Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New DealFranklin D. Roosevelt and the New DealAs one of the greatest presidents in American history, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR ) saved the United States from the Great Depression by implementing his famous “A New Deal”. But criticism of FDR's New Deal has continued since the day it was created. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, in his article “FDR Was Overrated,” notes that “…government spending revived economic activity under Roosevelt and had extremely damaging consequences for the rest of the 20th century. » (Evans-Pritchard, 24) William J. Barber also complains. that FDR's New Deal gave Americans a "great legacy of government." Do these words really tell the truth about what happened in the 1930s? Is it fair to consider FDR's great attempt to help the nation recover from the Great Depression? To answer these questions, we should have some basic knowledge about FDR himself. Franklin D. Roosevelt was born in Hyde Park, New York, on January 30, 1882. In 1903, he completed his law studies at Columbia University and practiced law in a prominent New York City law firm . He entered politics in 1910 and was elected to the New York State Senate as a Democrat from his traditionally Republican home district. In 1905, he had married a distant cousin, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, who was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt was re-elected to the State Senate in 1912. In 1928, Roosevelt was elected governor. After his re-election as governor in 1930, Roosevelt began campaigning for the presidency. His activist approach and personal charm helped defeat Hoover in November 1932 by seven million votes. Roosevelt easily defeated Alfred M. Landon in 1936 and later defeated Wendell... middle of paper ... a resounding success. Mr. Roosevelt may have given the wrong answers to many of his problems. But he is the first president of modern America who asked the right questions. 7 Issue 3, p18Center for New Deal Studies—Roosevelt Universityhttp://www.roosevelt.edu/newdeal/Edsforth, Ronald The New Deal—America's Response to the Great Depression The Blackwell Publishers. Malden, Massachusetts. 2000Evans-Pritchard, Ambrose. “FDR was overrated” Alberta Report/Newsmagazine, 5/29/95, Vol. 22 Issue 24, p23 “FDR and the New Deal” Economist, 12/31/99, Vol. 353 Number 8151, Millennium Number p49Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museumhttp://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/New Deal Networkhttp://Newdeal.feri.org/