Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen a lot of media coverage and discussion about the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. In fact, the war began on this day in 1861 when Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina. What many people might not realize is that April 12 is also the date when President Franklin D. Roosevelt died in Georgia in 1945, just a few months before World War II ended. Roosevelt, our nation’s 32nd president, was early in his fourth term as president when he passed away. Two years later, Congress proposed the 22nd Amendment, which says that nobody can be elected U.S. president more than twice. The amendment was ratified in 1951. Ted Van Dyk wrote this interesting piece in Crosscut about the Civil War’s beginning and FDR’s passing. Below is the April 13, 1945, proclamation by Washington Governor Monrad C. Wallgren on Roosevelt’s death. In the proclamation, Wallgren declared April 14, 1945, to be a public holiday and for all public offices to be closed that day. Wallgren asked Washingtonians to gather in places of worship at 1 pm. Pacific War Time to “reflect upon his life and bow our heads in silent prayer.”

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