Eleanor Roosevelt – My Day (1945)

181

July 26, 1945

HYDE PARK – Over the radio this morning I heard the sad tales of the losses from floods in the western part of our state. I know that many of our farmers here in the Hudson valley have had crops ruined by the rain. and in addition are having great difficulty in getting labor enough to bring in the crops which they have. Right here on our own place we have men and women working on jobs which they never did before and that, I imagine, is duplicated on many farms throughout the country.

Yet the rain has been wonderful for the woods. As I walk every morning with Fala, I realize that it is a long time since I have seen our little planted pines make such a growth, or found such luxuriance of foliage everywhere. It is a grand year for mosquitoes, too. Sometimes I think I’ll never walk past some of our swamps again till autumn, but then the beauty of the ferns draws me back.

Fala, too, has such a wonderful time hunting whatever may be the hidden things in that particular part of the woods, that I can’t bear not to take him there. Occasion he gets a scent and disappears entirely I can’t stand and wait for him, because the mosquitoes then settle on me with too much ease. So I walk on just as far as possible meanwhile singing in unmusical fashion and as loudly as possible all the hymns I can remember from my childhood days. That seems to bring Fala back more quickly than calling him by name.

Our garden has done pretty well and we are getting vegetables in great quantity, but my family has been so large all summer that I have not had a chance to put as much into the freezer as I otherwise might have done. In August, however, I shall have to be away from here for a time, and I am counting on putting many things up for the winter months. My freezer, which is a new acquisition, makes it possible to plan for the future and use one’s surplus.

Today we have the last of our picnics for the boys at the Wiltwyck school. I am glad to have had them all before my grandchildren leave next month, because they have been such excellent hosts and have helped so much in the games and general entertainment.

This is a quiet life we lead up here, but it seems nevertheless to be a busy one. People are coming to tea today, and late this afternoon Postmaster and Mrs. Hannegan, Paul Fitzpatrick and Miss Doris Byrne, chairman and vice chairman respectively of the Democratic state committee, are all coming to spend the night. Tomorrow we attend the ceremonies at the post office when the stamp issued in memory of my husband, showing the Hyde Park house, is first put on sale.

182

July 27, 1945

HYDE PARK, Thursday – I had an interesting suggestion the other day from a gentleman in Ohio as to a possible use which he had conceived for the Willow Run plant. He says:

I saw Willow Run grow from a bare and forlorn acreage into the greatest industrial miracle of its kind in the world, and then I saw it wither and die. The best sets of business brains in Detroit are now actively investigating the wisdom and possibility of the greatest of all great World’s Fairs to be a prompt post-war activity.

Willow Run is vividly implanted into every literate mind in the civilized areas of the world. What better location than Willow Run as a base or center cell for this greatest of all World’s Fairs?

This gentleman is not alone in his idea. In New York City a group has been thinking along somewhat similar lines. Another group, composed of people in the services, have been thinking of something which is not quite the ordinary kind of World’s Fair, and yet akin to it. Their idea is to create a fair that will hold the interest of service people throughout the United States, showing all the areas on land and sea where they have fought. This would be a place where a man could take his family and say: “I couldn’t tell you what it was like where I was fighting, but here it is before your eyes.”

And tied in with the history of his military achievements would be a picture of what must be achieved in the field of peaceful world relations, based on a knowledge of the economic resources and the needs of all the different parts of the world. Here, again, it is easier to understand the world of the future if you see the situation and the actual people living in it than if you read about them in a book.

The Postmaster General and Mrs. Hannegan, when they arrived late yesterday afternoon, told us of their difficulties in finding this small cottage, which is well back from any road. I think I should have little road maps made to enclose in letters of invitation, because if I had not happened to meet Paul Fitzpatrick on the road he might easily have had the same difficulty.

Describing to a person how to follow country roads, even for a short distance of two or three miles, is one of the arts which has gone with the horse and buggy days. It was never an art very well practiced, for I can remember having to ask many people how to reach a particular destination. The last person questioned would usually say, “That is Mr. So and So’s house over there,” in the most surprised tone, as though everybody should know where Mr. So and So lived.

183

July 28, 1945

HYDE PARK, Friday – A violent thunderstorm broke early Thursday morning, but it cleared off by 11 o’clock, when we went up to the postoffice in Hyde Park village for the ceremony in honor of my husband. There seemed to be a few people who had stopped by from other places, but largely the crowd was a neighborhood crowd. Postmaster General Hannegan and Third Assistant Postmaster General Lawler, who made all the arrangements, agreed to wait a few minutes while one of the movie camera men, arriving late, got his camera set up and in working order. Then our local postmaster, Arthur Smith, opened the ceremonies. Thomas Kilmer, president of the Roosevelt Home Club, spoke, as did our Democratic supervisor, Elmer Van Wagner.

A number of sheets of the new stamps, in folders, were handed to Mr. Hannegan. After his speech he presented me with one, and then with a second one for the library. Then we went into the postoffice, where I signed a number of sheets, including one for ex-Postmaster General Frank Walker. Our postmaster finally succeeded in getting Mr. Hannegan away from the crowd, which was collecting autographs on a grand scale, and took him in to see the postoffice. This is built of field stone, as every building was which my husband had anything to do with in this region. He loved the native stone out of our woods and fields, and I must say it does make a very appropriate building for this area. Our little postoffice also has some delightful murals painted by Olin Dows of Rhinebeck, N.Y.

