Indiana The Indianapolis Times Original 1945 Vintage Newspaper-Nation Unites Behind Truman- April 13, 1939. Includes Wear and Tear. Not For Reading.11x15 inches Roosevelts health was in decline as FDR prepared in 1944 for both a fourth run at the presidency and the aftermath of World War II. A March 1944 examination by his doctors revealed a variety of heart ailments, high blood pressure, and bronchitis. Those close to the Presidentand even those who saw him speak in publicnoted his haggard and weak appearance, his flagging energy, and his increasing lapses of concentration and memory. Most of the American public was unaware of the President's strugglesthough rumors about FDR's health often ran wildand FDR delivered a few key, command performances in 1944 that quieted concerns. Nonetheless, Roosevelt's election victory over Thomas E. Dewey in 1944, in addition to the Yalta Conference the following February, put the President under immense strain. In April 1945, FDR returned to Warm Springs, Georgia, a destination that had served since the 1920s as his favorite retreat. There, on April 12, while sitting for a portrait, he collapsed and died of a cerebral hemorrhage. Vice President Harry Truman took the oath of office the same day.