In this post, I touch on the election (or reelection) of U.S. presidents who guided the country through two bloody, destructive global wars. November 5, 1912: Woodrow Wilson beats two ex presidents in a landslide victory Democrat Woodrow Wilson is elected the 28th president of the United States, with Thomas R. Marshall as vice president. In a landslide Democratic victory, Wilson secured 435 electoral votes against the eight won by Republican incumbent William Howard Taft and the 88 snagged by Progressive Party candidate Theodore Roosevelt. It remains the only election in American history where two former presidents were defeated by another candidate. During his two terms in office, Wilson oversaw U.S. entry into World War I; proposed the Fourteen Points, a statement of principles that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end the global war; and championed the League of Nations, an international organization formed to prevent future armed conflict. Because of opposi...

On this day in 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated as the 32nd president of the United States. His inaugural address included what arguably became his most famous words: "Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." He had defeated Republican candidate Herbert Hoover, whom many blamed for the Great Depression, handily. It would be the first of an unprecedented four terms in office for the charismatic Roosevelt. (He died before he could complete his fourth.) No president before him served more than two terms, and none would do so afterward following passage of the 22nd amendment to the Constitution. With his wide-ranging spate of "New Deal" legislation, Roosevelt guided the country through the worst economic downturn in the country's history. His leadership also helped the United States and the Allies achieve victory over the Axis powers in World War II. Franklin Roosevelt was the fifth cousin of Theodore Roo...

On this day in 1938, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, himself an adult victim of polio, founded the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, which he later renamed the March of Dimes Foundation, Mostly known as a childhood disease in the early 20th century, polio wreaked havoc on American children every summer. The virus, which affects the central nervous system, thrived in contaminated food and water and was easily transmitted. Those lucky enough to survive the disease usually suffered from debilitating paralysis into their adult lives. In 1921, at the relatively advanced age of 39, Roosevelt contracted polio and lost the use of his legs. With the help of the media and Secret Service, Roosevelt managed to keep his disease under wraps, yet his personal experience made his empathize with the handicapped and led him to the found the March of Dimes. In 1926, Roosevelt started the non-profit Georgia Warm Springs Foundation on the site of the springs he visited to avail of the waters’ thera...

Today's quote of the day comes from Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), who served as First Lady of the United States during her husband Franklin Delano Roosevelt's unprecedented four terms in office. "In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility." - Eleanor Roosevelt I agree wholeheartedly with Roosevelt; in reality, this has been a recurring theme on this blog since it was first launched. What I think Eleanor Roosevelt is trying to say here is that we are ultimately the masters of our own destiny. Life is what we make of it, and the world is our oyster. Whether you often complain about your dead-end job, big gut, or shabby city apartment, it's on you to take the necessary steps in your life to effect change. Simply put, no one else is going to do it for you! We must hold ourselves accountable for our choices, whether they end up being good or bad...