Question

In his first inaugural address, Roosevelt said, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." What did he mean?

Answer 1

He basically said "It's all good in the hood. We just need to chill, we ain't got no problem. Nothing here to be scared of."

Answer 2

FDR was inaugurated in 1933 when the world was experiencing a terrible economic depression and also when the Nazis were rising to power in Germany. So I think he meant that if the American people are not afraid to face the challenges that a positive attitude could help resolve the economic problems and though the WWII hadn't started yet, he probably intimated that by being unafraid of the Nazis they could definitely be defeated.