Eleanor Roosevelt: My Day (1946)

201

August 22, 1946

NEW YORK, Wednesday – As I travelled up to Boston by train yesterday, the sun shone on a green and lush landscape. On the whole, we have had so much rain in this part of the country that our landscape is especially luxuriant. Goldenrod and purple loose strife, or fire weed as some people call it, blended together in field after field.

I have been enjoying my purple weed, which I wait for every year at Hyde Park and which never disappoints me. It grows in the swamp and all around the far bank of the brook, so that I can look out my window and see a sea of purple stirring in the gentle breeze. Until yesterday, however, I did not realize how much this weed has spread all through the New England countryside.

The world looked like a beautiful world and I felt that my heart should respond with joy, but my thoughts were sad over the death of my nephew. However, what nature could not do for me, two gallant human beings accomplished, for I found my sister-in-law and her daughter putting into action magnificently what many of us say we should do but rarely can. We know that life must go on and that, while those who leave us live on in our hearts, still the business of living must be cheerfully accomplished. Henry Roosevelt’s mother and sister loved him dearly, but they greeted us with smiles and made us glad that we could be together and talk of Henry.

Many people all over the world, in the last few years, have had to bear the loss of loved ones still in their early youth. All these people feel the same regret that there could not be fulfillment of the hopes and aspirations of these young men and women whose lives were cut short by the war. Perhaps in the mere knowledge that grief is shared by so many people, one has the feeling that there must be some purpose in all this suffering. This helps those who are left here to carry on their daily lives – and to do it gallantly, as I saw it done yesterday.

On the trip back in the train, I read the account of a meeting held last May by the Citizens Committee on the Children of New York City. It seemed to me rather a unique kind of meeting, since it was staged almost after the manner of a hearing in court, with the children of New York City as the petitioners against the people of the city. The conditions that exist for children here were covered by those who appeared in their behalf. Accounts of the day nurseries, the schools, the playgrounds, the courts all formed a part of the testimony – and the people of New York have not done well by their children.

As I read, I kept thinking that all these agencies must, of course, be coordinated, that the recommendations of experts must be followed out, but back of it all something bothers me. There is something wrong with our civilization, there is something wrong with our whole economic set-up. Much more time and thought should be put, not only on coordination for helping children who have suffered because of wrong conditions, but on correcting the basic faults which bring such situations about.

We once had a National Resources Planning Board, which was set up to help us think through some of our economic problems. It was abolished by Congress because they preferred our usual haphazard methods of no planning. I believe in meeting things as you come to them and in flexibility in all plans. But I believe also in trying to find out what are the problems before a nation and making some plans to deal with those problems. The result of a laissez-faire policy seems to be so harmful to our whole civilization, and will hurt particularly the weak and blameless who can do nothing to remedy the situation themselves.

202

August 23, 1946

NEW YORK, Thursday – None of us can help being worried and indignant over the shooting down of two of our unarmed transport planes which had wandered over the Yugoslav border. Conceding that there may be some hidden reason why our planes are forbidden to fly over a friendly country, it still seems a little difficult for the layman to understand.

It seems, too, a trifle ironic to have American planes shot down, and Americans possibly killed, by planes and ammunition which had probably been acquired through lend-lease from this country! I remember the bitterness we felt when our boys in the Pacific, after some Japanese bombing, picked up bits of material with the imprint of “Made in the United States”, and realized they were getting back scrap or manufactured materials which had been bought from us. At least that material was used against us by an enemy in wartime. But what is used against us by Yugoslavia was furnished to them as an ally to help them win the war, in which their interest was even more vital than ours.

I do not want food and medical supplies confused with military supplies, since the former were sent to Yugoslavia to help the people, and I hope that we will always distinguish between the people and their governments in countries which are not our type of democracies. In our democracy, we can hold the people responsible for the government. While the people in countries like Yugoslavia, Russia and some other European countries, can still bring pressure in the long run, they cannot act as quickly, and their information is often less complete than ours, so they cannot be held completely responsible.

In spite of indignation and anxiety over what has occurred, I cannot help wondering where we have failed. There was a time during the war when we enjoyed the trust and respect of little and big nations everywhere. What has happened to turn that, in some cases, into suspicion and disdain? We cannot blame our leaders, because we are a democracy. Somehow we the people have failed.