As I was getting into my car, a young soldier who was evidently convalescing from a foot injury asked me to sign one of the covers. Afterward, we went down to the big house, having augmented our party by two more guests, Maury Maverick and Patrick W. McDonough. Our visit was brief, because we had promised the children that we would go to the lunch which was being served in the basement of the Town Hall by the Catholic women for the benefit of their church.

Needless to say, the children were far more interested in what they were going to have for lunch than they were in a sightseeing visit. We finally got back to the Town Hall, where everybody’s appetite was fully satisfied. I do think it is a remarkable thing how well the church women of every group manage these affairs, for in times like these, when points are scarce, they are not easy to plan.

Postmaster General and Mrs. Hannegan left by 2 o’clock to visit friends in the vicinity, and I took Miss Byrne and Mr. Fitzpatrick to a train which left a little later in the afternoon.

184

July 30, 1945

HYDE PARK, Sunday – The sweep of the British Labor party in Great Britain seems to have come as a great surprise to some of my friends, and yet, months ago, I heard discussion of the trend in Great Britain toward the new ideas which are represented more fully today by the British Labor party than by the Conservative and Liberal parties. Anyone knowing many young people has had a sense for some time that if this did not happen in this election because of the affection and respect which everyone felt for the former Prime Minister, Mr. Churchill, it would happen very shortly after the war came to an end.

Some people seem to expect very radical changes under the new Prime Minister, but I doubt this will happen. In the first place, responsibility always brings caution in its wake, and Great Britain is facing serious times. They are going to require an ability to face new situations in new ways, and the people hope the Labor party can do this. There have been many murmurs among the rank and file of people in Great Britain as to the handling of the Greek situation and the possible attitude of the government toward the Fascist government of Spain.

The defeat of Mr. Churchill’s party is not in any way a defeat for Mr. Churchill as an individual. He was reelected to Parliament. But even if he had not been, his place in the hearts of the people of Great Britain is safe for all time. No one in the British empire – nor in the United States, for that matter – who heard his brave words after Dunkirk will ever feel anything but the deepest respect and gratitude and affection for Churchill, the man and the war leader.

I am sure that in many ways he is tired, like the other men who carried the great burdens of the past few years, and he will be glad to lay those burdens down. But no citizen of Great Britain, no citizen of the United States, will really want to stop working in the public service until the war is finally over, and I know that Mr. Churchill will give of his best until that day comes.

The reorganization for peace is probably going to bring many situations which none of us of the older generation would really want to meet, since we know that it is the young people who have to live and work under whatever new conditions are created. Long ago Mr. Churchill told me, and I am sure it was not a confidence, that he only wanted to stay in office until the war was won and the men were home and he knew that they had decent houses in which to live. I am sure that he will be able to work to achieve the final part of his desire, just as he has achieved the winning of the war.

To his successor, Prime Minister Attlee, everyone in this country who realizes what responsibilities rest upon his shoulders will wish courage, wisdom and the support of the people whom he serves.

185

July 31, 1945

HYDE PARK, Monday – George E. Haynes, of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, has just written me saying that he feels we get a great deal more of the distressing picture of the difficulties in racial relations in our country and a great deal less than we should about the constructive things which are actually being done.

If he is right, I think we should all rejoice. From what he tells me, I think there is really more being done than most of us realize. For instance, he encloses a pamphlet describing the race relations clinic held in Youngstown, Ohio, last month, and it looks to me as though the people who attended the clinic must have known a good deal more about conditions in their city at the end of the two-day session.

They heard a report from a research committee which had gone into the question of housing quite thoroughly, and this was discussed. Then another committee reported on community resources, and these were discussed. Next came the report on employment and on leisure time activities, and after that the full discussion – the summing up of all the information gathered. They held a discussion on what should be done, and actually seem to have begun to translate into action the results of their group thinking.

Youngstown was the fourteenth city in which similar clinics have been held by the department of race relations of the Federal Council of Churches. Mr. Haynes also tells me that outside of Detroit, seven cities of Michigan held similar clinics last year and tried to reduce the tensions which the Detroit situation had created.

The approach to the difficult situation is a very simple one. Racial tensions and conflicts are looked upon as mental and social ills. This calls for a frank analysis of the interests involved. Since the ministers and the civic forces of the towns are largely responsible for these clinics, they believe that remedies can be found through moral and religious forces; and they work with the people to generate these forces.

In practically every place the most important questions seem to be housing and employment.

In connection with housing, I wish that everyone could see a very lovely book of sketches which was sent me from California the other day. The sketches show how towns which grow up without any planning can easily develop blighted areas. It is easy to see how this can be avoided and all of living made easier and pleasanter by careful planning, with consideration for all the groups which must live together in any large city. Many people are afraid of the mere suggestion that anyone plan anything in advance. Yet in our daily lives most of us know that we have to plan even very small things to have them run smoothly. Why, then, are we so afraid of planning on a larger scale?

186

August 1, 1945

HYDE PARK, Tuesday – Every year as the purple loosestrife begins to bloom along our brook, I marvel at its beauty. In a mass as it grows here, it looks like a sea of purple; and when the sun is setting, the sunlight and the color from the flowers reflects itself in the water with a lovely effect. The flowers come gradually to their full bloom, but in the course of the next week or so we will be enjoying its full glory.

I have never known a rainier season. The farmers everywhere are looking sadly at their crops and bemoaning the number of times they have had to plant and replant things in their gardens. This, of course, has happened to us also; but nature always seems to compensate in some way, and her lavishness with water has certainly done marvels for the trees. Some of the little evergreens which had come all the way from the Pacific Coast were in rather sad condition when they were planted early in the spring, but the rain has brought them up wonderfully and they are now flourishing.

The results of the years during which my husband bought woodland and planted trees are now beginning to show. While trees are never a spectacularly profitable crop, they certainly are an interesting one, and I think ours should begin now to produce some more adequate returns. During the last years of my mother-in-law’s life, she never wanted my husband to interfere in any way with her running of the place and the farm: she wished to run it just as her husband had run it. It was to be a gentleman’s country place, not a farm run for profit!

I frequently used to be reminded of a story I once heard, attributed to J.P. Morgan, who offered some friends of his a choice of champagne or milk to drink, saying: “They both cost me about the same.” The story is probably apocryphal, but I am sure that many people who run farms without account books, as my mother-in-law did, could have said exactly the same thing. However, she finally agreed that my husband should take over the wooded parts of the place, and to these he gradually added a good many acres of woodland. Every year, out of his own small income left him by his father, he tried to improve these wooded areas.

I have never felt in any way interested in a country place just as a country place. I feel that land should produce; and if you have a little extra money, so that you will not starve when experiments go wrong, you should try experiments in the hope of benefitting farming as a whole for your neighbors. The custom which existed for a time in this country, of having large places which cost a great deal of money and produced nothing beyond what one family used on their table, has always seemed to me a very wasteful tradition, and I am glad that it is rapidly disappearing.

187

August 2, 1945

NEW YORK, Wednesday – On Sunday the papers carried a rather interesting picture of the new Big Three – Marshal Stalin, President Truman and Prime Minister Attlee, and underneath was the picture of the Big Three as it existed at the time of the Yalta conference – Marshal Stalin, my husband and Prime Minister Churchill.

As I looked at the picture I realized what great differences now exist at the very top in international negotiations. The three men who met at Yalta had watched the war approach, had met its first crises, had had an opportunity to know and to weigh each other’s judgment and performance.

At first I am quite sure that, where both the British and the Americans were concerned, there must have been considerable suspicion on the part of the Soviet government. But that gradually began to wear away as the individuals came to know each other better.

These three went through many difficult times together. Russia was invaded on her homeland. When Pearl Harbor Day arrived, almost immediately there came a message that Prime Minister Churchill was flying across the seas in order that he and my husband might discuss together the next steps to be taken. Prime Minister Churchill was in Washington when Tobruk fell. It was a very terrible blow to the British. He showed his metal in a remarkable way. Never for one minute acknowledging the fact that the British might meet ultimate defeat in Africa, he simply went to work with my husband and discussed what they could do to minimize the blow.

Through the bad days of the war, these three men came to know each other well, and I rather think that it is going through times of adversity together which gives you the deep trust and assurance that you know another individual. Enjoying people’s company, having good times together cements friendship; finding mutual interests and enjoying the same things are great bonds. But meeting the great crises when fear and sorrow engulf you is what makes for complete trust and devotion among men.

The times are not so hard now, and the new Big Three will have a longer period in which to build personal as well as official relationships. Changes may come more swiftly in their group, now that the war in Europe is over, and perhaps there never will be the same kind of personal bonds among these new men at the heads of our nations as existed among the first Big Three. Yet working together to meet the problems of peace will require the development of personal as well as official relationships, and we can only hope that no barriers will be put in the way of their development.

188

August 3, 1945

NEW YORK. Thursday – I have been thinking a great deal the last few days about this question of friends and enemies. Even in private life one of the most important things, after one’s family relationship, is one’s friends. Enemies have never seemed to me very important. They can only make life disagreeable for a time, but friends can be a daily joy and an unending one. Disagreeable things one tries to forget as soon as possible, but every kindly, friendly thing that happens in life remains a joyous memory and so becomes part of eternity.

In thinking about the friendship of the men at the heads of the various governments, I spoke yesterday only of the three representing the Soviet Union, Great Britain and ourselves. There is a fourth, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. My husband had very little opportunity to be with the Generalissimo except for a few days in Cairo, but even in those few days I think the two men took measure of each other.

Madame Chiang told me the other day that the Generalissimo had looked forward with great pleasure someday to the opportunity of renewing their acquaintanceship and deepening their friendship. While goodwill and friendliness are vastly important to public men and to the world because of the results in public good, to most of us in our simpler lives, of course, what really counts is the friendship which translates itself into constant thought and expression of affection.

