Beschreibung:

ROOSEVELT, Franklin D. Autograph letter signed ("F. D. R."), as President, to Frederic A. Delano, Washington, n.d. [9 September 1938]. 1 page, 4to, White House stationery, with original autograph envelope . Fine
ROOSEVELT, Franklin D. Autograph letter signed ("F. D. R."), as President, to Frederic A. Delano, Washington, n.d. [9 September 1938]. 1 page, 4to, White House stationery, with original autograph envelope . Fine "YOU ARE THE GRANDEST MAN I KNOW": A BELOVED UNCLE AND A DESPERATELY ILL SON With Hitler plunging Europe to the brink of war over Czechoslovakia and the Sudeten crisis, FDR sends birthday greetings to his beloved uncle, and rushes off to his ailing son's bedside for an emergency operation at the Mayo Clinic. "All my nice plans for going to Algonac tomorrow for your Birthday are off," he writes, "for I go to Rochester tonight & Jimmy's operation is Monday. Meanwhile ever so many Happy Returns. You are the grandest person I know--in every way." From internal evidence we can date the letter to 9 September 1938, since Frederic Delano's birthday--his 75th--fell on 10 September and James Roosevelt's operation for a gastric ulcer took place 12 September. Frederic Delano had a long career in the railroad industry before becoming the number two man at the Federal Reserve under Wilson, and heading the National Resources Planning Board under FDR. James Roosevelt served as FDR's principal secretary over the course of 1937 and the first half of 1938, before his gastric ulcer forced his resignation. The younger Roosevelt was unpopular with other White House staffers and key members of Congress during this particularly turbulent chapter in FDR's presidency. Badly bruised by the failure of his 1937 Court packing scheme, Roosevelt was now trying to purge several conservative Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections (most of his targets survived in office), while the economy plunged into a recession.