In our haste to get back to the business of normal living, have we forgotten to be the great people that we were expected to be? We were the hope of the world – the people from whom justice and better things were expected. I don’t think we were expected to be Santa Claus in a material way, though that is frequently said, but I think we were expected to stand firm for the right as we saw it, and not for the expedient.

Perhaps the trouble has been that, on most of the international questions which have arisen, the people of this country have not bothered to decide what they thought was right. Take, for instance, Trieste, which is probably tied up with some of the things that have recently happened; take the question of Albania and of Italy and her claims. These are three questions on which the people of this country could and should have clear opinions, and they should express them to their leaders. Have they done this? I think not.

We want to avert war. Therefore, we must build up the United Nations. But we do not help them to find a permanent home – our voice is heard only in protest. We seem to have forgotten to weigh our values and to realize that we have to pay for the things we want. The payment which can bring about friendly and peaceful solutions is infinitely less costly than the payments which will have to be made if we are going to be an enemy to all the world.

203

August 24, 1946

HYDE PARK, Friday – I have just finished reading “Dinner at the White House” by Louis Adamic. I always find this author interesting and stimulating. Much of what he put into “Two-Way Passage,” I think, would have helped us through this post-war period, and I wish that even now some of it could be done to awaken in us, as a people, a better understanding of conditions in the rest of the world and our tie to other peoples.

Some things in this new book amuse me – for instance, the wonder Mr. Adamic expresses that two young English girls had been asked only a day ahead to come to dinner at the White House. It never occurred to me that this would seem strange to anyone! We lived in the White House as we had always lived at home. If somebody arrived with a letter from a friend, or if we remembered that we had meant to ask someone to a meal, we did so. There was rarely a meal when we did not have guests who had been asked on very short notice.

I do not remember this particular case, but I imagine I asked those girls because I had meant to see them some time or because I thought they would be interested in meeting their own Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. Or perhaps one of them had come to Washington with a letter of introduction from a friend. Whenever I wanted anyone to see my husband, he or she had to be asked to dinner and was often told that the invitation was just for dinner, because my husband would have to go to work afterward and I would have some other engagement.

I rather imagine, too, that on this particular occasion, we did not know ahead just what night Mr. Churchill would come back to us after his visit in Florida. Though we were both delighted that it happened to be when Mr. and Mrs. Adamic were coming to dinner, still I think it was a happen-so.

I am sorry that Mr. Adamic felt that Mr. Churchill was an evil influence. When Mr. Churchill and my husband first met as the leaders of their countries, I imagine there was speculation on both sides as to how they would get on. Though they had met before, they had seen very little of each other. My husband knew much, of course, about Mr. Churchill’s character and public work. And probably Mr. Churchill had been primed with information about my husband for that first meeting.

There were fundamental differences in their political thinking but, in their intellectual and social background, there were many similarities. As the years went by, I think a great respect grew between the two men, and also a great affection which was purely personal and did not preclude differences of opinion on political and even military matters.

I think when Mr. Churchill called by husband “Mr. President,” he was not trying to flatter any more than my husband was when he said “Mr. Prime Minister.” Both of them recognized that they were playing great historic roles and that heavy responsibilities rested upon them.

No matter how much we may differ with Mr. Churchill in political philosophy – and I personally differ with him on many things – we must never forget what we owe him as a war leader and what he meant to the people of Great Britain when they were all that stood between us and Hitler.

204

August 26, 1946

HYDE PARK, Sunday – It is interesting that articles taken from Miss Frances Perkins’ book and from my son, Elliott’s book are both appearing in magazines at the same time. They illustrate how every individual sees things through his own eyes, and how people who are sensitive always reflect some influence from the people with whom they happen to be at any given time.

I know no one more scrupulously honest than Frances Perkins, but here is one little illustration to show how hard it is to get every detail correct! She mentions that my husband attended St. John’s Church, which is the little church across Lafayette Square from the White House. As a matter of fact, he attended St. Thomas’ on 18th Street, because that is the church which we had attended when we lived in Washington while my husband was Assistant Secretary of the Navy. My husband never went regularly, because such things were a very great physical effort. Later, when he stopped going altogether, it was because both the secret service and the doctors thought it wise to curtail his activities.

