Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Ace of Diamonds
32nd President of the United States: 1933–1945

Charcoal and pastel on paper
©1996 Tina Mion
From the collection of Alan Gleitsman, Malibu, CA

Franklin D. Roosevelt was a dashing, stylish charmer. He was the first President to appear on television. As the result of contracting polio in 1921, he required braces and crutches to walk. He also used a wheelchair.

FDR was the only President to be elected four times. He saw the United States through the Great Depression and World War II. In this portrait he is depicted four times, like still frames from an early television reel. Each image represents a term in office and shows him aging, his trademark cigarette growing shorter, until in the last frame it goes out. FDR died in office in 1945.

« back | next » :: back to thumbnails