Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Charles Stuart Forbes completed this portrait of young Franklin Delano Roosevelt in April 1897. Franklin was 14 years old, living away from home for the first time while attending Groton, a prestigious preparatory school for boys in Massachusetts. Classmates recalled that he was shy and possessed many characteristics of an only child. He occupied himself with solitary pursuits such as photography and collecting. Franklin was studious and found his schoolwork at Groton easy, matriculating early. He continued his education at Harvard, completing a BA degree in history in three years rather than the typical four. Roosevelt next studied law at New York's Columbia Law School and left without a degree when he passed the bar examination in 1907. He practiced law at a prominent New York City law firm for the next three years until he entered politics in 1910 when he was elected to the New York state senate.