Statement by the President on the 20th Anniversary of the Death of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

TWENTY years ago-wearied by war, strained by the cares and triumphs of many years--the great heart of Franklin Roosevelt came to a stop.

Most of us here shared the darkness of that day, as we had shared the difficult and shining days which had gone before. And wherever we were, when the unbelievable word came, for a moment the light seemed to waver and dim.

But we were wrong about that. For he had worked too well. What he had set aflame was far beyond the poor and futile power of death to put out.

And we can say, with the preacher, "Death be not proud .... Though some have called thee mighty and dreadful .... For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow, Die not .... "

Therefore, I come here to perform a task which is already done. This entire Nation is at once his grave and monument. Millions of men at work and healthy children are his monument. Freedom here, and in many distant lands, is his monument. And we--his friends, his colleagues, and his followers-are also his monument.

I cannot hope to add to history's judgment of the man who guided the reconstruction of America--and released the energies of an entire people to pursue, with unmatched success, the oldest hopes of man.

Truly today's America is his America more than it is the work of any man.

But those of us who were lucky enough to know him, also know there was something beyond the long list of accomplishments. He had the gardener's touch. In some mysterious way he could reach out, and where there was fear, came hope; where there was resignation, came excitement; where there was indifference, came compassion.

And perhaps we can remember him most, not for what he did, but for what he made us want to do. We are trying to do it still. And I suppose we always will; as will many others to whom he is just a name and a picture in a book.