Note: I am republishing this diary that I posted two years ago. The diary got a nice response the first time, and the comments were outstanding. JekyllnHyde contributed great cartoons, ArtSchmart had an amazing observation, and ferallike contributed more photos of the FDR Memorial. There were also great personal reminiscences from hestal, Litvak36, and gizmo59, who expanded that comment into a dairy just last night.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt's passing on this date 66 years ago threw the nation into mourning and into speculation about whether his successor, a former haberdasher named Harry S. Truman, was up to the job.
But the pain of the nation upon losing its beloved four-term President was both deep and obvious. Let's look at that day and its immediate aftermath.
Take a look below the crease: