Franklin Delano Roosevelt came to the presidency at the depth of the greatest depression in American history - a crisis which seemed to threaten the very foundations of the Republic. Could the situation be saved: could the descent into poverty and misery be reversed?

A two-term governor of New York, Roosevelt was not unknown to the American people; but few of those who rejoiced in the political repudiation of the old order were prepared for the boldness, the courage, the political mastery, and the creativity he displayed. “We have nothing to fear but fear itself,” he said in his inaugural address; and he promptly asked Congress to give him “broad executive power such as would be given me if we were invaded by a foreign power.” Congress granted his request, and Roosevelt responded with a program as bold and comprehensive as the one that Alexander Hamilton submitted to the first Continental Congress.