74 Years Ago Today; FDR dies suddenly from a cerebral hemorrhage

[Dennis Donovan]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt#Declining_health

Declining health
Roosevelt, a chain-smoker throughout his entire adult life, had been in declining physical health since at least 1940. In March 1944, shortly after his 62nd birthday, he underwent testing at Bethesda Hospital and was found to have high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease causing angina pectoris, and congestive heart failure.

Hospital physicians and two outside specialists ordered Roosevelt to rest. His personal physician, Admiral Ross McIntire, created a daily schedule that banned business guests for lunch and incorporated two hours of rest each day. During the 1944 re-election campaign, McIntire denied several times that Roosevelt's health was poor; on October 12, for example, he announced that "The President's health is perfectly OK. There are absolutely no organic difficulties at all." Roosevelt realized that his declining health could eventually make it impossible for him to continue as president, and in 1945 he told a confidant that he might resign from the presidency following the end of the war.

Election of 1944
While some Democrats had opposed Roosevelt's nomination in 1940, the president faced little difficulty in securing his re-nomination at the 1944 Democratic National Convention. Roosevelt made it clear before the convention that he was seeking another term, and on the lone presidential ballot of the convention Roosevelt won the vast majority of delegates, although a minority of Southern Democrats voted for Harry F. Byrd. Party leaders prevailed upon Roosevelt to drop Vice President Wallace from the ticket, believing him to be an electoral liability and a poor potential successor in case of Roosevelt's death. Roosevelt preferred Byrnes as Wallace's replacement but was convinced to support Senator Harry S. Truman of Missouri, who had earned renown for his investigation of war production inefficiency and was acceptable to the various factions of the party. On the second vice presidential ballot of the convention, Truman defeated Wallace to win the nomination.

The Republicans nominated Thomas E. Dewey, the governor of New York, who had a reputation as a liberal in his party. The opposition lambasted Roosevelt and his administration for domestic corruption, bureaucratic inefficiency, tolerance of Communism, and military blunders. Labor unions, which had grown rapidly in the war, fully supported Roosevelt. Roosevelt and Truman won the 1944 election by a comfortable margin, defeating Dewey and his running mate John W. Bricker with 53.4% of the popular vote and 432 out of the 531 electoral votes. The president campaigned in favor of a strong United Nations, so his victory symbolized support for the nation's future participation in the international community.

Final months, death and aftermath (1945)
When Roosevelt returned to the United States from the Yalta Conference, many were shocked to see how old, thin and frail he looked. He spoke while seated in the well of the House, an unprecedented concession to his physical incapacity. During March 1945, he sent strongly worded messages to Stalin accusing him of breaking his Yalta commitments over Poland, Germany, prisoners of war and other issues. When Stalin accused the western Allies of plotting behind his back a separate peace with Hitler, Roosevelt replied: "I cannot avoid a feeling of bitter resentment towards your informers, whoever they are, for such vile misrepresentations of my actions or those of my trusted subordinates."

On March 29, 1945, Roosevelt went to the Little White House at Warm Springs, Georgia, to rest before his anticipated appearance at the founding conference of the United Nations. On the afternoon of April 12, Roosevelt said, "I have a terrific headache." He then slumped forward in his chair, unconscious, and was carried into his bedroom. The president's attending cardiologist, Dr. Howard Bruenn, diagnosed the medical emergency as a massive cerebral hemorrhage. At 3:35 p.m. that day, Roosevelt died at the age of 63.


Roosevelt's funeral procession in Washington, D.C., watched by 300,000 spectators (April 14, 1945)

On the morning of April 13, Roosevelt's body was placed in a flag-draped coffin and loaded onto the presidential train for the trip back to Washington. Along the route, thousands flocked to the tracks to pay their respects. After a White House funeral on April 14, Roosevelt was transported by train from Washington, D.C., to his place of birth at Hyde Park. As was his wish, Roosevelt was buried on April 15 in the Rose Garden of his Springwood estate.

Roosevelt's declining physical health had been kept secret from the general public. His death was met with shock and grief across the U.S. and around the world. After Germany surrendered the following month, newly-sworn in President Truman dedicated Victory in Europe Day and its celebrations to Roosevelt's memory, and kept the flags across the U.S. at half-staff for the remainder of the 30-day mourning period, saying that his only wish was "that Franklin D. Roosevelt had lived to witness this day". World War II finally ended with the surrender of Japan in September following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet entry into the war. Truman would preside over the demobilization of the war effort and the establishment of the United Nations and other postwar institutions envisioned during Roosevelt's presidency.

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[True Blue American]

1. Yes, he had been ill for a long time.

But the little Haberdashery owner took over and did very well.

But FDR was a giant on crutches. The greatest of them all. Democrats can be proud.

[Dennis Donovan]

2. His family took the approach of not telling him what his heart doctor thought...

He was only told that he needed to eat more and put weight back on. And, the full effects of smoking hadn't been researched much at that point, so he continued to smoke until he died.

[empedocles]

5. Alcohol for years in the equation - drinks, not a drunk

Awesome President.

[mitch96]

8. "the full effects of smoking hadn't been researched much at that point,"

He also had wildly uncontrolled high blood pressure. A weak part of a blood vessel in his head with high BP is a recipe for disaster.
The only saving grace was that he never knew what hit him. Just lights out for a great man... My folks loved him...
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[Auggie]

3. One of the best U.S. Presidents EVER

[TruckFump]

9. +1

I totally agree. I and love this member of his family so very much: Fala

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[hlthe2b]

4. Crowds came out across the country to show their appreciation and shared grief...

Saddened, silent, crying.

Contrast that to what will occur when we are finally rid of the Trump scourge...

[FailureToCommunicate]

6. A great President, against whom the current on comes up a bit short...

The re-election campaign and then the Yalta conference where just too much for his body. He was **only** 63.

The great memorial in DC shows him seated in his wheelchair, with his beloved dog Fala:

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https://washington.org/dc-guide-to/franklin-delano-roosevelt-memorial

[FM123]

7. Now that was a real president! (not like that thing we have in the WH now)

"We are trying to construct a more inclusive society. We are going to make a country in which no one is left out."