FDR and the Alphabet

In this lesson students are asked to analyze Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address and to compare the promises made to his later work as president. Students will use a graphic organizer to list three of FDR’s promises in the speech and then use secondary resources to research whether he fulfilled those promises. This lesson is the first lesson within a mini-unit in which students will analyze FDR’s First and Second New Deal policies and will examine both his rhetorical strategies and his actions to understand how he conceptualized the nation and who he included within that vision.