American politician (1914?1988)
Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr.
|
---|
Roosevelt Jr. in 1945
|
|
|
In office
May 26, 1965 ? May 11, 1966
|
President
| Lyndon B. Johnson
|
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Preceded by
| Position established
|
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Succeeded by
| Stephen N. Shulman
|
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|
In office
March 26, 1963 ? May 16, 1965
|
President
| John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
|
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Preceded by
| Edward Gudeman
|
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Succeeded by
| LeRoy Collins
|
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|
In office
May 17, 1949 ? January 3, 1955
|
Preceded by
| Sol Bloom
|
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Succeeded by
| Irwin D. Davidson
|
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|
|
Born
| Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr.
(
1914-08-17
)
August 17, 1914
Campobello Island
,
New Brunswick
, Canada
|
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Died
| August 17, 1988
(1988-08-17)
(aged 74)
Poughkeepsie, New York
, U.S.
|
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Political party
| Democratic
|
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Other political
affiliations
| Liberal
|
---|
Spouses
|
(
m.
1937;
div.
1949)
Suzanne Perrin
(
m.
1949;
div.
1970)
Felicia Schiff Warburg Sarnoff
(
m.
1970;
div.
1976)
Patricia Luisa Oakes
(
m.
1977;
div.
1981)
Linda McKay Stevenson Weicker
(
m.
1984)
|
---|
Children
| |
---|
Parents
| |
---|
Relatives
| Roosevelt family
|
---|
Alma mater
| Harvard University
(
AB
)
University of Virginia
(
LLB
)
|
---|
Profession
| - Lawyer
- politician
- businessman
|
---|
|
Allegiance
| United States
|
---|
Branch/service
| United States Navy
|
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Years of service
| 1938?1946
|
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Rank
| Lieutenant commander
|
---|
Commands
| USS
Ulvert M. Moore
(DE-442)
|
---|
Battles/wars
| World War II
|
---|
Awards
| Silver Star
Legion of Merit
Bronze Star Medal
Purple Heart
|
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|
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr.
(August 17, 1914 ? August 17, 1988) was an American lawyer, politician, and businessman. He served as a
United States congressman
from New York from 1949 to 1955 and in 1963 was appointed
United States Under Secretary of Commerce
by President John F. Kennedy. He was appointed as the first chairman of the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
from 1965 to 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Roosevelt also ran for governor of New York twice. He was a son of President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
and First Lady
Eleanor Roosevelt
, and served as an officer in the United States Navy during World War II.
[1]
Early life
[
edit
]
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. was born on August 17, 1914, the fifth of six children born to
Franklin D. Roosevelt
(1882?1945) and
Eleanor Roosevelt
(1884?1962). At the time of his birth, his father was
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
.
[1]
He was born at his parents' summer home at
Campobello Island
, New Brunswick, Canada, which is now an
international historical park
.
His siblings were:
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt
(1906?1975),
James Roosevelt II
(1907?1991), Franklin Roosevelt (1909; a
brother of the same name
who died in infancy in November 1909, having lived only for seven months),
Elliott Roosevelt
(1910?1990), and
John Aspinwall Roosevelt II
(1916?1981).
[1]
As a young man in 1936, he contracted a
streptococcal throat infection
and developed life-threatening complications. His successful treatment with
Prontosil
, the first commercially available
sulfonamide
drug, avoided a risky surgical procedure which the
White House
medical staff had considered, and the headlines in
The New York Times
and other prominent newspapers heralded the start of the era of
antibacterial therapy
in the United States.
[2]
Education
[
edit
]
He graduated from
Groton School
in 1933, Harvard University in 1937 (Bachelor of Arts), and the University of Virginia School of Law (Bachelor of Laws) in June 1940.
[3]
[4]
The family thought that FDR Jr. was the one most like his father in appearance and behavior. James said "Franklin is the one who came closest to being another FDR. He had father's looks, his speaking voice, his smile, his charm, his charisma."
[5]
U.S. Navy service
[
edit
]
World War II
[
edit
]
Roosevelt was commissioned an ensign in the
United States Navy Reserve
on June 11, 1940. He was a junior naval officer in World War II and was decorated for bravery in the
Naval Battle of Casablanca
.
At the request of his father, along with brother
Elliott Roosevelt
, he attended both the
Argentia
(
Atlantic Charter
) summit with Prime Minister
Winston Churchill
in August 1941, and the
Casablanca Conference
in January 1943. Franklin also met FDR in Africa prior to the
Tehran Conference
. Returning from Argentia, he sailed with Churchill and stood with him at parades in newly American-occupied Reykjavik, Iceland to symbolize American solidarity with the United Kingdom.
[6]
Brother
James Roosevelt
summarized "Brud's" naval service: "Franklin served on a destroyer that dodged torpedoes from Iceland to Minsk [sic!][He, obviously, meant Murmansk]. He became executive officer of the destroyer
USS
Mayrant
(DD-402)
, which was bombed at Palermo in the Sicilian invasion. The famed war correspondent
Quentin Reynolds
went out of his way to write mother how bravely Franklin performed in that bloody ordeal, in which he was awarded the
Silver Star Medal
for exposing himself under fire to carry a critically wounded sailor to safety."
[7]
Later, as a lieutenant commander, to which he was promoted to on March 1, 1944, Franklin became the commanding officer of the
destroyer escort
USS
Ulvert M. Moore
(DE-442)
on July 18, 1944.
Ulvert M. Moore
served in the
Pacific
and shot down two Japanese aircraft and sank the
Imperial Japanese Navy
submarine
Ro-115
. The ship was in Tokyo Bay when Japan formally surrendered on September 2, 1945. James Roosevelt remembered that his brother was known as "Big Moose" to the men who served under him, he did "a tremendous job".
Military awards
[
edit
]
Roosevelt's military decorations and awards include:
Career
[
edit
]
Law practice
[
edit
]
Roosevelt served in several New York law offices after the war. He was senior partner in the New York law firm of Roosevelt and Frieden, later known as Poletti, Diamond, Frieden & Mackay,
[9]
before and after his service in the Congress. (On December 3, 1945,
Time
magazine announced that Roosevelt had joined Poletti, Diamond, Rabin, Frieden & Mackay.
[10]
) He triggered controversy for representing Dominican dictator
Rafael Trujillo
in the U.S., and dropped the account before Trujillo's assassination in 1961.
Politics
[
edit
]
Roosevelt was also involved in political affairs. He served on the
President's Committee on Civil Rights
in 1946 for President
Harry Truman
. Along with his brothers, he declared for
Dwight D. Eisenhower
in 1948,
[11]
as part of the
draft Eisenhower movement
.
He joined the Empire State Society of the
Sons of the American Revolution
in 1946.
[12]
U.S. House of Representatives
[
edit
]
Roosevelt Jr. was elected as a member of the
United States House of Representatives
in a special election in 1949, in which he ran as a candidate of the
Liberal Party of New York
. He was re-elected in 1950 and 1952 as a Democrat. He represented the
20th congressional district of New York
from May 17, 1949, until January 3, 1955,
[1]
then based in the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Despite his name and connections, he became unpopular with the Democratic leadership. When brother
James Roosevelt
was elected to the House, Speaker
Sam Rayburn
told him to "not waste our time like your brother did." James wrote that Franklin "had a dreadful record in Congress. He was smart, but not smart enough. He had good ideas and the power of persuasion, but he did not put them to good use. He coasted instead of working at his job, considering it beneath him, while he aimed for higher positions. He may have had the worst attendance record of any member of those days, and it cost him those higher positions."
[13]
Seeking the governorship of New York
[
edit
]
Roosevelt sought the Democratic nomination for governor in
1954
,
[14]
but, after persuasion by powerful
Tammany Hall
boss
Carmine DeSapio
,
[15]
abandoned his bid for Governor and was nominated by the Democratic State Convention to run for
New York State Attorney General
.
[15]
Roosevelt was defeated in the general election by Republican
Jacob K. Javits
, although all other Democratic nominees were elected. Following his loss, Eleanor Roosevelt began building a campaign against the Tammany Hall leader that eventually forced DeSapio to step down from power in 1961.
[15]
He again ran for governor of New York on the
Liberal Party
ticket in
1966
, but was defeated by the incumbent Republican
Nelson A. Rockefeller
.
[1]
Ties to John F. Kennedy
[
edit
]
At the instigation of
Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.
, he campaigned for
John F. Kennedy
in the crucial 1960 West Virginia primary,
[4]
falsely accusing Kennedy's opponent,
Hubert Humphrey
, of having dodged the draft in World War II.
[16]
Kennedy later named him
Under Secretary of Commerce
and chairman of the President's Appalachian Regional Commission. The Commerce post was given to him when Defense Secretary
Robert McNamara
vetoed his appointment as Secretary of the Navy. "JFK and Franklin were friends and their families were close. Socially, Franklin spent a lot of time in the White House during JFK's reign. But when Kennedy was killed, Franklin fell from power."
[17]
He served as chairman of the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
from May 26, 1965, to May 11, 1966, during the administration of Kennedy's successor, President
Lyndon B. Johnson
.
[1]
Entrepreneur
[
edit
]
Roosevelt was also a distributor of
FIAT
and
Jaguar
automobiles in the United States.
[18]
In 1970, he sold the distributorship Roosevelt Automobile Company.
[1]
He was a personal friend of Fiat chairman
Gianni Agnelli
.
[19]
He also ran a small cattle farm and had an interest in Thoroughbred racehorses. In 1983, he bred the colt Brothers N Law. A winner at age 2, the New York-bred ran second in the 1986
Empire Stakes
hosted that year by the
Saratoga Race Course
.
[20]
Personal life and death
[
edit
]
On June 30, 1937, Roosevelt married the first of his eventual five wives,
Ethel du Pont
(1916?1965) of the
du Pont family
. Before their separation and divorce on May 21, 1949,
[9]
they had two sons,
Franklin Delano Roosevelt III
(born July 19, 1938)
[21]
and Christopher du Pont Roosevelt (born December 21, 1941).
[21]
On August 31, 1949, Roosevelt married for the second time to Suzanne Perrin (May 2, 1921 ? December 23, 2022), the daughter of Lee James Perrin, a New York attorney.
[9]
They had two daughters before their divorce in 1970, which was obtained in
Juarez
, Mexico:
[18]
Nancy Suzanne Roosevelt (born January 11, 1952),
[21]
who married Thomas Ellis Ireland, grandson of
Robert Livingston Ireland Jr.
in 1977,
[22]
and Laura Delano Roosevelt (born October 26, 1959).
[21]
On July 1, 1970, Roosevelt married for the third time to Felicia Schiff Warburg Sarnoff (born 1927).
[21]
She was the granddaughter of
Felix M. Warburg
(1871?1937) and great?granddaughter of
Jacob Schiff
(1847?1920).
[18]
She had been previously married to
Robert W. Sarnoff
, chairman and president of the
RCA Corporation
.
[18]
The marriage was childless and ended in divorce in 1976.
[21]
On May 6, 1977,
[21]
Roosevelt married for the fourth time to Patricia Luisa Oakes (born 1951),
[23]
the daughter of British actor
Richard Greene
(1918?1985)
[24]
and Nancy Oakes von Hoyningen-Huene (1924?2005),
[25]
and the granddaughter of gold mining tycoon
Sir Harry Oakes
(1874?1943).
[25]
They had one son before divorcing in 1981:
[21]
John Alexander Roosevelt (born October 18, 1977).