He went to St. John’s for the service which was held on inauguration days and the yearly anniversaries. I think he did it because it was convenient not to go too far away. Also, St. John’s was the church attended by many Presidents, and it was small enough for this kind of service when only government officials attended.

The Christmas services which he attended were a gesture on the part of the churches in the district of which my husband and I both greatly approved, and Miss Perkins is quite right in saying that he enjoyed singing hymns with the “Methody.”

I notice that many people, in writing reviews of my son, Elliott’s condensed articles as they appear in Look magazine, seem to think that he is making an attack on Mr. Churchill. As a matter of fact, I think that he is trying to report the differences which arise in human relations between any two strong personalities such as Mr. Churchill and my husband. But no matter what anyone says, it must not be forgotten that a deep personal friendship existed between these two men. I think this was a good thing, because it made it possible to argue out differences in a way that one can only do with one’s friends.

With my enemies I am never inclined to argue. What is the use? With people to whom I am indifferent, it seems to me rather unimportant. But with my friends, particularly if questions of importance arise, where what we may do or think might affect our small circle of contact, I will try to put across how I feel and what I think. If we do not agree, I may not change; but I will think carefully about the other point of view and without bitterness. If that is so in my relationships, which are comparatively unimportant, it must have been so to a far greater extent between two men who were making very important decisions for the world. Though they often disagreed, both of them must have thought about the other’s point of view, which is always clarifying.

205

August 27, 1946

HYDE PARK, Monday – As I’ve watched the rise of the polio epidemic during the summer, I’ve realized how much must still be done if we are going to find the cause of this dread disease and learn how to prevent it.

Sister Kenny’s method has improved the treatment, and there is no question that today we know a great deal more than we did about how to help people to recover from the disease if it is discovered in time.

Basil O’Connor, president of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, told me that my husband wanted them to put all they possibly could into research in the hope of finding something that would prevent children and adults from getting this disease, and to stick to it until they were successful. I think the foundation has been doing this, but since the progress seems so slow, I am wondering if the medical profession should not attempt research along new lines in the hope that allied research may help the mainstream that one is trying to elucidate.

For instance, more children in this country die from the effects of rheumatic fever than from polio. One of my acquaintances has been writing to me about his work in a hospital which has brought him in contact with these children. For him it is a new discovery and therefore a shocking and horrible fact, and he cannot understand why it is not constantly emphasized. For many of us, it is a well-known ailment which has taken its toll for many, many years.

The other day I read an article about it by Albert Deutsch and I began to wonder again if all these diseases – rheumatic fever, spastic children, polio – might not have some connection, and if research could not be carried out on all three simultaneously.

Spastic children I have written about before, but I want to emphasize again that these children are particularly unfortunate because their minds are often unaffected and yet their bodies are badly crippled. They have to have great care and careful training if they are going to be happy and useful in their lives. If the parents of a child so afflicted are poor, there is often no way to give him the training which would make life endurable. Even for a moderately well-to-do family, the cost of the care is so great that one child becomes a handicap to the living standards of the whole family.

It seems to me that the government, as well as private foundations, has an obligation to do research in all three of these diseases which take such a heavy toll among children. Science has found the answer to so many things in the past, but it always seems as tho, when one answer is found, new diseases develop. Perhaps that is the challenge nature presents to us, but we certainly should not limit our research just because we feel we are on a never-ending quest.

206

August 28, 1946

NEW YORK, Tuesday – I hope that both Russia and Marshal Tito are being fully informed of the reaction of the people in this country toward Yugoslavia’s unwarranted and cruel attack upon American transport planes and toward Russia’s backing up of the Yugoslav Government. To us, it seems a flimsy excuse to say that a number of planes, no matter how many, had flown over and taken pictures. It would be more than stupid to use transport planes for aerial photography. And if pictures were taken, what do either the Russians or the Yugoslavs think we would do with them that could be harmful to those countries?

It is now being said that Great Britain is pleased that our people have become irritated and will stiffen their attitude of antagonism to Russia. It is said they hope that, as a result, we will back British policy on questions in the Near and Far East. I doubt if that will be the effect on a great number of our people. But the effect which I already sense is one which I deeply deplore because, if it grows, it will remove a disinterested and therefore a stabilizing factor for the settlement of problems among nations.

