FDR - Jean Edward Smith [328]
FDR observing naval exercises from the deck of the USS Indianapolis, May 3, 1934. Navy secretary Claude Swanson is at left, former secretary Josephus Daniels at right.
Sara entertained the King and Queen at Hyde Park with simple dignity. When she suggested her son forego pre-dinner cocktails, the president demurred, supported by the King. “My mother would have said the same,” George VI observed.
“I was never so frightened in my life,” said Queen Elizabeth after riding with FDR along woodland trails to Top Cottage at Hyde Park. Betsey Cushing Roosevelt (James’s wife) sits beside the King.
Anna and FDR watch an impromptu baseball game between newscaster Lowell Thomas’s “Nine Old Men” and White House correspondents at Pawling, New York, August 31, 1938.
Roosevelt liked nothing better than to inaugurate the major league baseball season each year at Washington’s Griffith Stadium. The cast changed little from 1934 to 1940: James Farley, Harry Hopkins, Clark Griffith, “Bucky” Harris, Joe McCarthy, Joe Cronin, and Connie Mack. The 1937 All-Star game was played in Washington, and Mel Ott of the New York Giants joined the festivities.
Opening day, 1937.
FDR watches as Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson draws the initial number for the nation’s first peacetime draft, October 29, 1940.
Roosevelt salutes the Atlantic Fleet from the bridge of the USS Houston.
Churchill, meeting Roosevelt off Newfoundland, presents the president a letter from King George VI on August 9, 1941. FDR grips Elliott’s arm; son John stands behind Churchill.
Joint Sunday service on the fantail of the Prince of Wales. Roosevelt and Churchill are seated at top left. FDR insisted on walking the length of the ship to take his seat.
FDR and Churchill, shown here at service, became fast friends and were always able to resolve differences between their staffs. Left to right: Admiral Ernest J. King, Averell Harriman, General George C. Marshall, Field Marshal Sir John Dill, Admiral Harold R. Stark.
FDR and Churchill hold a joint press conference sitting behind Roosevelt’s desk in the Oval Office, December 21, 1941. The president wore a black armband to commemorate Sara’s death.
The president bestows the Medal of Honor on Brig. Gen. James Doolittle following his daring 1942 raid on Tokyo. Left to right: General Henry H. “Hap” Arnold, FDR, Mrs. Doolittle, Doolittle, General Marshall.
FDR enjoys army field mess in Morocco with Harry Hopkins, Lt. Gen. Mark Clark, and Maj. Gen. George Patton. Military censors blanked out Patton’s 1st Armored Division shoulder patch. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration
General Henri Giraud and General Charles de Gaulle pose for the cameras at FDR’s insistence. “Roosevelt meant the peace to be an American peace … and that France … should recognize him as its savior,” de Gaulle wrote later. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration
Roosevelt, in the presence of a pensive Churchill, announces the doctrine of “unconditional surrender” at Casablanca.
Churchill keeps FDR company as he fishes at Shangri La, May 16, 1942, during a break from the TRIDENT conference.
A healthy and ruddy Roosevelt meets with Canada’s governor general, the Earl of Athlone (George VI’s uncle), Prime Minister Mackenzie King, and Churchill at Quebec, August 17, 1943.
The Big Three at their first meeting, Teheran, November 30, 1943. Harry Hopkins, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov, and Anthony Eden stand directly behind.
FDR preparing to review American troops with Eisenhower at Castelvetrano, Sicily, December 8, 1943. George Patton stands at left.
Roosevelt huddles with the Democratic congressional leadership following his return from Teheran, December 17, 1943. Left to right: Senate Majority Leader Alben Barkley, House Majority Leader John McCormack, Vice President Henry Wallace, Speaker Sam Rayburn. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration
Five-year-old Ruthie Bie was the granddaughter of Christian