(1882–1945), American Democratic statesman, 32nd president of the US 1933–45; full name Franklin Delano Roosevelt; known as FDR. His New Deal of 1933 helped to lift the US out of the Great Depression, and he played an important part in Allied policy during the Second World War. In 1940 he became the first American president to be elected for a third term in office and he subsequently secured a fourth term.