<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>President Franklin Roosevelt </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-april-12-what-happened-on-this-day/c39389a1-0a31-4824-9699-3630d5cd161d" rel="" target="" title="died midway through having his portrait painted"><span>died midway through having his portrait painted</span></a><span> on </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/today-in-history" rel="" target="" title="April 12, 1945"><span>April 12, 1945</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Roosevelt was being painted by watercolour artist Elizabeth Shoumatoff when he remarked: "I have a terrific headache".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He then fell into unconsciousness, having suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-april-10-what-happened-on-this-day/53417aab-9f62-4ba8-8a0a-e8bc9c5f6b68"><strong><span>Honking goose at the centre of high-profile divorce case</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Shoumatoff never finished the portrait, but painted a completed one from memory.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The two paintings hang side-by-side in the home where he died, his retreat in Warm Springs, Georgia.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Roosevelt's poor health had been a secret for decades. </span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-april-12-what-happened-on-this-day-franklin-roosevelt/c4f51afb-ef2f-48fb-8686-917911521add" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Very few Americans knew the president used a wheelchair, having contracted what was believed to be polio.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But he had taken a turn for the worse the previous year, and feared he would have to resign the presidency.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-april-9-what-happened-on-this-day-manuel-noriega/96a26af0-ad4e-4829-be6d-305512a6df6c"><strong><span>Dictator drug lord surrenders after 10 days of listening to Van Halen</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Nevertheless, he ran for re-election in 1944 for a historic fourth term, believing no-one else was up to the job.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He had come to believe his previous vice president Henry Wallace was a liability, and had replaced him with </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/don-t-panic-we-ve-had-some-good-pms/395dc197-d75e-40c1-ad22-baa75178a472" rel="" target="" title="Harry Truman"><span>Harry Truman</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But Roosevelt and Truman did not really know each other, and only met twice during the vice president's time in office.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>When Truman was told by </span><a href="https://honey.nine.com.au/latest/us-first-ladies-in-vogue-magazine/dde100c4-f840-475f-aa28-acdd53e34c8a" rel="" target="" title="First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt"><span>First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt</span></a><span> that her husband had died, he asked her: "Is there anything I can do for you?"</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Is there anything we can do for you? For you are the one in trouble now!" she replied.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-april-8-what-happened-on-this-day/5360e344-7dc4-4c5f-aad6-5c952108dcd0"><strong><span>Rock star changed his own name to keep touring</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He was sworn in as president later that evening.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Truman had not been told Roosevelt was in terrible health, and only found out about the development of the atomic bomb on the day of his death.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-april-2-what-happened-on-this-day-sverdlovsk-anthrax-leak/47d399e7-53b8-45c4-b940-f804cb70f76c"><strong><span>A few milligrams from lab leak killed dozens of people</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-march-21-what-happened-on-this-day-collyer-brothers/d420209f-80bc-49c4-8745-b09ffc292bb8" target="" title="Brother starves to death after hoarder killed by own booby trap"><strong><span></span></strong></a><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/today-in-history" target="" title="For more from our Today in History archive, click here."><strong><span>For more from our Today in History archive, click here</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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