Franklin D. Roosevelt was born.
Franklin D. Roosevelt . He directed the United States government during most of the Great Depression and World War II . He entered politics in 1910 , serving in the New York State Senate , and then as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson . In the 1932 presidential election , Roosevelt defeated incumbent Republican president Herbert Hoover in a landslide to win the presidency . Following the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7 , 1941 , which he famously called `` a date which will live in infamy '' , Roosevelt sought and obtained the quick approval on the following day for Congress to declare war on Japan and , a few days later , on Germany .