April 12, 2010 marks the 65th anniversary of the death of the leader who spearheaded the twentieth century progressive movement, righting the economic ship during perilous times, giving Americans hope at a time when it was desperately needed while changing the face of the Democratic Party in the process.

Perhaps the key personal ingredient that propelled Franklin Delano Roosevelt into the ranks of the nation's and world's great leaders was his handling of adversity.  Overcoming adversity is a hallmark of so many great achievers.  In the political sphere it can serve as both an instructive and motivational shaping tool.

The Roosevelts were a Dutch aristocratic family that settled in New York's affluent Hudson Valley region.  FDR had earned a law degree from Harvard.  He followed along the same lines as his cousin President Theodore Roosevelt by securing as a young lawyer a position of Assistant Secretary of the Navy under Josephus Daniels in the Woodrow Wilson Administration.

A handsome, articulate, highly ambitious young aristocrat such as Roosevelt, a young man in a hurry in sprinting toward success, is bound to garner notice.  With such notice comes opportunity.