From his vision emerged the great American middle class that has been the engine of more than five decades of progress and prosperity. From his new ideas flowed the seemingly endless array of programs and agencies of the New Deal: bank reform, a massive public-works effort to get America working again, rural electrification, the G.I. Bill. And, of course, his most enduring domestic creation, Social Security, a bond between generations that every President since has honored. Roosevelt proved that for markets to flourish, government must be devoted to opportunity for all. He understood that the initiative of individuals and the responsibilities of community must be woven together.

To defeat the merciless aggression of fascism, President Roosevelt created an international alliance to defend the world's freedom, and he committed the United States to lead. He proved that our liberty is linked to the destiny of the world, that our security requires us to support democracy beyond our shores, that human rights must be America's cause. In the 20th century's greatest crisis, President Roosevelt decisively, irrevocably committed our country to freedom's fight.

Early in World War II, he defined the Four Freedoms that he said must be realized everywhere in the world: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear. These were, in his own words, "essential human freedoms." His expression of American ideals helped make them the world's ideals. Because of that commitment and its embrace by every American President since, today we can say, for the first time in history, a majority of the world's people live under governments of their own choosing.

Roosevelt's leadership in war and his commitment to peace established the institutions of collective security that have prevented another world conflagration. The whole system of international cooperation stems from his commitment. It was President Roosevelt, after all, who conceived and named the United Nations, and he was one of the visionaries behind the establishment of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. In one of his last messages to Congress, he said their creation "spelled the difference between a world caught again in the maelstrom of panic and economic warfare, or a world in which nations strive for a better life through mutual trust, cooperation and assistance."

Much of my own political philosophy and approach to governance is rooted in Roosevelt's principles of progress. Rather than cling to old abstractions or be driven by the iron laws of ideology, Roosevelt crafted innovations to the circumstances in which he found himself. He sought, above all, practical solutions that worked for people.

Winston Churchill remarked that Franklin Roosevelt's life was one of the commanding events in human history. The triumph of freedom in the face of depression and totalitarianism was not foretold or inevitable. It required political courage and leadership. We now know what Roosevelt and his generation made of their "rendezvous with destiny." Their legacy is our world of freedom. If the example of Franklin Roosevelt and the American Century has taught us anything, it is that we will either work together as One America to shape events or we will be shaped by them. We cannot isolate ourselves from the world; we cannot lead in fits and starts. Now, to this generation entering the new millennium, as Roosevelt said, "much has been given" and "much is expected."

Questions

1. What were the two decisive victories that Roosevelt won in the century's struggle for freedom?
2. In what ways is F.D.R.'s vision alive today, both in the U.S. and internationally?