April 12, 1945: FDR dies in office

On April 12, 1945, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died in office of a cerebral hemmorage.

The Herald, then published in the afternoon, snuck this bulletin into the day’s edition before going to press that later that day:

“The White House announced late today that President Roosevelt had died of cerebral hemorrhage.

The death occurred this afternoon at Warm Springs, Ga.

A White House statement said:

‘Vice President Truman has been notified. He was called to the White house and informed by Mrs. Roosevelt. The Secretary of State has been advised. A cabinet meeting has been called.

‘The four Roosevelt boys in the service have been sent a message by their mother, which said that the president slept away this afternoon. He did his job to the end.”

Take a look at the April 12, 1945 edition in our collection of historic front pages.

Before his death, Roosevelt was president for four terms, the longest-running presidency in U.S. history.

And The Herald covered it all.

Peep through historic front pages from the the first time he was elected, his inauguration, visit to Everett, declaration of war after Pearl Harbor and his third and fourth term elections.