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who was the president during ww2 and the great depression

During most of both the Great Depression and World War II, the U.S. president was Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Quick Scoop

  • The Great Depression began with the stock market crash of 1929 under President Herbert Hoover, who served from 1929 to 1933.
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in March 1933 and led the country through the deepest years of the Depression with his New Deal programs.
  • Roosevelt remained president throughout almost all of World War II, from the U.S. entry in 1941 until his death in April 1945.
  • After Roosevelt died in 1945, Harry S. Truman became president and led the U.S. through the final months of World War II, including the decisions around using atomic bombs against Japan.

So if you’re asking “who was the president during WW2 and the Great Depression,” the key figure tying those two eras together is Franklin D. Roosevelt, with Herbert Hoover at the beginning of the Depression and Harry S. Truman at the end of World War II.

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