An American statesman, political leader, and 32nd President of the United States of America, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945) is often referred to by his initials FDR. During his presidency, FDR established agencies in order to relieve debilitating unemployment among Americans during the Great Depression. Such agencies included: the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA); the Public Works Administration (PWA); the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC); the Reconstruction Finance Corporation; and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA). Additionally, at the urging of Asa Philip Randolph he created the Fair Employment Practice Committee (FEPC) in June 1941. This banned the federal government and corporations, which received federal contracts, by preventing such groups from discriminatory hiring, from using race, color, creed, and national origin, as a reason not to hire someone, many African Americans and women were able to receive better jobs and pay.
FDR’s relief programs that Congress enacted made him popular with the African Americans who were disproportionately affected by the Great Depression, often fired first and hired last due to their race. However, FDR was not a civil rights advocate and did not push for Congress to enact an anti-lynching law because he was concerned about losing the support of southern whites.
