Death of Franklin D. Roosevelt

The US president dies during the final campaigns of the Second World War.

Roosevelt had led the United States through its entry into the war and the formation of the anti-Hitler coalition. His death was an unexpected political shock for the Allies.

Presidential powers passed to Harry Truman, who had to master complex questions of European settlement and the war against Japan very quickly.

The change in US leadership occurred on the eve of the founding of the United Nations, Germany's surrender and major decisions on how to end the Pacific War.

Source: View historical source ↗