President Franklin D. Roosevelt Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

About this Signer

PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

Born: January 30, 1882 in Hyde Park, New York
Died: April 12, 1945 in Warm Springs, Georgia

Biography | show more show less

ROOSEVELT (1882-1945) served as Governor of New York from 1929-1933. He had signed the railroad unification bill four days earlier, on April 23, during the Great Depression, when railroads were facing a serious financial crisis. The bill authorized the creation of a Board of Transit Control, which was to improve transportation by acquiring, unifying and operating the railroads in New York. The Board was allowed to purchase, lease or recapture railroads; the object was for the state to buy the rails located within its boundaries at the same price it would pay to contract with the railroad company. The company could then use the money derived from this transaction to pay its debts to prevent bankruptcy. Since the Board was a state organization, its properties, income and securities were to be exempt from taxation. The unification bill is an example of the creative techniques which Roosevelt used, first as Governor then as President (1933-1945), to maintain business stability during the Depression and to lay the foundation for future economic growth. During the early 1930s, railroad companies faced extinction as increased use of automobiles, freight vans and buses resulted in decreased use of trains. As money became scarce during the Depression, people preferred the lower rates offered by buses and vans, even though the trip took longer. Between 1929 and 1932, the amount of freight carried by train decreased by fifty percent; this reduction resulted in a loss of revenue. President Hoover refused to interfere with business until 1932 when his Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) began loaning money to railroads and other industries facing bankruptcy. Prior to 1932, the states were forced to take action on their own. This act was the basis for President Roosevelt's Emergency Railroad Transportation Act which was passed by Congress on June 16, 1933. The ERTA strove to eliminate the duplication of services and facilities offered by different companies, promoted financial reorganization of the railroads and encouraged the study of other means to improve transportation. On September 17, 1932, Roosevelt detailed his plan regarding railroads during a presidential-campaign speech given in Salt Lake City, Utah. He stated that competition between railroads - acceptable during profitable times - was stressing financially-strained companies to a breaking point. Roosevelt suggested the consolidation of railroads under a national transportation policy that would include the regulation of buses and vans, thereby decreasing the unfair advantage given to the then unregulated motor carriers. This measure would meet the needs of the public by combining all the means of transportation into one network, thus allowing the most efficient routes to be created. The railroads did not support the ERTA; thus, the act was not highly successful. The RFC, with increased power under Roosevelt's New Deal, loaned money to railroads throughout the remainder of the Depression. The outbreak of WWII (1939-1945) resulted in rearmament programs that increased the production of U.S. industry, simultaneously augmenting the demand for railroads to deliver needed supplies. After the U.S. entered the war, railroad profits more than doubled - a peak not achieved since before WWI (1914-1918).

