Criticism of Franklin D. Roosevelt

As president from 1933 to 1945, Roosevelt was the target of sharp criticism from both left and right.

Before, during and after his presidential terms and continuing today, there has been much criticism of Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945).

- Criticism of Franklin D. Roosevelt

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William Randolph Hearst

American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications.

An ad asking automakers to place ads in Hearst chain, noting their circulation.

From left to right: Hearst, Robert Vignola and Arthur Brisbane in New York, during the filming of Vignola's The World and His Wife (1920)

Cartoonist Rogers in 1906 sees the political uses of Oz: he depicts Hearst as the Scarecrow stuck in his own oozy mud in Harper's Weekly.

Puck magazine published this cartoon in its edition of October 31, 1906. Seen as supporting "Hoist" in his bid for governor are Happy Hooligan, Foxy Grandpa, Alphonse and Gaston, Buster Brown, The Katzenjammer Kids, and Maud the mule. All of these comic strips ran in newspapers owned by Hearst.

Painting of a landscape with a huntsman and dead game (Allegory of the Sense of Smell) by Jan Weenix, 1697, once owned by Hearst

He was a leading supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932–1934, but then broke with FDR and became his most prominent enemy on the right.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945.

Eleanor and Franklin with their first two children, 1908

Roosevelt supported Governor Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 presidential election.

Theodore Roosevelt was Franklin Roosevelt's distant cousin and an important influence on his career.

Roosevelt as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 1913

Rare photograph of Roosevelt in a wheelchair, with Fala and Ruthie Bie, the daughter of caretakers at his Hyde Park estate. Photo taken by his cousin Margaret Suckley (February 1941).

Gov. Roosevelt with his predecessor Al Smith, 1930

Results of the 1930 gubernatorial election in New York

Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act into law, August 14, 1935

1936 re-election handbill for Roosevelt promoting his economic policy

Roosevelt with Brazilian President Getúlio Vargas and other dignitaries in Brazil, 1936

The Roosevelts with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, sailing from Washington, D.C., to Mount Vernon, Virginia, on the USS Potomac during the first U.S. visit of a reigning British monarch (June 9, 1939)

Foreign trips of Roosevelt during his presidency

Roosevelt and Winston Churchill aboard HMS Prince of Wales for 1941 Atlantic Charter meeting

Territory controlled by the Allies (blue and red) and the Axis Powers (black) in June 1942

The Allies (blue and red) and the Axis Powers (black) in December 1944

Official portrait of President Roosevelt by Frank O. Salisbury, c. 1947

Since his death, several of Roosevelt's actions have come under substantial criticism, such as the relocation and internment of Japanese Americans in concentration camps.

Tax and spend

Term used in politics meaning government policy to increase or collect taxes for the purpose of increasing public spending.

CIGI Campus, home to the Balsillie School of International Affairs

Throughout the Great Depression, opponents of President Roosevelt's New Deal tax and spend programs criticized the agenda.

Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, third and fourth terms

Once again inaugurated as the 32nd president of the United States, and the fourth term of his presidency ended with his death on April 12, 1945.

The geopolitical disposition of Europe in 1941. The grey area represents Nazi Germany, its allies, and countries under its firm control.

Map of Japanese military advances, until mid-1942

A typical living quarters at the Manzanar internment camp for relocated Japanese.

The two alliances of World War II, with the Axis Powers in blue and the Allied Powers in green

Churchill, FDR, and Stalin at Yalta, two months before Roosevelt's death

Last photograph of Roosevelt, taken the day before his death (April 11, 1945)

Both during and after his terms, critics of Roosevelt questioned not only his policies and positions, but even more so the consolidation of power in the White House at a time when dictators were taking over Europe and Asia.