U.S. President Roosevelt dies

America had been able to stay out of World War II until Pearl Harbor was attacked.  President Franklin Roosevelt described the day as "a date that will live in infamy".

After Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt had meetings in Washington with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. They decided that Germany, the most powerful of the Axis powers must be defeated first. They continued to meet, and then they included Joseph Stalin of Russia in the talks too. They were known as "The Big Three". Roosevelt also began talking with General Chiang Kai-shek of China.
As the war raged on, Roosevelt was elected President again in 1944.  This would be his fourth term.  He had already been President for twelve years.  He wanted to retire, but he felt it was his duty to continue to serve his country.  He won the election, and two days after his inauguration, he went to Yalta where he met Churchill and Stalin. They planned their strategy to defeat Germany.  Russia, in exchange for land and other favors, agreed to enter the war to help defeat Japan.  However, during this time, he began to have one cold after another, and his health was beginning to fail.

In April, 1945, Roosevelt was in Georgia, where he collapsed and died of a cerebralhemorrhage.  Millions of Americans mourned the death of their beloved President. The world had lost a great leader.  Sadly, President Roosevelt never saw the end of the war which would happen only four months later.