Film Credits | show more show less

1998 Sworn to Secrecy: Secrets of War (Other), 2013 Grave of the Zombie Antelope (Other), 2005 NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams (Other), 1945/XVII Universal Newsreel (in person), 1945/XV Universal Newsreel (in person), 1945/III Universal Newsreel (in person), 1943 Fala: The President's Dog (in person), 1939 Til Vesterheimen (in person), 1936 O Presidente Roosevelt no Rio (in person), 1924 Franklin D. Roosevelt Speech (in person), 2013 Moyers & Company (Other), 2012 The Untold History of the United States (Other), 2011 Prohibition (Other), 2011 The Kennedys (Other), 2011 Reagan (Other), 2010 The Special Relationship (Other), 2009 Capitalism: A Love Story (Other), 2008 Great Planes (Other), 2008 Black Magic (Other), 2007 Endgame: Blueprint for Global Enslavement (Other), 2007 Warlords (Other), 2007 Staline: Le tyran rouge (Other), 2006 Lost Worlds (Other), 2006 Secrets of New York (Other), 2005 Ghosts of Bataan (Other), 2005 The Great Raid (Other), 2005 X Day: The Invasion of Japan (Other), 2004 Broadway: The American Musical (Other), 1997-2004 Modern Marvels (Other), 2003 The Corporation (Other), 2002 The Century of the Self (Other), 2001 War Crimes and Trials (Other), 2001 Unsung Heroes of Pearl Harbor (Other), 2001 Boston Red Sox: 100 Years of Baseball History (Other), 2000 ESPN SportsCentury (Other), 1999 The Simpsons (Other), 1999 The Century: America's Time (Other), 1998 Nazis: The Occult Conspiracy (Other), 1997 Contact (Other), 1997 The Fifties (Other), 1996 A Web of War (Other), 1995 Royal Family at War (Other), 1995 The Last Days of World War II (Other), 1995 Enola Gay and the Atomic Bombing of Japan (Other), 1994 Time Capsule: WW II - War in Europe (Other), 1992 Stalking the President: A History of American Assassins (Other), 1989 How Hitler Lost the War (Other), 1983 The Return of Captain Invincible (Other), 1966 NBC White Paper (Other), 1963 The Victors (Other), 1962 The DuPont Show of the Week (Other), 1962 Committee on UnAmerican Activities (Other), 1962 Year of Siege (Other), 1962 Blitzkrieg (Other), 1961-1962 Biography (Other), 1960 The Untouchables (Other), 1954 Victory at Sea (Other), 1952-1953 Victory at Sea (Other), 1945 War Comes to America (Other), 1944 The Story of Dr. Wassell (Other), 1944 Know Your Ally: Britain (Other), 1943 Ode to Victory (Other), 1943 What We Are Fighting For (Other), 1942 Holiday Inn (Other), 1939 The March of Time Volume 5 Number 6: The State of the Nation (Other), 1992 EBN: Commercial Entertainment Product (Other), 1961 The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (Other), 1951 Näin syntyi nykypäivä 1900-1950 (Other), 2013/I Sirius (Other), 2007 Nuremberg: The 60th Anniversary Director's Cut (Other), 2012 America's Book of Secrets (Other), 1989 The Road to War (Other), 1981 Treasure of the Yankee Zephyr (Other), 1959 Vår egen tid (Other), 2003 The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (Other), 1936 The President's Mystery (Writer), 1945/XXIV Universal Newsreel (in person), 1945/X Universal Newsreel (in person), 1945/VI Universal Newsreel (in person), 1942 United We Stand (in person), 2010-2011 World War II in Color (Other), 2009 WWII in HD (Other), 1991-2009 The American Experience (Other), 2009 Apocalypse: The Second World War (Other), 2009 Revealed (Other), 2008 Call of Duty: World at War (Other), 2008 Secrets of Body Language (Other), 2008 The American Future: A History (Other), 2008 Superpower (Other), 2008 Walt & El Grupo (Other), 2008 I.O.U.S.A. (Other), 2008 History of the National Security State (Other), 2007 CBS News Sunday Morning (Other), 2007 Live Free or Die Hard (Other), 2007 Our Story Our Voice (Other), 2007 White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Other), 2006 The Rape of Europa (Other), 2006 My Christmas Soldier (Other), 2005 Weird U.S. (Other), 2004 Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic (Other), 2004 In Enemy Hands (Other), 2003 Unsere Besten (Other), 2003 Churchill (Other), 2003 Save Our History (Other), 2002 Bud Greenspan's Favorite Stories of Winter Olympic Glory (Other), 2001 Day of Infamy (Other), 2000 They Filmed the War in Color (Other), 2000 WWII: The Lost Color Archives (Other), 1998 Secrets of World War II (Other), 1995 Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie (Other), 1995 Truman (Other), 1995 Churchill and the Cabinet War Rooms (Other), 1993 Murderers, Mobsters & Madmen Vol. 2: Assassination in the 20th (Other), 1984 Going Hollywood: The '30s (Other), 1983 Seeing Red (Other), 1980 The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter (Other), 1979 Time After Time (Other), 1977 A Bridge Too Far (Other), 1971 Our American Musical Heritage (Other), 1969 I due Kennedy (Other), 1962 Turn of the Tide (Other), 1962 Days of Infamy (Other), 1962 Road to Ortona (Other), 1956 I Never Forget a Face (Other), 1950 My Country 'Tis of Thee (Other), 1950 The Golden Twenties (Other), 1946 Okay for Sound (Other), 1945 Pearl Harbor Payback (Other), 1945 Stilwell Road (Other), 1944 Tunisian Victory (Other), 1944 Attack in the Pacific (Other), 1944 The Battle of China (Other), 1943 The Autobiography of a 'Jeep' (Other), 1942 The Navy Comes Through (Other), 1942 For Me and My Gal (Other), 1942 Mr. Blabbermouth! (Other), 1942 March On, America! (Other), 1942 Prelude to War (Other), 1942 Inflation (Other), 1941 The Tanks Are Coming (Other), 1939 The Roaring Twenties (Other), 1950 Wonderful Times (Other), 2009 Iran, une puissance dévoilée (Other), 2013 Speeches That Shook the World (Other), 2013 Andre: The Voice of Wine (in person), 2007 Zeitgeist (Writer), 2005 Warm Springs (Other), 1995 Biography (in person), 1945/XIII Universal Newsreel (in person), 1944 One Inch from Victory (in person), 1944 Valley of the Tennessee (in person), 1939 The Royal Visit (in person), 2013 American Secrets (Other), 2012 Edward & George: Two Brothers, One Throne (Other), 2012 Brothers on the Line (Other), 2012 10 Things You Don't Know About (Other), 2010 Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics (Other), 2009 Landslide: A Portrait of President Herbert Hoover (Other), 2009 Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup (Other), 2009 1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year (Other), 2009 Convoy: War for the Atlantic (Other), 2008 Warner at War (Other), 2008 Neues aus der Anstalt (Other), 2008 Crime Wave: 18 Months of Mayhem (Other), 2007 Undercover History (Other), 2005 FDR: A Presidency Revealed (Other), 2004 Celsius 41.11: The Temperature at Which the Brain... b_egins to Die (Other), 2004 Star Trek: Enterprise (Other), 2002 10,000 Black Men Named George (Other), 2002 Rumrunners, Moonshiners, & Bootleggers (Other), 2002 Gladiators of World War II (Other), 2002 Air Force One (Other), 2001 Roots of the Cuban Missile Crisis (Other), 2001 Pearl Harbor: Legacy of Attack (Other), 2000 Tora Tora Tora: The Real Story of Pearl Harbor (Other), 2000 A Century of Lionel Legendary Trains (Other), 1999 Medal of Honor (Other), 1999 The Sweet Science (Other), 1999 Jonas Salk: Personally Speaking (Other), 1998 The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg (Other), 1997 Divided Highways: The Interstates and the Transformation of (Other), 1995 Nixon (Other), 1995 Hiroshima: Why the Bomb Was d_ropped (Other), 1994 Baseball (Other), 1994 The Story of Mount Rushmore: America in Stone (Other), 1994 D-Day, 6th June 1944: The Official Story (Other), 1994 Coming Out Under Fire (Other), 1992 Portraits of Presidents: Presidents of a World Power 1901- (Other), 1991 Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio (Other), 1991 Desert Storm: The War b_egins (Other), 1988 The 1940's: Music, Memories & Milestones (Other), 1987 I nichego bolshe (Other), 1986 13. artikla (Other), 1985 Backstage at the Whitehouse (Other), 1982 Genocide (Other), 1975 Brother Can You Spare a Dime (Other), 1973-1974 The World at War (Other), 1972 Boxcar Bertha (Other), 1969 The Extraordinary Seaman (Other), 1964 Franco: ese hombre (Other), 1959-1961 Project XX (Other), 1957 The Joker Is Wild (Other), 1952 Communism (Other), 1948 Behind Your Radio Dial (Other), 1946 The Searching Wind (Other), 1943 The Rear Gunner (Other), 1942 Flying Tigers (Other), 1942 Mister Gardenia Jones (Other), 1941 Buck Privates (Other), 1938 Little Orphan Annie (Other), 2004 Verner Lehtimäki - Punapäällikön elämä (Other), 2012-2013 America's Book of Secrets (in person), 2013 Democracy Now! (Other), 1978 Loggerheads (Other), 1943 Show-Business at War (in person), 2010 Hubert H Humphrey: The Art of the Possible (Other), 2009 The Shock Doctrine (Other), 2008 Blood and Oil (Other), 2002-2007 War Stories with Oliver North (Other), 2007 Tehran Has No More Pomegrenates! (Other), 1994-2007 Biography (Other), 2006 The Great Wars (Other), 2005 Hitler's War (Other), 2005 The Presidents (Other), 2005 First Command (Other), 2004 Conspiracy (Other), 2004 Winston Churchill. Ot lubvi do nenavisti (Other), 2003 Yalta: Peace, Power and Betrayal (Other), 2002 Christmas Under Fire (Other), 2001 Mr. Dreyfuss Goes to Washington (Other), 2000 The American President (Other), 1999 ABC 2000: The Millennium (Other), 1999 Cradle Will Rock (Other), 1998 The Third Reich, in Color (Other), 1998 Cold War (Other), 1997 Prohibition: Thirteen Years That Changed America (Other), 1997 The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (Other), 1996 Bob Hope: Laughing with the Presidents (Other), 1994 Entertaining the Troops (Other), 1993 The Great Depression (Other), 1991 The Complete Citizen Kane (Other), 1989 Touring America's National Parks: Second Edition (Other), 1988 The Speeches of Winston Churchill (Other), 1984 The World of Tomorrow (Other), 1982 De camisa vieja a chaqueta nueva (Other), 1976 All This and World War II (Other), 1975 Wonder Woman (Other), 1974 Thieves Like Us (Other), 1970 At vinde krigen (Other), 1966 Cast a Giant Shadow (Other), 1965 The Eleanor Roosevelt Story (Other), 1964 The Guns of August (Other), 1964 The Other World of Winston Churchill (Other), 1954 This Was Yesterday (Other), 1953 The Ford 50th Anniversary Show (Other), 1952 The Hoaxters (Other), 1951 The Littlest Expert on My Favorite President (Other), 1950 Fifty Years Before Your Eyes (Other), 1946 Universal Special: Roosevelt - Man of Destiny (Other), 1945 To the Shores of Iwo Jima (Other), 1944 Our Northern Neighbour (Other), 1943 Divide and Conquer (Other), 1942 Beyond the Line of Duty (Other), 1942 Further Prophecies of Nostradamus (Other), 1941 Main Street on the March! (Other), 1940 The Ramparts We Watch (Other), 1940 Trifles of Importance (Other), 1939 Scouts to the Rescue (Other), 1938 The Fight for Peace (Other)