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By: Jonathan Lindberg

In July 1940, the Democratic Convention in Chicago nominated Franklin Roosevelt for an unprecedented third term. The United States was facing great peril, split over the prospect of war with both Germany and Japan and still shaking the dust of the depression from its shoes. Roosevelt, ambitious to be sure, had kept his third term aspirations close to his heart, much like he would do over his fourth term. But with the nomination secure, Roosevelt turned his attention to the vice presidency, an office which was still voted upon by the delegates. Roosevelt indicated his choice was Henry A. Wallace, then Secretary of Agriculture. The convention was less than pleased. From the White House, Roosevelt followed the proceedings with unusual interest. What is clear is that at some point before the vote, Roosevelt drafted a letter declining the nomination for president, to be delivered to the delegates if Wallace was not the nominee. Like so many fights Roosevelt initiated, this battle had little to do with the vice presidency, an office still held in low regard. The battle was over Roosevelt himself, who had learned to amass power better than any president up to his time. The battle was won. Wallace was nominated. Roosevelt was elected. And four years later Wallace, no longer necessary, was replaced on the ticket by Senator Harry Truman.

Such is the life of Franklin D. Roosevelt, a man who from an early age, learned how to use his name and influence to get what he wanted.

Roosevelt grew up in New York City among the gilded age, when wealth and power was held firm among the ruling elite, and the middle class was only a concept being fashioned on paper. The fact that Franklin was the nephew of President Theodore Roosevelt only strengthened his hand, helping to guide his career well into the 1920s. It was only after serving as President for three consecutive terms, along with the death of his influential and dominant mother Sara that Roosevelt managed to emerge from the tall shadows of his family and become their patron saint.

In his even-paced biography FDR (Random House, 636 pages), noted historian Jean Edward Smith documents the calculated and careful attention Franklin gave to his career, rising from Assistant Secretary of the Navy to Vice Presidential Candidate, onto New York State Governor and then President. Such a neat and steady rise could only work if it were planned and deliberate – just as Democratic imitators John Kennedy and Bill Clinton did years later, measuring their rise to power.

That FDR did more to shape the modern presidency than any other president in the modern era is no secret – however, the