Franklin D Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States of America, led the USA through World War II. One of the 'Big Three' leaders, alongside Churchill and Stalin, his sudden death on 12 April 1945 shocked the Allies.

Towards the end of World War II, these three leaders had already laid out some of the parameters of Europe's future once the defeat of Nazi Germany became a reality.

Roosevelt did not live to see the victory in Europe on 8 May 1945 that he had worked so hard to achieve, but his policy agreements with Churchill and Stalin at the Yalta Conference in February 1945 laid the foundations for the Potsdam Conference, and were taken up by his successor, Harry Truman.

It was during Roosevelt's presidency that US scientists developed the nuclear bomb that was to become such a feared threat throughout the Cold War.