Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial honors Franklin D. Roosevelt, who led the United States through the Great Depression and World War II during his long presidency from 1933 to 1945. It is also called the FDR Memorial or the Roosevelt Memorial. It is one of four major presidential memorials on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The others are the Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and Washington Monument. The memorial stands along the Tidal Basin, a scenic lagoon encircled by beautiful cherry trees.
The FDR Memorial covers about 71/2 acres (3 hectares). It includes four partially walled-off areas called rooms. The walls and floors are granite. Each room represents one of Roosevelt’s terms.
Room One features a bas-relief sculpture of Roosevelt waving from an open car during his first inauguration parade. Inscriptions in the granite include Roosevelt’s call for courage during the Depression: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Images of the Depression dominate Room Two. Sculptures show a weary rural couple, people in a bread line, and a man listening to one of Roosevelt’s radio broadcasts called “fireside chats.” Room Three includes a large statue of Roosevelt with his dog Fala. A wall reduced to rubble symbolizes destruction from World War II. Room Four features a bas-relief sculpture of Roosevelt’s funeral procession. It also has a statue of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and a time line of the president’s life carved into a series of steps.
Stricken with polio in 1921, Roosevelt used a wheelchair or other mobility aids the rest of his life. A copy of one of his wheelchairs is in a building at the memorial’s entrance. Shortly after the FDR Memorial opened, the government authorized an addition to the structure that would depict the president using a wheelchair. A sculpture of Roosevelt in a wheelchair now sits at the entrance to the memorial.
The Roosevelt Memorial was funded by private contributions and Congress. The memorial was dedicated on May 2, 1997. It is administered by the National Park Service.
