FDR - Jean Edward Smith [255]
By 1937 Elliott had assembled five radio stations for Hearst in the Southwest. When Hearst decided to sell the stations, Elliott was eager to buy them. To raise money, he reached out to old friends, business associates, and casual acquaintances, one of whom was John A. Hartford, president of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P). Elliott telephoned his father from Hartford’s office and then handed the phone to Hartford.
“Hello, John,” said FDR with his customary bonhomie. “While any business you have with my son must stand on its own merits, I will appreciate anything you do for him. And the next time you’re in Washington come and see me.”68 Hartford was facing an antitrust suit filed by the Federal Trade Commission, and the president’s invitation was too good to pass up. He invested $200,000 and took Elliott’s personal note as collateral. Several years later, when Elliott’s radio empire ran into hard times, FDR asked then commerce secretary Jesse Jones for help. Jones interceded with Hartford, who agreed to settle the note for $4,000. Hartford told Jones he would do whatever the president asked. “Candidly, I would rather not have Elliott Roosevelt’s note in my estate after I am dead.”69
FDR, Jr., son number three, was nineteen when his father became president. He graduated from Harvard in 1937 and promptly married Ethel du Pont, the stunning daughter of Eugene du Pont of Greenville, Delaware, a founding member of the Liberty League and a bitter opponent of the New Deal. Franklin, Jr.—known to the family as “Brud”—bore the strongest resemblance to his father and possessed the same charm and assurance. “He’s a good egg,” allowed Ethel’s father, “but it would be better if he had a different last name.”70 FDR, Jr.’s, marriage to Ethel, the union of Roosevelts and du Ponts, was portrayed by the press as the wedding of the decade. The Army Corps of Engineers set up a field kitchen on the du Pont property, three companies of soldiers were deployed to provide security, and the receiving line required five hours to pass through. Among the guests of the du Ponts were the relief impresario Harry Hopkins, the feminist secretary of labor Frances Perkins, and the Jewish secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau. FDR enjoyed every minute and, according to James, kissed all the bridesmaids. “It doesn’t really matter what you do,” cautioned Eleanor, “so long as you don’t steal the show.”71
In the autumn of 1937 Franklin, Jr., entered law school at the University of Virginia. Late in his first year, some fraternity jokers decided it would be a good idea to place a transatlantic telephone call to Premier Édouard Daladier of France, person to person from Franklin Delano Roosevelt. M. Daladier was not amused. After the French Foreign Ministry and the State Department finished exchanging notes, Roosevelt wrote his son:
As you know, there was a somewhat serious international flurry over the call that was put in from the Fraternity House on May 21st to Prime Minister Daladier.… It was, of course, purely a prank but I think it would do no harm for you to let them know at the Fraternity House that that kind of prank can have serious results!72
John Aspinwall Roosevelt, Franklin and Eleanor’s youngest son, proved to be the tallest (at six feet, five inches), the most stable, and the most conservative. Unlike his brothers, he never ran for elective office and did not rely on his father’s influence for personal advancement. His marriage to the North Shore socialite Anne Lindsay Clark—they were married during