President Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, less than a month before the end of the war in Europe. With the unconditional surrender of Germany effective May 8, the day became known as VE Day, or Victory in Europe Day, and there were mass celebrations throughout the nation and abroad. The final conclusion to the war would not come until the surrender of Japan, announced on August 14, 1945, which became known as VJ Day.

VE Day in Oak Ridge, TN

VE day celebration in New York City

FDR had eagerly looked forward to creating a peaceful postwar world through the activities of a new United Nations. In his inaugural address for his fourth term, on January 20, 1945, he said:

Today, in this year of war, 1945, we have learned lessons – at a fearful cost – and we shall profit by them. We have learned that we cannot live alone, at peace; that our own well-being is dependent on the well-being of other nations, far away…We have learned to be citizens of the world, members of the human community. We have also learned the simple truth, as Emerson said, that “The only way to have a friend is to be one.”

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt at January 1945 inauguration

A few hours before FDR died he drafted a speech for April 13 and reiterated the need to work for peace collectively. He was scheduled to speak on the radio for the annual commemoration of Thomas Jefferson’s birth on that date in 1743. The third president of the US was revered for his role as a founder of the Democratic Party and primary author of the Declaration of Independence, long before his role as an enslaver made interpreting his legacy much more complex.  FDR wrote:

We seek peace—enduring peace. More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginnings of all wars—yes, an end to this brutal, inhuman, and thoroughly impractical method of settling the differences between governments. Let me assure you that my hand is the steadier for the work that is to be done, that I move more firmly into the task, knowing that you—millions and millions of you—are joined with me in the resolve to make this work endure. The work, my friends, is peace. More than an end of this war—an end to the beginnings of all wars. Yes, an end, forever, to this impractical, unrealistic settlement of the differences between governments by the mass killing of peoples.  Today, as we move against the terrible scourge of war—as we go forward toward the greatest contribution that any generation of human beings can make in this world—the contribution of lasting peace.

Two weeks later on April 25, while flags still flew at half-mast in mourning for FDR, President Truman addressed the opening session in San Francisco of the United Nations Conference on International Organization. He asked the gathering to honor the Roosevelt legacy:

In the name of a great humanitarian–one who surely is with us today in spirit–I earnestly appeal to each and every one of you to rise above personal interests, and adhere to those lofty principles, which benefit all mankind. Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his life while trying to perpetuate these high ideals. This Conference owes its existence, in a large part, to the vision, foresight, and determination of Franklin Roosevelt.

President Truman speaking at the Conference on the United Nations, April 25th, 1945

In July 1945, Congress passed legislation, with strong bi-partisan support, approving the Charter of the United Nations, and in December authorizing a delegation to attend the opening sessions of the UN in London in January 1946. Among its members President Truman appointed Eleanor Roosevelt, whose record of support for international peace organizations dated back to the League of Nations after World War I and forward to the new organization. No one anticipated how consequential her role would be, as she would orchestrate the writing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN in December 1948, and testament to the bequest of peace and freedoms from Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt holding a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly, December 10, 1948