Sensational World War II-dated TLS from President Franklin D. Roosevelt on his recent election to a historic fourth term as the President of the United States of America, which is accompanied by an earlier TLS from Roosevelt dated 1925, and a vintage photograph signed by both Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt as president and first lady.
The presidentially signed letter, two pages, 7 x 8.75, White House letterhead, November 30, 1944, marked "Personal" at the top, is addressed to his close friend Hamilton Holt, the president of Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. Written a few weeks after the 1944 presidential election, which gave FDR the slimmest margin of victory of his four presidential races, the letter provides a frank explanation of Roosevelt’s decision to seek an unprecedented fourth term as POTUS. He thanks Holt for a letter he was incapable of answering sooner, for, "as you know, I have been over the hills and far away for most of the time,” and expresses, now that an Allied victory over Axis powers seems assured, that he looks forward to the challenges of peace-time: "I really feel that if we can continue our foreign policy we may arrive at an era and a method of peace that will last as long as you and I live. I will, as you know, avoid the political angle that cropped up in 1919, if it is possible so to do.”
Roosevelt then makes plain his feelings for his extended presidential tenure: “I hate the fourth term as much as you do—and the third term as well—but I do not worry about so much as a matter of principle. It would be a mistake, of course, to establish it as a tradition but I think I can well plead extenuating circumstances! The real meat of the question is not the length of term, but the continued opportunity of the voters of the country freely to express themselves every four years." In a very interesting passage, Roosevelt apparently is mindful of criticism that he has become addicted to the power of the office: "And there is the further question of the personality of the individual. You and I know plenty of people who love power of a certain type and who, with perfectly good intentions, would hate to give it up. I am not one of this type, as you know. For as far as individual preference goes I would, quite honestly, have retired to Hyde Park with infinite pleasure in 1941.
“Then there is the other question of the alternative. [Wendell] Willkie [his opponent in the 1941 election] was an anomaly who improved greatly in his general thinking after 1940. But, although I liked him personally, I did not feel that he had much knowledge of the world and that he would have had to have learned about the world in the school of hard experience. This would have been a rather dangerous experiment in 1940. As to the last gentleman who was the alternative [Thomas E. Dewey], I say nothing. I do hope to have a chance of seeing you one of these days.”
One has to question FDR’s sincerity when he asserts that he would “have retired to Hyde Park with infinite pleasure in 1941.” Of course, he could have just declined to run again, like his predecessor Calvin Coolidge, but with the war in Europe looming, Roosevelt felt that his services and experience were desperately needed by the country. Of equal interest is Roosevelt’s self-assuredness in regard to his 1940 election opponent, Wendell Willkie. A young and tireless Wall Street lawyer-turned-CEO, Willkie was Roosevelt’s most formidable challenger to date, who lambasted the ‘third term candidate’ in more than 500 speeches in thirty-four states and enjoyed the endorsement of 78% of the nation’s newspapers to Roosevelt’s paltry 9%. Although FDR won handily, his margin had shrunk considerably from the landslides of his first two presidential elections. His fourth term was sealed on November 3, 1944, just a little over two weeks prior to the date of this letter. His most recent opponent, Thomas Dewey, closed the voting gap further still but ultimately fell short when the nation once again turned to the familiar during wartime. Roosevelt’s tenure as president ended four-and-a-half months later when he died in office on April 12, 1945. An amazing letter from President Roosevelt, which offers uniquely candid and pointed remarks on opponents and elections alike, thus revealing a man whose confidence, in the face of countless obstacles, refused to waver.
The second TLS, one page, 8.5 x 11, personal letterhead, October 15, 1925, sent to A. J. Hanna on the hiring of Holt as the president of Rollins: “I am indeed delighted to know that Hamilton Holt is to be President of Rollins’ College. He is an old friend of mine and we have worked together in many good causes in the past. In these days of reaction and materialistic conservatism, it is of the utmost importance that the colleges keep their faces turned to the future. Hamilton Holt is the kind of liberal and progressive thinker who will do honor to Rollins’ College.”
The referenced vintage matte-finish 10 x 8 photo depicts Eleanor Roosevelt, Hamilton Holt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Military Aide Col. E. M. Watson at the side door of Knowles Chapel at Rollins College in 1936, when President Roosevelt received an honorary degree in March 1936, signed in fountain pen by each pictured person. In overall very good to fine condition, with creasing, tape stains, and irregular toning only to the earlier latter.
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