The 32nd president of the United States. In The Man in the High Castle, the real-life attempt on Roosevelt’s life by assassin Giuseppe Zangara was successful (in actuality, Zangara missed his target). Without Roosevelt, the U.S. is unable to successfully fend off the Nazi threat—and to many people living in the PSA, Roosevelt remains a nostalgic symbol of bygone American strength. In The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, Roosevelt lives, but he does not run for a third term (and is instead succeeded by Rex Tugwell).
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Franklin D. Roosevelt Character Timeline in The Man in the High Castle
The timeline below shows where the character Franklin D. Roosevelt appears in The Man in the High Castle. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...have disappointed Mr. Tagomi—and he longingly recalls “the pre-war days, the other times. Franklin D. Roosevelt and the World’s Fair; the former better world.”
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Chapter 5
...Rita two identical cigarette lighters. One is very expensive, because it was in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s pocket when he was assassinated. The other one is worthless. Wyndham-Matson tells Rita that the...
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Rita does not believe that one of the lighters belonged to Roosevelt, so Wyndham-Matson gets the papers to prove it. He has bought the lighter for exactly...
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...legal in the PSA. She explains that it is an alternative history, one in which Roosevelt lived and was succeeded by a man named Rex Tugwell; Tugwell predicted the bombing of...
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