Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the only US president elected for four terms. Conrad Black, the Canadian born proprietor of the Daily Telegraph in Britain (and the Hollinger Group in Canada and the US) has long been fascinated by Roosevelt and his achievement. Struck down in the early 1920s with polio following a promising legal and political career he recovered, but without the use of his legs, to lead the United States out of the depression. First elected in 1932, his 'New Deal' alone would have put him among the most revered of American presidents, but then came World War II. From the earliest days he supported Britain through Lend-Lease. He and Churchill became close friends as well as allies. After Pearl Harbor the two leaders met in Washington over Christmas 1941 to plan the war against the axis powers. Although his health deteriorated, FDR, as he was known, stood for an unprecedented fourth term in 1944 and represented the US at the great allied peace conferences at Yalta and Teheran. Conrad Black sees him as the 'Champion of Freedom' and the greatest individual of the twentieth century.