I have already heard people say, “Why do we bother spending our money to send food and medicine and other relief needs to the rest of the world?” “Why do we keep our men in dangerous places?” “Why don’t we stay home where we belong and deal purely on a trade basis with the rest of the world? If we have products to sell which they want, they will buy. And there are enough friendly people with whom to develop trade relations so that we don’t have to bother with the unfriendly.”

This is an attitude which is all too familiar among the American people. We have heard it in times past and we will probably hear it many times again. And now the Yugoslavs and Russians have given it great impetus.

Those of us who believe that it is possible to be friendly with all the world have fought this attitude and tried to be understanding toward all other nations. But we do not take easily or blandly the shooting down of unarmed planes and the death of American men.

I have always wanted cooperation with Russia. But I fight the American Communists within the United States for the simple reason that I believe we have greater power under our present form of government and under our present economic system to advance the well-being of our people as a whole. If we find that we need changes, either in our form of government or in our economic system, we can achieve our objectives more quickly under our setup than can the people who live under what they euphemistically call a democratic dictatorship. They have the right, however, in their own country to their own ideas, and the right to grow in their own way.

I believe we can work side by side, but we cannot do so if they uphold the kind of action taken by Marshal Tito when he meets our formal demands with the protest that all he did was right! We have an obligation to meet other nations halfway in friendliness and understanding, but they have that obligation, too – and these latest developments show no realization of their responsibility.

207

August 29, 1946

HYDE PARK, Wednesday – I went to New York City on Monday afternoon in order to be at the Democratic State Committee headquarters on Tuesday morning to meet Chairman Paul Fitzpatrick and a number of other Democratic leaders. We had a very pleasant meeting, at which they formally requested me to be temporary chairman and keynoter of the Democratic State Convention which opens in Albany next Tuesday, Sept. 3.

I understand that this is the first time that a woman has been asked to be temporary chairman of a New York Democratic convention. I realize, of course, that this honor has been given to me in deference to my husband’s memory and in recognition of the importance of women in the Democratic Party – that there is nothing personal in the designation. I only hope I will be able to play my part creditably.

If possible, I would like not only to express the hopes and purposes of the women in the Democratic Party in this State, but to speak, too, of the things that the party as a whole, men and women together, feel are essential to our success in the State and in the nation as well. New York State has often in the past pioneered in Democratic thinking, and I hope it will again in the future.

I was back here at Hyde Park yesterday in time to entertain two very pleasant guests at luncheon, and then to go to our Dutchess County Fair for the opening of the flower show. I presented the prize for the day for the best all-around exhibit. Mrs. Lynch of Barrytown, who won the prize, had a charmingly decorated tea cart with an awning over it and bells on the side – which she said they used for wheeling food around out of doors. For this exhibit, she had filled the cart with many colored gourds of various shapes and sizes which made a very charming picture.

I liked some of the miniature arrangements of flowers – a lovely table set by Mrs. Saulpaugh of Red Hook was a symphony in blue. The children’s exhibits were varied baskets of vegetables as well as arrangements of flowers. Germantown and Tivoli had joined in a very original exhibit – a hat shop with flower hats! This caught and held my eye and made me feel that there were many ways in which one could change or freshen up last year’s hat if one used a little imagination.

All of us will agree, I think, that housing not only for veterans but for many other people is most important now. And it is regrettable to find that our governor feels that our New York State program is impeded by the priorities which have been set to speed the Federal program. It would seem that there must be some lack of coordination when the state and the nation cannot cooperate to build the housing which is most needed, pooling their efforts rather than desiring, apparently, to have the kudos for being “the” agency to produce some place for the numerous homeless families to lay their heads!

208

August 30, 1946

HYDE PARK, Thursday – Yesterday afternoon I was driven up to Kingston, N.Y., stopping on the way to see Mrs. Richard Gordon about the West Park flower show which I agreed to open next week. This is a small show in which my mother-in-law, Mrs. James Roosevelt, always took an interest, so I am glad that they are having it again now that the war is over.

We reached Kingston in time for dinner with a group of labor people who were putting on a joint rally which included various AFL and CIO local unions – as many of them as cared to participate.

