As governor Roosevelt battled the legislature on quite a few progressive measures. Some of them included reforestation, and unemployment insurance. He was also in favor of laws regulating working hours for women and children, and also future development of electric power. Roosevelt was the first governor to instigate an efficient state relief administration. As assistant secretary Franklin Roosevelt was in favor of enlarging the Navy, and for a need to have an active foreign policy. During his time in office as president there was passage of the social security bill. He appointed the first woman to a cabinet position as Secretary of Labor. His administration strongly encouraged the rise to power of organized labor. Roosevelt also approved funding for the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Home Owners Loan Corporation, and the Public Works Administration. One of his greatest achievements was the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), formed in 1933. It was responsible for building dams to control floods and generate cheap hydroelectric power. It also made fertilizer and favored soil conservation. Another plan was the Agricultural Adjustment Administration. Under this plan agricultural income increased by 50% in Roosevelt's first term.

He sponsored bills to get rid of public utility holding companies and raising taxes on the rich. He also set up the National Labor Relations Board which guaranteed labor the right to bargain collectively. When Hitler attacked Poland and started beginning of World War II, Roosevelt took a tough stand on the issues. To protect the supplies against German submarines, United States destroyers began escorting convoys of Allied ships part way across the Atlantic. When a German submarine fired a torpedo at the American destroyer Greer in September 1941, he ordered warships to shoot at hostile German ships. By December the United States and Germany were engaged in an war on the Atlantic. He also ordered Japan to stop its hostile activities in China and Indochina. Instead of stopping the leaders who controlled Japan decided to fight, by attacking Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941. The president called December 7 "a date which will live in infamy." and brought a united America into World War II. By December 11, the United States was at war with Germany and Italy. He was stricken with polio most of his adult life. He died two weeks before Germany finally surrendered in World War II. Roosevelt was the only president to be elected four times and died in office in April 1945.