Beschreibung:

ROOSEVELT, Franklin D. D-Day Prayer by President Franklin D. Roosevelt from the White House. June 6, 1944. Here printed for his friends at Christmastide 1944. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, December 1944. 8 o (10 x 7 in.). Text in black, red and blue. Original vellum-backed marbled boards, black morocco lettering piece, top edge gilt, others uncut (spine with slightest soiling); original board slipcase. FDR'S FINAL WHITE HOUSE CHRISTMAS BOOK, INSCRIBED TO HARRY TRUMAN'S FUTURE VICE-PRESIDENT LIMITED EDITION, number 16 of 100 copies. PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY THE PRESIDENT TO MAJORITY LEADER SENATOR ALBEN BARKLEY OF KENTUCKY: "For Alben Barkley at Christmastide, 1944 from Franklin D. Roosevelt." A moving text, composed in honor of the American and Allied troops spearheading the great Normandy assault on 6 June 1944. Roosevelt wrote from the heart, and drew only on his daughter Anna for assistance, declining to use his usual stable of political speechwriters. "Many people have urged that I call the Nation to a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves to a continuance of prayer." Alben Barkley (1877-1956) had been Chairman of the 1940 Democratic Convention and was one of only eight Congressmen informed of the impending declaration of war on Japan in 1941. Through Barkley at the 1940 Convention, Roosevelt delivered a statement stating that he had no desire to serve another term and urged the delegates to vote for whomever they pleased. Barkley later served as Vice President under Harry S. Truman and, due to a contraction coined by his 10-year-old grandson, was the first to be called the "Veep." Copies of this Christmas book are SCARCE. See Halter, pp.193-4. A FINE ASSOCIATION COPY.