These rallies are for the purpose of awakening the interest of the workers, not only in what they want, but in the methods by which they can obtain their objectives. This results very quickly in the realization that there is only one way to get at the root of problems, and that is through political action. In order to use political power intelligently, the workers must know more about the people who represent them in government, their records in and out of office on public questions, and how they themselves feel on the problems confronting the nation today.

I think it is inescapable that, as this education proceeds, workers will realize that their interests cannot remain centered in labor questions only. They are consumers also and must look at all questions from the point of view of the general economic welfare of the nation, which ties their interests to those of unorganized workers and of employers and farmers. I heard someone say once that it was impossible for producers and consumers to have the same interests. But it seems impossible to me to divorce these interests, since most of us are both producers and consumers.

The real difficulty lies in the distribution of the ultimate profits. That is a question which, I think, should be widely discussed. In the past, the worker has often felt that his share was not commensurate with the share enjoyed by management or capital in our country. Yet the need for management and the need for capital is apparent to all.

In countries such as Great Britain, where certain industries will be government-owned, the problem still does not disappear, because the question of what proportion should go to the workers and what to the government will still be present. Even though we may feel that everything which goes to the government returns eventually to the citizens, we know we have to help decide in what manner it is returned to us, and this is bound to bring discussion and varied opinions. This same difficulty is bound to arise even in Russia as they progress and as the people achieve a higher standard of living.

It seems to me, therefore, that throughout the world, this problem will bear long discussion and probably constant adjustment if progress is to be made.

209

August 31, 1946

HYDE PARK, Friday – Last evening when my son and daughter-in-law and two small boys, aged 6 and 4, got back from the county fair, I thought of the story written by Dorothy Canfield Fisher in “Petunia, That’s for Remembrance,” in which she describes Granther and his youngest grandchild taking off for the fair by themselves. Our youngest was so tired, he could not eat a mouthful and only wanted to curl up and go to sleep. In the story, all the glories of the day remained for contemplation even though both Granther and his companion went to bed to be nursed by an irate mother who felt she had two children on her hands and was perhaps rather more annoyed with the older one!

The horse show was on at the Dutchess County Fair yesterday and, from all I hear, there must have been good horses competing. I am always sorry for the judges. It must be hard to stick to the points you are supposed to be judging and not to be influenced by whether you like a horse or a rider. I used to be drawn to all the fat little boys and girls who bumped along on their ponies, and I would have hated to pass them by when longing eyes were fixed on the bits of colored ribbon.

I have to be really very angry with someone to want to judge them at all. And even then, my verdict would have to be rendered quickly because, if I wait long enough, I cool off and begin to think that perhaps I don’t understand the circumstances or that, in the same circumstances, I might do the same thing!

My husband was curious in his expression of anger. He had to be really deeply moved to get angry, and he had to express his anger while it was strong upon him! I only once or twice saw him so moved, and then I would have hated to be the man who provoked his wrath and contempt. Little reproofs he could never bear to administer, and he would often say to me, “Do tell so and so I would like this or that done,” but he himself would rather be uncomfortable than to seem to criticize in any way.

I have been sent a little leaflet about the plan for the international assembly of women which is to be held in October at the home of Mrs. Alice T. McLean in South Kortright, New York. The leaders of women’s organizations in this and other countries throughout the world will come together to discuss four main topics:

(1) “What kind of political world are we living in?”
(2) “What kind of economic world are we living in?”
(3) “What kind of social order should we strive to achieve?”
(4) “How can we apply the ideas exchanged at this conference for the benefit of our communities, our nations and the world?”

This is an educational conference and it will last ten days. The subjects under discussion are so all-encompassing that one could go on discussing them day in and day out for many years to come. That, I think, is exactly what the sponsoring organizations hope will come about.

210

September 2, 1946

HYDE PARK, N.Y. – This year as we come to Labor Day, I think perhaps more than ever before about the responsibility which labor as a whole, now has for the conduct of affairs at home and abroad. Organized labor, perhaps, carries the heaviest burden because where there are organizations, labor can be better informed on national and international affairs and there are avenues through which its voice may be heard.

In the past I think, that labor could legitimately confine its activities to its own concerns – organization, conditions of work, pay and legislation directly affecting labor. Now, however, since labor organizations have grown strong, labor must of necessity think of itself as an integral part of any community. It must seek to understand and to work with all the other groups in the community, the farmers, the small merchants, the housewives, professional people – all of their interests touch on labor and labor organization cannot successfully ignore the well being of the whole community and serve its own interests.

