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from every state—was one of the largest on record. FDR had wanted General John J. Pershing to be grand marshal, but the elderly Pershing was ill in Arizona and General Douglas MacArthur acted in his stead. For almost three hours Roosevelt and MacArthur stood side by side reviewing the passing contingents. The State of New York was represented by the braves of Tammany Hall in full regalia, led by Al Smith striding along on foot. He waved his famous brown derby at the reviewing stand and Roosevelt wagged his silk hat in return. The sharpest political statement was made by a well-rehearsed troupe of African Americans pushing whirring lawn mowers down Pennsylvania Avenue—a parody of Hoover’s prediction that grass would grow in the streets following Roosevelt’s victory.

At dusk the president left the reviewing stand and returned to the White House, where a reception for several thousand guests was in progress. Roosevelt avoided the throng and slipped upstairs to the Lincoln Study, where the members of his cabinet, confirmed that afternoon, had assembled. He then presided over a joint swearing-in of the entire cabinet as Supreme Court justice Benjamin Cardozo administered the oaths in order, beginning with Secretary of State Hull. “No Cabinet has ever been sworn in before in this way,” said FDR. “I am glad all of you were confirmed without opposition.”87

From the study Roosevelt rushed back downstairs to greet thirteen children on crutches who had come at his invitation from Warm Springs to attend the inauguration. That evening the president and Eleanor dined with seventy-two Roosevelts and their kin in the State Dining Room. Cousin Alice called it “a riot of pleasure. I went with great alacrity and enthusiasm and had a lovely, malicious time.”88 Afterward Eleanor took five carloads of relatives to the inaugural ball, a massive gala at the Washington Auditorium attended by eight thousand guests who had paid the equivalent of $150 a couple, the money donated to charity.*

Roosevelt did not attend. After dinner he returned upstairs to the Lincoln Study, where he and Louis Howe talked over the events of the day. They had waited for this day for twenty-two years, and the two old fighters reminisced. At 10:30 the president turned out the lights and went to bed.

* The Roosevelts were accompanied by FDR’s old sailing companion George Briggs and FDR’s cousin Bobby Delano, son of Sara’s brother Lyman. The boat, Myth II, was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Prescott Butler Huntington of St. James, New York, and was described by Mrs. Huntington as “ancient.” “It was an old boat. It leaked, and everybody knew it leaked.” James said, “I was nervous the whole trip because if heavy weather came out we might lose both a father and a presidential candidate.” Robert F. Cross, Sailor in the White House: The Seafaring Life of FDR 58 (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2003).

* Farley signed his mail in the evening, sometimes devoting six hours to the task. “I have been asked if my hand gets cramped or tired from steady letter-signing. On occasion it does, but not often. When that happens, I hold it under the cold water for a few moments, then flex the fingers back and forth, repeating each process until the circulation returns. After five or ten minutes it is usually possible for me to resume without any ill effects. If there were no interruptions, I have been able to sign very close to 2,000 letters an hour.” James A. Farley, Behind the Ballots 195 (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1938).

* To convert 1932 dollars, multiply by 14. Robert C. Sahr, “Currency Conversion Factors, 1700 to estimated 2012,” Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon.

* In fairness to Ike, he urged MacArthur to remain at the War Department and leave the operation to the troop commanders but was overruled. “MacArthur has decided to go into active command in the field,” the chief of staff replied, speaking as he often did in the third person. “There is incipient revolution in the air.” William Manchester, American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur, 1880–1964 150 (Boston: Little,