Personal Life
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882 at his parents' estate in Hyde Park, New York. James Roosevelt, FDR's father, was married to his sixth cousin, Sara Roosevelt, and they were both from wealthy New York families. They were mostly of English descent with some Dutch and French ancestry too. While his paternal family had become sucessful early on in New York real estate and trade, much of his immediate family's wealth had been built by FDR's maternal grandfather, Warren Delano, Jr., in the China trade, including opium and tea.
As a child, Roosevelt lived a very privelaged lifestyle. He attended Groton School, an Episcopal boarding school in Massachusetts; 90% of the students were from families on the Social register. At the school he was greatly influenced by its headmaster, Endicott Peabody, who preached the importance of helping the less fortunate and encouraging his students to enter public service. Later in life, FDR continued to look to Peabody as a role model, and even mentioned his thanks to him publicly. Franklin D. Roosevelt attended Harvard University and was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity and the Fly Club.[
At age twenty-two, Roosevelt was engaged to his fifth cousin once removed, Eleanor Roosevelt, who was ninteen at the time. She later became the first lady and helped to contribute to the success of FDR's presidency. The couple had six children together, however one died during infancy. Before FDR could finish his second term as President, he died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
FDR with grandchildren (Franklin D. Roosevelt, III and John Roosevelt Boettiger)
FDR with his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt