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World War II-dated TLS as president, one page, 8 x 10.5, White House letterhead, September 1, 1942. Letter to Arthur M. Tode, the Honorary President of The Propeller Club of the United States, in full: “One short year ago, when I addressed a message to the American Merchant Marine Conference and the Propeller Clubs, we had just begun our emergency shipbuilding program as a national safeguard against the growing threat of war. Then came Pearl Harbor. The past few months have shown the heroic and vital part being played in this struggle by American seamen and American ships.
The war demands that an increasing portion of the world's ocean traffic must be borne on American flag vessels. We are building more ships and building them faster than any nation has ever produced them in all history. These ships are sailing the seven seas carrying armaments and supplies to United Nations forces on the battlefronts of the world.
The Propeller Clubs realize that the preeminence of American shipping — so grimly necessary now — should be maintained after victory has been won. I commend your organizations for their patriotic efforts in promoting the restoration of the American merchant marine and insuring the future of the United States as a great maritime nation.” In very fine condition. Accompanied by a custom-bound clamshell case and a copy of Arthur M. Tode's August 22, 1942, letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's secretary, Marvin H. McIntyre, requesting the customary presidential message for the forthcoming American Merchant Marine Conference.
Written on September 1, 1942, less than nine months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, this letter dates to a pivotal moment in America's wartime mobilization, as the nation's emergency shipbuilding program accelerated to meet mounting losses at sea. Just seventeen days later, a wire report placed the number of merchant vessels sunk in the western Atlantic at 471, a figure that rose to 502 by late October and 572 by mid-November. Against that backdrop, Roosevelt praised the "heroic and vital part" played by American seamen and declared that the United States was "building more ships and building them faster than any nation has ever produced them in all history." His remarks reflect the Maritime Commission's unprecedented Liberty ship program, which ultimately surpassed even its ambitious wartime production goals.
Roosevelt's commitment to the American merchant marine predated his presidency: as Assistant Secretary of the Navy during the First World War, he oversaw the arming of American merchant vessels and the organization of convoys against submarine attack, experience that shaped his appreciation of the merchant fleet's strategic importance during World War II. Addressed to the Propeller Club of the United States, a national maritime organization founded to promote and strengthen the American merchant marine, the letter commends its members' wartime efforts while urging them to preserve American maritime strength long after victory had been secured.
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