Lot #129

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Description

Roosevelt remembers cousinTeddy: “Perhaps you have forgotten that the late Theodore Roosevelt was my cousin and not my father.... As a boy, I often had the opportunity of talking with him on national affairs”

TLS, one page, 8 x 10.5, State of New York letterhead, February 12, 1932. Letter, marked “Personal” in Roosevelt’s hand, to Ernest Laun of Louisville, Kentucky. In full: “I read your letter with great interest and appreciate the thought that lies behind it. Certainly it is a terrible commentary on the present state of affairs that in a country over-stocked with all sorts of supplies so many hard-working, self-respecting citizens lack the very essentials of life. It is good of you to say that you believe me worthy of taking the lead in the much hoped-for return to sanity and stability, and I would not be human if I were not pleased by this expression of confidence. Whoever the Party nominee may be, he must be a progressive leader, able to apply sound Democratic principles of good government to the present distressing national crisis. The time has come to put an end to the protection of small, privileged groups, and to assert the right of the obscure individual to a fair return for his labor, and the natural expansion of his independent business. Incidentally, I think perhaps you have forgotten that the late Theodore Roosevelt was my cousin and not my father. As a boy, I often had the opportunity of talking with him on national affairs, and, of course, his personality was one which made a lasting impression upon anyone so fortunate as to know him.” Neatly signed at the conclusion in blue fountain pen, “Franklin D. Roosevelt.” In fine condition, with a small stain touching one letter of the signature and areas of trivial soiling. Roosevelt’s campaign was conducted under the shadow of the Great Depression, and the new alliances created by the Depression. Roosevelt and the Democratic Party mobilized the expanded ranks of the poor as well as organized labor, ethnic minorities, urbanites, and Southern whites, crafting the New Deal coalition. LOA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.

Auction Info

• Auction Title:
• Dates: #315 - Ended November 15, 2006