Franklin D. Roosevelt's Biography

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, known affectionately as FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States. He’s generally regarded as one of the greatest Presidents in US history, having presided over the end of Prohibition, the Great Depression, and World War II. He died in office on April 12, 1945, less than a month before the end of the war.

FDR was also famous for having been paralyzed by polio at the age of 39, a disability about which he was deeply private, and most press photographers of the day respected his wishes and avoided publishing photos of him in a wheelchair. In 1926, he established the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation in Georgia, a facility that still provides post-polio treatment to this day.

As for his less serious side, though, Roosevelt loved himself a good cocktail. It’s fitting, of course, that the first President to serve after the end of Prohibition would be a fan of mixed drinks, which had skyrocketed in popularity over the previous decade—in large part because the bootleg booze people were drinking tasted terrible and needed to be masked with other ingredients.

According to many contemporary accounts, though, Roosevelt wasn’t exactly a brilliant mixologist. He loved Martinis (heavy on the vermouth, and occasionally with a drop or two of absinthe), but a number of friends and colleagues said he made the worst Martinis they’d ever had.

When he went sailing, Roosevelt was known to enjoy Bermuda Rum Swizzles, which he made with dark rum, lime juice, orange juice, and falernum syrup. And, from time to time, he would mix up Manhattans, which we can only imagine he somehow managed to ruin with some terrible adulterant. But, hey. Nobody’s perfect.