New York State Senate assistant secretary of the Navy Woodrow Wilson World War I James M. Cox Democratic Party 1920 U.S. presidential election Republican Warren G. Harding contracted a paralytic illness 1932 presidential election Herbert Hoover Great Depression
After attending college, Roosevelt began to practice law in New York City. He was a member of the New York State Senate from 1911 to 1913 and then the assistant secretary of the Navy under president Woodrow Wilson during World War I. Roosevelt was James M. Cox's running mate on the Democratic Party's ticket in the 1920 U.S. presidential election, but Cox lost to Republican nominee Warren G. Harding. In 1921, Roosevelt contracted a paralytic illness that permanently paralyzed his legs. He returned to public office as governor of New York from 1929 to 1933, during which he promoted programs to combat the Great Depression besetting the U.S. In the 1932 presidential election, Roosevelt defeated Republican incumbent president Herbert Hoover in a landslide.