People may be surprised at the political activity which has grown up in the ranks of labor, but they should not be, for it is simply a sign that labor is becoming conscious of their stake as citizens and that they join in all the interests of the community. This being so, labor has a deep concern in the economic well being of the country as a whole.

It is this realization which made certain wise labor leaders fight very hard for a retention of OPA price regulation until production could reach a point where prices could be held down by the mere fact that supplies were plentiful on the market. Anyone understanding the economic situation today knows that rising prices will bring demands for higher wages and when if these are granted, prices will, of course, go up again. For the manufacturer does not absorb higher wages, he passes them on in costs to the consumer. Labor being a great part of the consuming public, soon finds that it is no better off than before and the vicious circle repeats itself. It is essential, therefore, that high production be achieved as quickly as possible in all the real necessities that are now in demand and that no essential materials be allowed to go into any type of non-essential production. Labor, as consumers, should demand these things since, as citizens they now wield considerable political power. They should demand from those running for political office, an opportunity before election day to hear their views on economic questions affecting our national situation. This is not selfish, for if we are not strong from an economic standpoint, the rest of the world is even weaker. If we want to help build a better world we have to see first that our domestic situation is sound and then that in our international contacts we act with wisdom and an interest in the well being of the peoples.

211

September 3, 1946

HYDE PARK, Monday – There are two professions which evidently no longer appeal to either men or women, and yet in the past they were the two which drew the most intelligent people – people who wanted not only to make money but to be of real service in the world. One is the teaching profession and the other is the nursing profession.

In the teaching profession, it is especially difficult to get men, who feel that they must earn an adequate living for themselves and their families. Even women, however, are not going into this profession the way they once did. The world conference of teachers held recently at Endicott, N.Y., showed that this was a major difficulty in all English-speaking countries. Great Britain, Canada and the United States have the biggest shortages, but the shortage in the profession exists all over the world.

It is a major catastrophe for the future. One of our metropolitan newspapers says that the first thing to do is to give teachers adequate pay. This unfortunately cannot be done unless throughout our communities we change the status of the teacher. In the past, even in the early days of this country, the traveling teacher – who had only a few books and only taught here and there for a few weeks at a time – was given a standing and was looked upon with such deep respect that his position was envied by all. With the growth of our material and industrial civilization, this respect for learning has changed. Teaching must bring returns more nearly comparable with those in business for teaching to be a respected profession and attract able young people.

In addition, the teaching profession will have to be granted freedom of thought and action. School boards cannot control the minds of their teachers. No one with self-respect will be a teacher under such circumstances.

The nursing profession affects women far more than men, since comparatively few men take up this profession. But today nurses are needed in public health, in industry and in state and federal institutions, and they require far better training than in the past. It is not just home nursing that is suffering, or even private patients in hospitals. It is the whole community.

Here again, better pay would seem to be a factor, though in some cases nurses now have adequate working conditions and adequate pay. It is opportunities for advancement and for standing in the community, however, that will probably attract the young people to this profession.

212

September 4, 1946

ALBANY, N.Y. Tuesday – Miss Thompson and I decided to come up by train yesterday afternoon as I had to be here in time for dinner. It is always a pleasure to come into Albany. For one thing, the taxi drivers are so quick to recognize old friends, and while I imagine they greet everyone with warmth, still it gives one a sense of personal welcome when they seem to remember you as an individual!

I have always thought that Albany had a charm all its own. In the old prints of the city, when it was really nothing but a trading post, one sees the Dutch influence very clearly and I think there is still a feeling of quaintness and old tradition here, in spite of the fact that the population today is as mixed as that in almost every city throughout our country. There are steep hills here, and in the old days I used to be somewhat apprehensive of both driving and walking in the winter months. But I believe our climate is changing, for my husband used to tell me that he remembered when Albany streets were piled high with snow for months and that sleighs and fast-stepping horses were the best means of transportation.

It is so long since I have taken part in state political gatherings that I had a feeling of unreality about my part in the Democratic State Convention until I actually stepped into the DeWitt Clinton Hotel. Then the old and familiar atmosphere seemed to surround me and I began to see familiar faces on every side.

