#32. Roosevelt, Franklin Delano

Linda Lou Burton posting from Little Rock, Arkansas –Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882 –1945) was the 32^nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945; First Lady Eleanor the same. Yes, that’s a very long time; longer than any president before or since. And, I’d say, the Franklin and Eleanor team stirred up more gossip than any team ever. Yet both Franklin and Eleanor are highly revered today, ranking right up there with George, and Abe, and well, humanity in general. When my grandkids were little I once drew an M on a piece of paper and laid it on the floor. I had one stand on one side, and one on the other. “What letter do you see? “ I asked. One saw an M, one saw a W, and then I explained point of view to them. Let’s use that tactic in looking at the Roosevelts; they were what they were, and they did what they did. And what they did impacts our lives tremendously to this very day. How many things in their own lives were beyond their control? And how many were within? As always, let’s start at the beginning.

In The Nest With Mother

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born January 30, 1882 in Hyde Park, New York, to James Roosevelt, age 54, and his second wife, Sara Ann Delano, age 28. His parents were sixth cousins; both from wealthy New York families. James had another son by his first wife (who had died) – James Roosevelt Roosevelt, who was called Rosy. Rosy was married to Helen Astor (of the Astor family) and in 1882, when Franklin was born, Rosy and Helen had two children – James Roosevelt Roosevelt Jr, called Tadd, age 3, and Helen, age 1. So Franklin’s half-brother was 28 (same age as his mother), and his nephew and niece were little playmates. Franklin was 18 when his father died; his mother never remarried. “You are a Delano, not a Roosevelt” she impressed on Franklin from the beginning. So there’s that. The photo of Franklin at age 2 shows him dressed in the style for wealthy young boys of the time – unbreeched – meaning no britches yet.

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born October 11, 1884 in Manhattan to socialites Anna Rebecca Hall and Elliott Roosevelt. Elliot was the younger brother of Theodore Roosevelt (our 26^th president), so that makes Eleanor Theodore’s niece. Eleanor had two younger brothers, Elliot Jr and Hall, and a half-brother, Elliott Roosevelt Mann through her father’s affair with Katy Mann, a family servant. Keeping up? The family was immensely wealthy; a part of NY society called the “swells.” Eleanor’s mother was, it is reported, “somewhat ashamed of Eleanor’s plainness,” and called her “Granny” she was so serious in nature. The photo of Eleanor at age 3 shows a serious little girl. Eleanor was 8 when her mother died from diphtheria; her brother Elliot Jr died a few months later of the same disease. Eleanor was 10 when her father died; an alcoholic confined to a sanitarium, he jumped from a window during a fit of delirium tremens, survived the fall, then died from a seizure.

Before. And Then They Married

Franklin played polo and tennis and golf; he learned to ride, shoot, and sail. He made many trips to Europe and could speak German and French; he was home schooled by tutors until 14, then sent to boarding school in Groton, Massachusetts. College was Harvard; he was editor of the Harvard Crimson, a school cheerleader, a member of Alpha Delta Phi. Franklin graduated in 1903 with a degree in history; then Columbia Law School; he dropped out when he passed the New York Bar exam and took a job with a prestigious law firm. Set.

Eleanor went to live with her grandmother Mary Hall in Tivoli, New York after her mother died, where she was tutored privately. At 15 she was sent to finishing school in London. She liked it and did well there; she learned to speak French fluently and “was beloved” by her friends. Her grandmother summoned her home in 1902 (age 18) to make her “social debut.” About her debutante ball at the Waldorf-Astoria and her “coming out” party, she wrote “It was simply awful. I had no friends here. I was miserable.”

Remember now, Franklin and Eleanor were cousins, fifth cousins once removed to be exact. And they were childhood acquaintances. In 1903 Franklin (age 21 by now), who had already proposed to one person who turned him down, began courting Eleanor (19 and unhappy). They were married March 17, 1905, against much resistance from Franklin’s mother. The wedding was at a cousin’s house on East 6^th in New York, both branches of Roosevelts attended. The bridesmaids carried pink roses, symbolic of the Roosevelt crest; Theodore Roosevelt gave his niece away. The March 17 wedding date was no accident; Theodore had just been inaugurated for his second term as President, and would be in town to make an appearance at the St Patrick’s Day parade that morning (60,000 people); then he could give the bride away, entertain guests at the reception, and in the evening give an after-dinner speech to 600 Irish-Americans at Delmonico’s. Eleanor and Franklin headed for a honeymoon at Hyde Park.

Houses. Mother Included

The Hyde Park house, Springwood, was Franklin’s home, with mother Sara running the household. Sara generously gave Franklin and Eleanor a townhouse in New York, with one for herself alongside, sliding doors between; she also gave them a cottage at Campobello, a family property near the Maine-Canadian border. And Eleanor began having babies. 1906 Anna. 1907 James. 1909 Franklin (who died in infancy). 1910 Elliot. 1914 Franklin Jr. 1916 John. Sara not only managed all the households, she oversaw her grandchildren too, telling them, as James recalled “Your mother only bore you, I am more your mother than your mother is.” Writings exist in which Eleanor confided that  she “hated living in a house that was in no way hers;” she “disliked sex with her husband but it was an ordeal to be borne;” and “it did not come naturally to me to understand or enjoy little children.” Well then.

Franklin left all matters of childcare and household management to his mother; he didn’t care for the practice of law either, so stuck his toe into the New York political swirl throwing his support in whichever was the most advantageous direction; even opposing his relative Theodore at one time. In March 1913 his support of Woodrow Wilson landed him an appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Navy; he liked that; he stayed seven years. After the November 1918 Armistice, he was involved in the demobilization of the Navy.

