The First Inaugural Address of Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Written by Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Narrated by D.S. Harvey

When Franklin Roosevelt was elected in 1932, the country was still reeling in the aftermath of the 1929 Stock Market Crash and ensuing Great Depression. The American people were looking for help and direction. In his inaugural address delivered on March 4, 1933, Roosevelt spelled out a clear plan that called for swift, decisive action that would mobilize the power of the federal government to put people back to work and reminded the public that America had a proud history of exceptional accomplishments and an inherent collective strength that could (and would) prevail. The speech is most famous for its declaration that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”, but is also notable for his bold statement that "I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis -- broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe." The address continues to stand as a model of decisive, bold action fused with stirring, patriotic fervor. This is leadership at its best.
This audiobook contains a new reading of the text of Roosevelt’s address as well as a recording of the original.

• Language: English
• Publisher: MP3 Audiobook Classics
• Release date: Oct 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9781662148866

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was an American politician and statesman who served as the 32nd president of the United States. Elected to the presidency four times, Roosevelt repealed Prohibition, and stewarded the United States through both the Great Depression—during which he implemented innovative fiscal policies such as the New Deal and Social Security—and the Second World War. His advocacy of government social programs redefined liberalism and has had lasting impacts in the generations since his presidency. In addition to his political contributions, Roosevelt, an adult sufferer of paralysis due to polio, founded the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation and the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, which is now known as the March of Dimes. Roosevelt was married to his cousin, Eleanor Roosevelt (a niece of President Theodore Roosevelt), for forty years, and was father to five surviving children. Franklin Roosevelt died suddenly in April 1945, but his contributions continue to be recognized through the many institutions that carry his name, through his image on the American dime, and as part of the Prominent Americans postage stamp series issued by the United States Postal Service. Roosevelt, along with his wife Eleanor and cousin Theodore, is the subject of the 2014 Ken Burns documentary The Roosevelts: An Intimate History.