The Great Depression: What Caused It and How it Ended

8. FDR's Fireside Chats

Roosevelt restored public trust and confidence in the government by speaking directly to U.S. citizens on the radio. These "Fireside Chats" grew immensely popular with a Depression-era audience gripped by uncertainty, financial instability, and fear of the future. Re-elected in 1936, 1940 and 1944, FDR is the first and only President to serve four terms as POTUS. He also led the U.S. out of a policy of isolationism to a resounding victory over Germany, Italy, and other allies during WWII and established a peace organization that later became the United Nations. Roosevelt died while in office, in April 1945.

fstop123 / Getty Images