I have a relative who was brought up in a more Spartan age and who believes that the main object of friendship is to be entirely truthful about your friends’ faults and failings! I decided long ago, however, that though it might be your sad lot on occasion to tell the people you love something disagreeable, it was far more in line with real friendship to tell them all the pleasant things about themselves and your common relationship.

My experience has been that it is never really necessary to worry that people will not be aware of the disagreeable traits they have or the wrong things they may do. There are plenty of people in the world who are not even enemies, but who just enjoy being malicious and who will impart these unhappy bits of information. It is the part of friendship to make life pleasanter, to keep one’s word, to be available in joy or sorrow, to give of oneself and to express the love one feels. It seems to be so easy for many people to express their enmity and so difficult to express their pleasure or friendship.

In the era of speed in which we live, human relationships are easily overlooked. Yet I think they are more important today than they ever were, and it would do us good every now and then to contemplate our friends and always to forget our enemies.

189

August 4, 1945

NEW YORK, Friday – Today (August 4) is the one hundred and fifty-fifth anniversary of the Coast Guard. When the war opened, there were only 23,261 enlisted men and 1, 741 officers in this service. Today there are approximately 159,000 men and 13,000 officers. In addition, they have 50,000 temporary reservists, including members of the Auxiliary and Volunteer Corps Security Force, who have borne their share of Coast Guard responsibility.

It is well for us to look back every now and then, I think, on the history of our various services. The Coast Guard was created on August 4, 1790. It was given its present name in 1915, when the Revenue Cutter Service was merged with the Life Saving Service, an organization dating back to 1848.

In times of peace, the Coast Guard’s responsibility includes such duties as manning life stations, maintaining the iceberg and weather patrol, supervision of merchant marine inspection, serving as aids to navigation, patrolling our 40,000 miles of shore line and protecting our numerous harbors. At one time the Coast Guard was under the Treasury Department, but in every way the Coast Guard has fought as part of the Navy, and an executive order of November 1, 1941, transferred the Coast Guard directly to the Navy.

In every one of our wars this service has borne its full part, often suffering heavy losses. The Coast Guard motto, “Semper Paratus,” meaning “always ready,” is never forgotten by men not only afloat but at their shore stations. Their unofficial slogan is “You have to go out, but you don’t have to come back.” I have often thought of that motto when watching them launch their lifeboats from their lifesaving stations, in a storm, to rescue people in trouble off shore.

In both the Atlantic and Pacific, some of the Coast Guard ships have made history. In the Pacific the Coast Guardsmen gained fame as invaders and, from the opening drive at Guadalcanal to the assault on Okinawa, they have joined in spearheading attacks to wrest island outposts from the enemy.

Ten thousand Spars have entered the Coast Guard service since the beginning of the war, releasing that number of Coast Guardsmen for service on cutters and on landing craft taking men to the far shores of the world. Many of the Spars are now serving overseas at Hawaiian and Alaskan bases. These girls have proved that there is a place for women in this service as in other branches of the armed forces, and that when given responsibility they will live up to the traditions of their service as well as any of the men.

190

August 6, 1945

NEW YORK, Sunday – When the communique finally came from the Big Three meeting, it partially satisfied many curious people. I have listened over the radio and watched in the press the groans and lamentations of correspondents who felt they were wasting their time and the money of those who employed them, since no news was reaching this country from Potsdam. I have taken these wails quite calmly, however, for any sensible person knows that until the final decisions are reached there is bound to be constant shifting of position among individuals representing great interests; and if each shift were reported, it would minimize the chance of ultimate agreement.

We choose the best people we have to go to these meetings, and we ought to be willing to wait until they are ready to report on what they have accomplished. In no other way can we hope to get the most favorable atmosphere for their negotiations.

I have seen some adverse comment because this first communique does not state whether the Soviet Union is joining with Great Britain, China and the United States in the war against Japan. I have no more knowledge than anybody else as to what we will eventually be told, but it seems to me only common sense to say nothing about what is going to be done until it actually is done. In military affairs, the element of surprise has great advantages. If you announce everything through the press beforehand to the world, you remove all opportunity to use surprise as a military asset.

The decisions on Poland were, of course, to be expected.

The way reparations are planned seems to me sensible, and the breaking up of German cartels is a great safeguard. The setting up of a new council which will meet in London by September 1 and continue working out the details of the peace and the final arrangements with the satellites of the Axis countries would seem to be very wise. I hope very much that our ambassador to Great Britain, John G. Winant, will be of use to this council. He has always seemed to me to have not only wisdom and integrity but, because of his long service abroad, great experience and background for this work.

I am glad we are out in the open as opposed to governments which collaborated with the Axis. It is a relief to know where we stand as regards Franco Spain and the present Argentine government. I am glad that in the new council Chinese and French representatives will join the Big Three, which becomes the Big Five. But I think it is a wise decision that representatives of the Big Three may continue to meet and discuss questions of primary interest to them.

We will all look forward to the President’s safe arrival in this country, and to his fuller report, with gratitude and appreciation for the services which he has rendered to the nation.

191

August 7, 1945

NEW YORK, Monday – I was surprised to see the other day that Pastor Martin Niemoeller was being considered by some of our American officials to head the first post-war German government, and I was glad to see, under a later date, the report that the United States Army authorities had cancelled a speech by the same Rev. Niemoeller, which one of the Protestant chaplains had asked him to make.

Pastor Niemoeller won great fame because of his opposition to the rise of the Nazis. A movie was made about him and he was heralded in this country as a hero for his resistance. We saw him portrayed as an example of what a Protestant minister of great courage could endure for the cause of freedom. He spent eight years in a concentration camp until he was liberated by the Allied forces.

After being freed, however, he made a statement which must have shocked many people in this country. In part, he said:

The German people like to be governed, not to mingle in politics. The greatest shortcoming of the Weimar Republic was that it never could impose authority on the German people, which longed for such authority.

That statement sounds almost like a speech from Mr. Hitler. Later, also, Pastor Niemoeller admitted that from his concentration camp he had offered his services “in any capacity to the German Navy when the war began.” He did not claim any political opposition to the Nazis. He said that as a churchman he was not interested in politics, but that he was unable to accept any authority which claimed the right to override that of the church. Pastor Niemoeller sounds to me like a gentleman who believes in the German doctrine of the superiority of race.

It is easy to understand devotion to one’s country when attacked from without, but Niemoeller’s expressed ideas make him unfit to establish any kind of government which would train the German people in democracy. The object of the Allies’ occupation of Germany is to eradicate Naziism and the beliefs which the Nazis held, and to make it impossible for them to build a new generation ready to go to war.

One can understand the difficulties faced by our military authorities in finding Germans suited to take office in the country, but I should think they would hesitate to accept Niemoeller.

I have heard people who interviewed Niemoeller in an American camp, immediately after his liberation, say something like this:

Niemoeller is a trouble maker of the first order. He claimed our camp was worse than a concentration camp, and told us that we should not dare write: “Niemoeller is liberated.” He is a dangerous pan-German, preaching adherence to God and His greatness in forgiving, looking down at us Americans as if he wanted to say: “why don’t you people forget what has been, as our Lord tends to forgive, and let’s live together under a new Heaven, on a new earth with nothing but love and understanding.”

What a millenium that would be for the guilty Germans!

192

August 8, 1945

NEW YORK, Tuesday – The news which came to us yesterday afternoon of the first use of the atomic bomb in the war with Japan may have surprised a good many people, but scientists – both British and American – have been working feverishly to make this discovery before our enemies, the Germans, could make it and thereby possibly win the war.

This discovery may be of great commercial value someday. If wisely used, it may serve the purposes of peace. But for the moment we are chiefly concerned with its destructive power. That power can be multiplied indefinitely, so that not only whole cities but large areas may be destroyed at one fell swoop. If you face this possibility and realize that, having once discovered a principle, it is very easy to take further steps to magnify its power, you soon face the unpleasant fact that in the next war whole peoples may be destroyed.

The only safe counter weapon to this new power is the firm decision of mankind that it shall be used for constructive purposes only. This discovery must spell the end of war. We have been paying an ever-increasing price for indulging ourselves in this uncivilized way of settling our difficulties. We can no longer indulge in the slaughter of our young men. The price will be too high and will be paid not just by young men, but by whole populations.

In the past we have given lip service to the desire for peace. Now we meet the test of really working to achieve something basically new in the world. Religious groups have been telling us for a long time that peace could be achieved only by a basic change in the nature of man. I am inclined to think that this is true. But if we give human beings sufficient incentive, they may find good reasons for reshaping their characteristics.

Goodwill among men was preached by the angels as they announced to the world the birth of the child Jesus. He exemplified it in His life and preached it Himself and sent forth His disciples, who have spread that gospel of love and human understanding throughout the world ever since. Yet the minds and hearts of men seemed closed.

Now, however, an absolute need exists for facing a non-escapable situation. This new discovery cannot be ignored. We have only two alternative choices: destruction and death – or construction and life! If we desire our civilization to survive, then we must accept the responsibility of constructive work and of the wise use of a knowledge greater than any ever achieved by man before.

193

August 9, 1945

NEW YORK, Wednesday – New York City politics seems more confused this year than usual. First, the Republican party nominates for Mayor a one-time Democrat, and Governor Dewey backs him in spite of a few things said by the candidate in a past campaign which must now be buried in oblivion! Then, the Democrats nominate a really good man, General O’Dwyer. To be sure, they, too, cannot get away without a little confusion and a few changes in running mates. But the ultimate product is good.

And now Mayor La Guardia, who has done much for New York City, backs another good man, Newbold Morris, who is a regular Republican but who does not have Governor Dewey’s backing and does not seem to want it. He is to run on a “No Deal” ticket – whatever that may mean, since no politicians get away without some deals. The only important thing to know is whether they are good or bad deals, because “deals” is really another word for “plans,” and one must plan. It is the way one plans that matters, and whether the plans leave one freedom of action for the future.

Well, there is the picture, and ordinarily, as a voter of upstate New York, I would be only remotely concerned about a mayoralty election in the City of New York. This year, however, it looks to me as though not only the citizens of New York City are concerned. This election is of importance to the state and the nation. It is the opening gun in a campaign which is already being waged – under cover, to be sure, but nevertheless with skill and tenacity – by certain groups in the country, represented largely in the Republican party. These groups will nominate a Judge Goldstein because they can use him, and because they think by so doing they can carry certain elements with them that have been with the Democrats in the past.

These groups hope that the people may be fooled, but I have great confidence in the people. We, the people, are growing in wisdom politically; we have learned to study the candidates and weigh them as men and as public servants; we weigh their backing and what that backing means.

Newbold Morris is a good man but he cannot be elected, and I think the voters of this city are wise enough to know that if General O’Dwyer could fight for the things that he considered right against such strong forces in Brooklyn, he will fight for these things in City Hall.

The Mayor of New York in the next few years will meet great problems, problems that touch both business and labor, since their interests are closely allied. He will need an understanding of the wider horizons that reach out from this great port to the far ends of the world. General O’Dwyer has had the opportunity to learn and to see the distant scene in the last few years. I think New York City voters, in electing him, will give themselves a “Good Deal” and help in the fight for control by the people as against control by certain powerful groups.

194

August 10, 1945

NEW YORK, Thursday – When William Cowper, in his “Light Shining Out of Darkness,” wrote the lines:

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

He was hardly thinking about our new world – the atomic world in which we are living today! One must, however, feel the hand of God as one ponders the story of Dr. Leise Meitner, working with her two German colleagues.

When Hitler came to power, the first steps of our new discovery had been made. Hitler tried to force Dr. Meitner to divulge her knowledge; but being a Jewess and seeing the rising tide of hate, she left for Copenhagen. Her knowledge finally reached the famous scientist, Dr. Bohr, who was then working in the United States. Dr. Meitner, I understand, says that she does not know how much she contributed to the ultimate making of the atomic bomb. This much we know – that at the foot of the pyramid there was a woman who had the courage to face new knowledge. How ironic that it is the Germans’ hate and persecution of a minority which may have prevented them from making this discovery first.

I wonder if we can learn from this story a lesson which I think God in His heaven must be trying very hard to teach us. He does not discriminate on lines of race or religion in the tools which he uses. Clearly he is asking us whether we have learned the lesson that in His world there is no place for discrimination or for hate. He has given into our hands the knowledge of a force so great that men can bring about their own destruction. God must believe that man has reached the point where he can also bring about his own salvation.

As I read that dramatic story of Dr. Meitner’s, I could not help thinking that her courage was a challenge to every other woman in the world, and that perhaps we were meant to see that women have a grave responsibility which we cannot shirk. Many of us recognize and admire the greatness of Madame Curie, who gave something beneficent to mankind. But Dr. Meitner contributed the first steps in an invention which gives mankind power over its own fate. It is a great step forward, but like all steps forward it is somewhat awe-inspiring.

Not to be afraid of it, one must have great faith in human beings. Person after person has said to me in these last few days that this new world we face terrifies them. I can understand how that feeling would arise unless one believes that men are capable of greatness beyond their past achievements. The times have usually brought us a leader when we needed him. The times now call for mankind as a whole to rise to great heights. We must have faith or else we die.

195

August 11, 1945

NEW YORK, Friday – I could not help feeling a little sad, yesterday, when the news came that we had had to use our second atomic bomb. I had hoped that after the first bomb, which was followed by Russia’s declaration of war and their prompt entry into Manchuria, the Japanese would decide to accept unconditional surrender and the loss of life could come to an end. I still hope that may happen; and it is also the hope of a great many other people, for all news agencies seem to be aware that a momentous decision must be made by Japan within the next few days. The Japanese will either capitulate or face complete destruction.

In the rapid succession of world events, I am interested to see how short are people’s memories! Once upon a time the Americans and the British were being urged at every turn to start a second front in Europe. At that time, the Soviet Union was carrying a very heavy burden in the war against Germany. She thought us over-cautious in our preparations and a long time coming to her aid. People in this country were quite indignant at this. They wondered if Russia did not understand that an ocean lay between us and Europe, and that problems of supply and transportation were overwhelming.

Now the boot is on the other foot. If it had not been for the atomic bomb, we would have heard a continual wail because the Soviet Union was so slow in coming to our aid. She is reciprocating by wondering whether we have no understanding of the fact that an army had to be transported practically across a continent! I can hear some people say: “Oh, but the Russian army needs no supplies. They can live off the country.” Perhaps—but guns and ammunition and all the other mechanized equipment must get from Germany to the borders of Manchuria, and it is probably a tremendous feat that the Soviet Union has been able to join us so soon.

Somehow we must try to get over some of the attitudes we have held, not only as regards the Soviet Union but as regards other people. For instance, I heard someone say the other day: “Well, perhaps we will be fighting the Soviet Union.” In the light of the late developments, that now means annihilation. There is only one answer to these fears, and that is a belief that the Soviet Union and the United States, as well as the United Nations as a whole, can live peacefully together – and a determination on the part of their people to do so.

Some irresponsible people even say that the Soviet Union purposely waited until the last minute, when the war was almost won, so they could be included in the benefits when peace came, but would not have to carry a heavy burden in the Pacific war. I can only remark that those who say this have no understanding of the Russian character and no knowledge of the facts. As far as military commitments are concerned, I have never heard it said that the Soviet Union had shirked any of them or had ever broken her word.

196

August 13, 1945

NEW YORK, Sunday – A great many people in and out of Washington have spoken and written about the results of the last election in Great Britain in completely contradictory ways. Some of our conservatives seem deeply disturbed and wonder “whether we will not have to reconsider our foreign policy as regards Great Britain.” In view of the fact that the people of Great Britain have expressed themselves in unmistakable terms as to the general line of government and economic policy which they wish to pursue, now that the war in Europe is over, it would seem that we would have to cooperate. Their objectives, in some ways, are not very different from ours.

Harold Laski’s use of the word “revolutionary” frightened a great many people, I think. They seemed not to take note of the fact that Laski, in naming the ultimate objectives of the Labor party, was very careful to say that they realized these objectives could not be attained overnight. Anyone knowing the British people and their character would know that reforms may move steadily forward, but they do not move with undue speed in Great Britain.

On the other hand, it is quite natural for the Russians to feel that a Labor government in Great Britain will cooperate more easily with them. Both in Palestine and in India new hope is stirring. What the Labor government will be able to do about the problems of these two countries – which are so difficult to solve and so little understood outside of the countries themselves – it is hard to say. At least, this new group coming into office will bring fresh minds and new interests to the handling of public affairs.

Labor in Great Britain, it seems to me, has a great advantage over labor in this country. It has no such division as we struggle with here between the AFL and the CIO. Unity makes for greater strength. Frequently, in Great Britain, the leaders of the party are not men who toiled with their hands, but intellectuals—teachers, economists, leaders in scientific fields; and they are not afraid of this leadership. Labor has long been more mature in Great Britain largely because it has more often carried responsibility.

The rift in the ranks of labor in this country is weakening and destructive of influence in the economic and political field. Labor may say that in spite of their differences they intend to back certain policies; but there is no certainty that they will act together. A group is just as apt to have its vote determined by some purely personal reason as by a matter of national policy that will be affected by their attitude.

It may be the youth of our labor movement which makes it so difficult for leaders within the ranks to submerge personalities and to stick to the principles for which they want to fight. Nevertheless, it will be better for labor itself and for the nation when the division comes to an end.

197

August 14, 1945

NEW YORK, Monday – It has always amused me how much Fala has really become a personality in this country! I had been looking for a carrier in which to take him on the train to New York, and I was told I would find one at a certain establishment in Manhattan. There, the man at once said to me: “Is this for Fala?” I explained that Fala was accustomed to rather luxurious train travel, having always been entirely free to roam in my husband’s private car, and that I was looking for something that would not frighten him. The man very kindly explained to me that if I put Fala in backwards he would not be as frightened as he would if I forced his head in first. I really think it would be simpler if I sat with him in the baggage car, but then I might not be a welcome passenger!

When Fala does move to New York, it will be the first time in his five years of dog life that he has had to take his airings entirely on a leash. I am sure the apartment is going to seem very small, too; but since he always adapted himself to whatever my husband wanted him to do, I hope he will meet these new conditions just as successfully!

I have had to be in New York City for some time, and among other things I did a little sightseeing with several of my grandchildren. We visited Theodore Roosevelt House on East 20th Street. There I tried to remember all the tales that my aunt, Mrs. Douglas Robinson, used to tell about their childhood in the house, since that is the only way to interest the young of this generation in their ancestors.

David, aged three, had to be carried in order to see the cases in the museum side, and I found that quite exhausting. We rode the top of a bus to Rockefeller Plaza, where we admired the colors of the water lilies in the various basins. Twice we lunched at the Algonquin Hotel, and I am quite sure that they rarely have such unsophisticated guests. Our three and five-year-olds were so fascinated by the many things to see that I could hardly make them eat.

We visited the Natural History Museum together and enjoyed it very much, but the rest of their sightseeing was done with their father. I am quite sure it was many years since he had seen the Bronx Zoo as thoroughly as when he walked about for a whole morning with his children.

They have now gone back to their home in Texas, and I know that when I return to Hyde Park it is going to seem like a very lonely place without them.

198

August 15, 1945

NEW YORK – When word was flashed that peace had come to the world again, I found myself filled with very curious sensations. I had no desire to go out and celebrate. I remembered the way the people demonstrated when the last war ended, but I felt this time that the weight of suffering which has engulfed the world during so many years could not so quickly be wiped out. There is a quiet rejoicing that men are no longer bringing death to each other throughout the world. There is great happiness, too, in the knowledge that someday, soon, many of those we love will be at home again to give all they have to the rebuilding of a peaceful world.

One cannot forget, however, the many, many people to whom this day will bring only a keener sense of loss, for, as others come home, their loved ones will not return.

In every community, if we have eyes to see and hearts to feel, we will for many years see evidences of the period of war which we have been through. There will be men among us who all their lives, both physically and mentally, will carry the marks of war; and there will be women who mourn all the days of their lives. Yet there must be an undercurrent of deep joy in every human heart, and great thankfulness that we have world peace again.

These first days of peace require great statesmanship in our leaders. They are not easy days, for now we face the full results of the costs of war and must set ourselves to find the ways of building a peaceful world. The new atomic discovery has changed the whole aspect of the world in which we live. It has been primarily thought of in the light of its destructive power. Now we have to think of it in terms of how it may serve mankind in the days of peace.

This great discovery was not found by men of any one race or any one religion. It was international from the beginning, and its development and control should be under international auspices. All the world has a right to share in the beneficence which may grow from its proper development.

Great Britain and Canada and ourselves hold the secret today – and quite rightly, since we used its destructive force to bring the war to an end. But if we allow ourselves to think that any nations or any group of commercial interests should profit by something so great, we will eventually be the sufferers. God has shown great confidence in mankind when he allowed them wisdom and intelligence to discover this new secret. It is a challenge to us – the peoples who control the discovery – for unless we develop spiritual greatness commensurate with this new gift, we may bring economic war into the world and chaos instead of peace.

The greatest opportunity the world has ever had lies before us. God grant we have enough understanding of the divine love to live in the future as “one world” and “one people.”

199

August 16, 1945

NEW YORK, Wednesday – With the war over at last, we can now begin to think about our first duties to the peace. Above everything else, I believe we would like to ask our leaders to look upon this period as a crisis requiring the same kind of courage, vision and great conception as did the period of our entry into the war.

Already, for example, there have been predictions that in the course of the next few months we must have anywhere from five to ten million unemployed. Realistically examined, this means a great slump in the confidence of the people in their government. They are going to say quite naturally that if we could plan for war, why can we not plan for peace?

I hope we will not be afraid to raise money and to loan it to big and little industries, on the condition that they will immediately employ men to their full capacity. It may be objected that this is not a question of merely having the money: that it takes time to install new machinery and retrain men.

Very well, then, don’t let us call those men unemployed. Let us keep them in their jobs while they are retraining, at a living wage. Let us employ as many men as we can in the actual reconversion work. Let us, both in private industry and through our government, take up some particular objective – such as housing, which can be readily adapted to the skills of many people, and which will require materials that can quickly be made available. We need a great deal of government-financed housing if we hope to destroy our slum areas and come out of the war a nation living in healthful and decent homes. We have spent tremendous sums on the war, most of it for destruction. Even a minute percentage of that sum spent now for constructive purposes would keep us from having mass unemployment. If at the same time we raise the standard of home environment, we will be doing something of double value to the nation.

As I watched the crowds in New York celebrating victory, there were many sober faces – primarily those of women, since their men were doubtless still in far-off places. One cannot help wondering whether the “cease fire” order will reach the Burma jungle or an island in the Pacific in time to prevent that last bullet which may mean the life or death of the man you love.

Hope was predominant, however, in everybody’s heart and in everybody’s eyes. That hope our leaders must justify. The military occupation that must go on in both the European and Pacific areas for some time to come should not keep any man too long from his home shores, since, even on a voluntary basis, we can doubtless raise enough men to rotate them at fairly frequent intervals. This will require shipping, but until our reconversion in industry is complete we would not be needing that shipping for trade purposes. Our markets overseas must be built up before our ships can be completely used in carrying our goods to other lands.

200

August 17, 1945

NEW YORK, Thursday – There seems to be an increasing interest in the removal of all war restrictions, as indicated by articles that I have read lately in the press. I feel, however, that we should give some of these restrictions very careful consideration. Of necessity, for quite some time to come, there is going to be very little to buy. If we remove such restrictions as, for instance, price ceilings and rationing, the people who have money will pay high prices for what they want. Those who have little money will first spend all their savings and then be unable to buy their fair share of the necessities of life.

It seems to me much fairer to continue our war restrictions on the things that are really necessary, like food and clothing and household utensils, so that we may all share alike in the supply that does exist. In the matter of machinery, it seems to me again advisable to have restrictions that will direct: 1–The making of machinery, first, for the manufacture of those things which are most essential to getting people back to work; 2–The conversion at once of factories needed for the greater production of farm machinery. That machinery should be obtained as soon as possible, in our own interests and in the interests of the rest of the world. As things become more plentiful, finally, the OPA could reduce ration points until eventually they are eliminated.

So far I have pointed out only the very evident facts about our own needs in this country. But it is not possible to think only about ourselves. For a year, at least, I believe we will also need to consider what is essential in certain foreign nations, so that people may restore health and strength, and go to work in rebuilding their own resources.

The German people at the close of the European war were a well-fed nation. In the coming winter they will taste some of the hardships which they meted out to other nations during the war. That is as it should be, and I have less concern for what will happen in Germany during one year of hardship than I have about the countries like France, Italy, Holland and all the other conquered nations. They have had long years of starvation diet and hardship of every kind. If they are again to become strong and valuable assets in the family of nations, now is the time for us to pull in our belts and share with them. If this is true of Europe, it will be true in some ways, also, in the Far East.

This is no charity on our part. It is good, hard, economic common sense. Great Britain is planning to continue her controls and restrictions. If her people, who have gone through many more military and economic hardships than we have, can endure for a little longer in the interest of mankind as a whole, I think we can do the same.