First and second terms of the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt First and second terms of the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt The first and second terms of the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt began on March 4, 1933, when he was inaugurated as the 32nd President of the United States, and ended with Roosevelt's third inauguration on January 20, 1941. Roosevelt took office after defeating incumbent Republican President Herbert Hoover, who had presided over the start of the Great Depression. Upon his accession to office, Roosevelt led the implementation of the New Deal, a series of programs designed to provide relief, recovery, and reform to Americans and the American economy.
President of the Continental Congress of Congress "bore no relationship" to the later office of President of the United States. As historian Edmund Burnett wrote: President of the Continental Congress The President of the Continental Congress was the presiding officer of the Continental Congress, the convention of delegates that emerged as the first (transitional) national government of the United States during the American Revolution. The president was a member of Congress elected by the other delegates to serve as a neutral discussion moderator during meetings of Congress. Designed to be a largely ceremonial position without much influence, the office was unrelated to the later office