AMERICAN HISTORY
Franklin D.
Roosevelt
*The Greatest President In Ameri-
can History)
I know Barrack Obama is amaz-
ing. But being the history fan that
I am, Franklin D. Roosevelt is
my all-time favorite president in
American history. In fact visit-
ing his memorial in Washington
D.C and se eing his wax figure at
Madame Tussaudes got me very
emotional because he is one of the
greatest presidents I know of.
Learning about him in high school
had me cramming his achieve-
ments so I could score the highest
grade possible for my IGCSE’s. But
honestly, it grew into marveling
him and Eleanor Roosevelt’s (his
wife) efforts into healing America
from the tumultuous World War
II and the Great Depression (that
time America was dwindling in
poverty).
To me that is the definition of a
power couple (apologies to the
beehive)
This man was the first president
to ever do anything about general
welfare. For instance, he provid-
ed the elderly, the physically and
mentally unwell and poor with
financial security. He also estab-
lished a term we all know today as
“minimum wage”. the United Nations from a wheel
chair due to his illness from Polio
By all means this man is a super
hero! I’m not the only one to think
so because he is the longest serv-
ing president in American History.
Statistically speaking, during
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first term
unemployment reduced dramat-
ically from 25% to 14.3% and
by the end of his presidency
it had fell to 1.9% due to World
War II. The economy grew back
to 58% from 1932 to 1940 and
during the war it dipped to 56%. “Do what you feel in your heart to
be right - for you'll be criticized
anyway. You'll be damned if you
do, and damned if you don't” was
my mantra granted to me from
the words of First Lady Eleanor
Roosevelt and to all thrill seek-
ers reading this she gave you the
line “Do one thing every day that
scares you.”Predecessing Jack-
ie Kennedy, Hillary Clinton &
Michelle Obama the woman was
actively working for the Red Cross
during the Second World War and
used her influence to push for po-
sitions for women in public affairs
& abolishing child labor. It is with
deep regret that I never got to visit
her memorial.
If you still have strong feelings
about my first statement let me
add that FDR was the first Amer-
ican president to ever take any
federal action in killing discrimi-
nation of not just African-Amer-
icans but other minority groups
like Jews and Native Americans.
He also led America and fellow
allies into triumphantly ending the
Second World War and setting up
DID YOU
KNOW
LADY OF
FREEDOM
By Rajab Saidi
The statue of liberty is a popu-
lar icon that has been used and
referred to by the media, popular
culture and several American
patriots. The question still is who
exactlyLady Liberty is and why
she is standing holding a touch
and books.
The statue of liberty officially
called ‘Liberty enlightening the
world’ is a recognized figure
erected at the New York harbour.
It was a gift from the French to
Americans to commemorate U.S
for its 100 years of independence.
The monument was built by Gus-
tave Eiffel who also built the Eiffel
tower in Paris and sculpted by
Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi.
Lady liberty is wrapped in a robe
with sandals , on the right hand
she is holding a torch while on
the left she holds books. This is all
symbolic. The torch symbolises
right of reason, the books she is
holding is the American declara-
tion of independence and the robe
with sandals represent a common-
er. She stands for freedom, and
enlightenment.
Her skin is made of copper which
then turned colour due to oxi-
dation and turned colour to the
green colour that it’s popular for.
In 2001 after the bombing of the
world trade centrethe island where
the statue is was closed. People
were restricted from ferrying to
the monument until later in 2009.
It became a beacon of hope as it
had been attacked twice by then
but was still upright.
The statue of liberty embodies idea
of freedom. A poem inscribed on
her base bares the famous lines
‘’ Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to
breathe free, The wretched refuse
of your teeming shore. Send these,
the homeless, tempest-tossed to
me, I lift my lamp beside the gold-
en door!’
Lady liberty invited refugees,
immigrants and people from
different places together. Many
Americans say this is what the
country was found on and should
be upheld instead of being igno-
rant about such values.