[21]
[26]
[24]
On March 3, 1984, Roosevelt married his fifth and final wife, Linda McKay "Tobie" Stevenson Weicker (born 1939).
[21]
[23]
She was previously married to Theodore M. Weicker, the brother of Connecticut Governor
Lowell P. Weicker Jr.
[27]
They remained married until his death.
[4]
On August 17, 1988,
his 74th birthday
, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. died at Vassar Brothers Hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York,
[1]
after a battle with lung cancer.
[4]
References
[
edit
]
Citations
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Mcquiston, John T. (August 18, 1988).
"Franklin Roosevelt Jr., 74, Ex-Congressman, Dies"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
August 13,
2016
.
- ^
"Medicine: Prontosil"
,
Time
, December 28, 1936.
- ^
"Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Jr. (1914?1988)"
.
Biographical Directory of Congress
. Office of Art and Archives, Office of the Historian, United States House of Representatives
. Retrieved
June 19,
2011
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
"Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. Dies"
.
Washington Post
. August 18, 1988
. Retrieved
August 13,
2016
.
- ^
Roosevelt, 313
- ^
Hansen, 211?12, 262
- ^
Roosevelt, 269.
- ^
Sons of the American Revolution Membership Application
- ^
a
b
c
"Representative Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. To Marry Miss Suzanne Perrin in August"
.
The New York Times
. July 30, 1949
. Retrieved
August 13,
2016
.
- ^
"People"
.
Time
. December 3, 1945
. Retrieved
April 16,
2020
.
- ^
"Democrats Urged to Run Eisenhower"
,
The New York Times
, Sunday April 4, 1948.
- ^
"Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr"
.
Ancestry.com
.
Lehi, Utah
:
Silver Lake
,
GIC Private Limited
,
Permira
, and Spectrum Equity. Archived from
the original
on March 5, 2016
. Retrieved
September 5,
2020
.
- ^
Roosevelt, 314
- ^
Moscow, Warren (April 17, 1949).
"Tammany Still Seeking Jobs for the Faithful: In Fight Against FDR Jr., the Hall Hopes to Prove All Is Not Lost"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
August 13,
2016
.
- ^
a
b
c
Kandell, Jonathan (July 28, 2004).
"Carmine De Sapio, Political Kingmaker and Last Tammany Hall Boss, Dies at 95"
.
The New York Times
.
- ^
Caro, Robert
(2012),
The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Passage of Power
, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, pp. 85?86
- ^
Roosevelt, 315
- ^
a
b
c
d
Times, Special To The New York (July 1, 1970).
"Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. To Wed Felicia Sarnof"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
August 13,
2016
.
- ^
Bachrach, Judy (March 22, 2011).
"La Vita Agnelli"
. Retrieved
August 13,
2016
.
- ^
Brothers N Law pedigree at Equibase
Retrieved August 30, 2018
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
"Roosevelt Genealogy"
.
fdrlibrary.marist.edu
. Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. Archived from
the original
on March 1, 2019
. Retrieved
August 13,
2016
.
- ^
"Nancy Suzanne Roosevelt Fiancee of Thomas E. Ireland"
.
The New York Times
. April 17, 1977
. Retrieved
April 26,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
Pederson, William D. (January 1, 2009).
The FDR Years
. Infobase Publishing.
ISBN
9780816074600
. Retrieved
August 13,
2016
.
- ^
a
b
Laskey, Margaux (September 18, 2010).
"Lacy Garcia, Jack Roosevelt"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
August 13,
2016
.
- ^
a
b
"Nancy Oakes von Hoyningen-Huene"
.
The Times
. January 21, 2005
. Retrieved
August 13,
2016
.
- ^
(FDR Presidential Library)
- ^
"Miss Stevenson Becomes Bride Of T.M. Weicker"
.
The New York Times
. September 17, 1967
. Retrieved
August 13,
2016
.
Sources
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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