When FDR was called on to lead a nation at war, he worked with the same focus and high spirits he had shown in dealing with economic crisis. Much of his effort went into building the alliance that defeated the Axis powers, using personal diplomacy in his dealings with Churchill and Stalin and other allied leaders. As the conflict drew to a close, FDR put his faith in the United Nations as the world's best hope for avoiding another global war. He was preparing his speech for the UN's charter conference when he died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs , Georgia , on April 12, 1945, where this redbud tree grows.