Meanwhile, back at Hyde Park, Eleanor discovered “the letters.” This story is pretty well verified and generally goes like this: in September 1918 Eleanor discovered a “bundle of love letters” from her social secretary Lucy Mercer to Franklin. Clearly Franklin wanted to divorce Eleanor and marry Lucy. Guess who stepped in? Mother. Sara flatly threatened to disinherit Franklin if he jeopardized his career by getting a divorce. The good news for Eleanor? She woke up, finally asserting herself. No more docile-stay-at-home-wife. She basically told Sara, and Franklin, well, you know. I’ll stay, but on my terms.

From Then On

Franklin never had a home of his own without his mother, until her death in 1941. Was Sara a domineering mother-in-law, a doting grandmother, or just a smart career strategist? One thing happened that was way beyond Sara’s control – in August of 1921, as the family was vacationing at Campobello, Franklin got sick, and was diagnosed with polio. At the age of 39, his legs were permanently paralyzed. Sara wanted him to retire. Eleanor said NO. She nursed him. Most of Eleanor’s legacy focuses on all the things she accomplished as a strong and intelligent humanitarian, even after Franklin’s death. How did Eleanor’s support contribute to Franklin’s future?

In 1920 Franklin’s attempts to hook up with somebody on a presidential ticket didn’t work out; then he got sick. Through political connections and alliances he stayed on stage; he also discovered the therapeutic waters in Warm Springs, Georgia. In 1928 the Democratic presidential nominee Al Smith asked him to run for governor of New York. Al lost; Franklin won. Now he could speak from an important governor’s chair. When the stock market crashed in 1929 and the Great Depression began, his ideas about aid to farmers, full employment, and old-age pensions were heard, loud and clear. One more term as NY governor.

One. Two. Three. Four.

And then. Four terms as an elected president. Look at these election results.

• In 1932 the Depression Years: Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the 32nd President of the United States receiving 7,050,737 more Popular Votes than his opponent. Electoral Votes: 472 to 59.
• In 1936 the Depression Years: Franklin Delano Roosevelt remained the 32nd President of the United States receiving 11,078,204 more Popular Votes than his opponent. Electoral Votes: 523 to 8.
• In 1940 the War Years: Franklin Delano Roosevelt remained the 32nd President of the United States receiving 4,986,801 more Popular Votes than his opponent. Electoral Votes: 449-to 82.
• In 1944 the War Years: Franklin Delano Roosevelt remained the 32nd President of the United States receiving 3,591,840 more Popular Votes than his opponent. Electoral Votes: 432 to 99.

However Eleanor felt about the guy, and however tacky he was to her, in the public arena he was a god; a savior. Whatever his personal reasons for what he did (Big heart or big ego? Great wealth but inability to walk or stand and never-ending pain?), millions of people continue to benefit in uncountable ways due to programs he instigated. Nowadays I receive my social security check every month, direct deposit. The first job my Dad ever had, way back in 1937, was a job with the WPA, keeping books for a housing project being built, so I guess the first bite I ever ate was thanks to Franklin. I have vacationed in huge lodges in parks around the country and been to community meetings in tiny Scout huts in small towns; all built by the CCC. I learned to waterski on a TVA lake; my first job was with the Tennessee Valley Authority. And oh yes, at the age of one I sat in my stroller and watched President Roosevelt’s wheelchair roll up a special-built ramp into the Methodist Church in my home town; he’d come to the funeral of Senator Bankhead. The wood that went into that ramp was burned afterwards, to prevent bystanders from taking home souvenirs. That’s pretty close to hero-worship, wouldn’t you say?

On The Other Hand

But many criticisms are out there too; entire towns were displaced for the building of the TVA dams; private electric companies claimed the government’s involvement in the power business was unconstitutional. And the Social Security tax was NOT welcomed at the time; there is a long list opposing the “take-over” mode of governing, including his ordering of the internment of Japanese-Americans during the war. Then there’s his seriously “big-lie coverup” to Eleanor. When he died April 12, 1945 at his cottage in Warm Springs, Georgia, guess who was there? Lucy Mercer, although he’d promised way back in 1918 that he’d never see her again! Eleanor found out, and the hurt was doubled to learn that their daughter Anna had been in on the hush-hush meetings over the years.

As for Eleanor, she was a darned good First Lady, by then she knew a thing or two about being in the public eye. In her first year she  determined to match Franklin’s presidential salary and earned $75,000 from her lectures and writing (which she gave to charity). She maintained a heavy travel schedule, making sure Depression-era workers knew the White House understood their plight; a New Yorker cartoon showed an astonished coal miner peering down a dark tunnel saying “For gosh sakes, here comes Mrs Roosevelt!”

Franklin is buried in Hyde Park at Springwood (d 1945, age 63), with Eleanor beside (d 1962, age 78). It’s now the Franklin Roosevelt National Memorial site. Sara (d 1941, age 87) is buried about three miles away in St Paul’s Episcopal cemetery, next to her husband. She left behind an estate of over $13 million. Game over. The Roosevelt kids have written some pretty awful stuff about their family life – both Franklin’s and Eleanor’s suspected affairs with women; their coldness as parents. I consider: what really matters when we select a president? Do we care what they do, or only what they do for us?

As to the question “Would I invite Franklin, and/or Eleanor, to a party?” I’ve walked through the Warm Springs Little White House. I’ve sat on the bench in that Methodist Church in my home town where Franklin sat. I’ve had a special tour of the secret invisible door in the NY capitol in Albany which was cut so Franklin could move between his working office and his ceremonial office without being seen in the hallway in his wheelchair. I’ve seen the memorial to Eleanor in the UN building. I’ve been to Hyde Park. I empathize with their tribulations.

I think that’s enough.