: jobs, prices, productivity, and banks (Great Depression Facts).
Roosevelt Library research legacy
The afterlife of Roosevelt’s historical record is also measurable. The Roosevelt Library research room opened on May 1, 1946 (A New FDR Emerges). About 85% of FDR presidential papers were opened to research by 1951 (A New FDR Emerges).
That access produced a long stream of scholarship. Researchers made 33,709 visits to the research room from 1952 to 1982, and those visits produced at least 306 books (A New FDR Emerges). In the quarter-century after 1982, researchers made 34,262 additional research-room visits and produced 376 new titles (A New FDR Emerges). In the last year cited by the source, 68 new books were published based on Roosevelt Library research (A New FDR Emerges).
Research output at a glance
| Period | Research-room visits | Publications or titles | Source label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1952-1982 | 33,709 | At least 306 books | A New FDR Emerges |
| After 1982, in the quarter-century cited | 34,262 | 376 new titles | A New FDR Emerges |
| Last year cited by the source | Not stated | 68 new books | A New FDR Emerges |
The museum data is equally telling. Museum visitation averaged 200,000 annually from 1945 to 1982 and almost 150,000 annually in the years after 1982 (A New FDR Emerges). Those averages suggest sustained public interest even as the decades changed.
How the source statistics fit together
The best way to read the full set is as a single timeline with four layers. First comes the personal formation: birth, schooling, marriage, and family size (FDR Biography). Second comes the climb into public office: state senate, Navy Department, vice-presidential run, polio, governorship (FDR Biography; FDR and Polio). Third comes the national breakthrough: the 1932 victory, first inauguration, and four elections (FDR Presidential Library; FDR Presidency). Fourth comes the long historical footprint: 31 Fireside Chats, wartime broadcasts, and decades of archival research and museum visitation (FDR Presidency; World War II Facts; A New FDR Emerges).
The numbers also help distinguish between different kinds of Roosevelt significance. Some facts are biographical, such as his birth in 1882 and his 1905 marriage (FDR Biography). Some are political, such as the 1910 Senate election and the 1932 presidential result (FDR Biography; FDR Presidential Library). Some are administrative, such as the three vice-presidential tenures (FDR Presidency). Some are communicative, such as the 31 Fireside Chats (FDR Presidency). And some are archival, such as the 33,709 research visits and the 376 later titles (A New FDR Emerges).
Put together, the source statistics show a career with unusual continuity. He moved from elite education to state office, from federal service to national defeat, then through illness, recovery, and eventually four presidential victories (FDR Biography; FDR and Polio; FDR Presidency). The result is not just a famous biography. It is a sequence of dates, counts, and outcomes that forms one of the most measurable political lives in American history.