Franklin Delano Roosevelt served as the 32nd President of the United States; from 1933 to 1945. A Democrat; he won a record four presidential elections and dominated his party after 1932 as a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century; leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic depression and total war.

His program for relief; recovery and reform; known as the New Deal; involved a great expansion of the role of the federal government in the economy. As a dominant leader of the Democratic Party; he built the New Deal Coalition that brought together and united labor unions; big city machines; ethnic whites; African Americans; and rural white Southerners in support of the party.

The Coalition significantly realigned American politics after 1932; creating the Fifth Party System and defining American liberalism throughout the middle third of the 20th century.