Miss Thompson and I were soon settled in our room, and Miss Doris Byrne, the vice-chairman of the Democratic State Committee, and chairman of the women’s division, came up with Mrs. William H. Good, our national committeewoman from New York State, to say “Hello” and to ask me when I could see the ladies of the press. I thought at first I could not be ready for them until after dinner, but I got downstairs while the party for the press was still going on and was led to the press room. Miss Byrne and Mrs. Good sat by while I answered questions.

A little later I attended State Chairman Paul E. Fitzpatrick’s dinner, at which Miss Byrne, Mrs. Good and I were the only ladies. Daniel O’Connell, the Albany County Chairman, had arranged the dinner and we teased him a little for being so lavish, but I suppose that is one of the ways that Democrats show their feeling that victory looms in the offing. It was a harmonious meeting, which is always a good sign.

Later in the evening, Thomas F. Boyle, executive vice-chairman of the Democratic State Committee, Walter Brown, head of the speakers’ bureau, and I were interviewed on the radio. The local station first presented speakers from the Republican Convention and as I entered the room I heard one speaker say: “Do, do, do, do it with Dewey.” To me, this slogan seems unfortunate, because one could also say: “Do, do, do, doom it with Dewey.” After the broadcast we immediately went to our rooms to get a good night’s rest for today’s many activities.

213

September 5, 1946

ALBANY, N.Y., Wednesday – The first day of the Democratic State Convention came to an end with a feeling of enthusiasm, I think, among all those present. I am quite sure that we will be told that this feeling has been equally present at the convention which the Republicans are holding in Saratoga Springs.

A man in office has, of course, many practical advantages. He has state appointees ready to organize his campaign, and people who hope for favors or who have already received them can be called upon for active support.

On the other hand, in this state there is a long-standing tradition of good Democratic government. Frequently, in the past, a Democratic administration has had to carry its program through in spite of a Republican majority in the Legislature. Surprisingly enough, Democratic Governors have often succeeded, even under these difficult circumstances, in putting over their programs.

As yesterday progressed, I think the enthusiasm of the delegates to our Democratic convention increased, as did their sense of solidarity. There is no fight here as in Saratoga. Naturally, it is impossible for everyone to have the candidate of his choice named, and many counties leave a convention with a feeling that they would have liked recognition which they haven’t received. These are, however, the fortunes of politics, and what you do not get in one way, you may get in another.

I have rarely seen a convention show so much enthusiasm before the nominees themselves came to the platform. There were two demonstrations yesterday. Banners were marched around the hall, and people streamed out after their banners.

Mayor William O’Dwyer of New York, who was here Monday night for the caucus of leaders, spent most of yesterday in New York City struggling in vain to bring some kind of understanding between striking truck drivers and their employers. Nevertheless, when he returned here last night, he managed to appear vigorous and enthusiastic as he stepped onto the platform to take his place as permanent chairman of the convention.

I was so glad that my duties as temporary chairman were coming to an end that, when they asked me to cut out a sentence which was in the program, I took it for granted that we had covered our time on the air and did not wait for the signal to present the permanent chairman to the radio audience. Actually, it was too early for the broadcast, so I had to ask Miss Lucy Monroe to lead us in another song, and then I welcomed Mayor O’Dwyer a second time for the benefit of those listening on the air.

It was a satisfaction, however, to repeat what I honestly feel – that the Mayor is making a good record in the City of New York and that we can expect better and better results as he becomes fully acquainted with all the phases of his complicated job. As a man, he wins the respect and affection of those who know him. This was made quite clear by the enthusiastic demonstration which greeted him when I handed over the gavel.

214

September 6, 1946

HYDE PARK, Thursday – I stayed in Albany until the end of the Democratic State Convention yesterday, and I thought Sen. James M. Mead and former Gov. Herbert H. Lehman gave excellent speeches in accepting the nominations for Governor and Senator. And I liked very much the speech made by young Mayor Erastus Corning, 2nd, of Albany in accepting the nomination for Lieutenant Governor. He is young, but has considerable political experience behind him. It is interesting for me to see the second generation of this family coming into active public service.

Mayor Corning received a tremendous ovation, which was natural as he was in his hometown, where he is very popular. A good background from which to start to win popularity in the state! Since he was a private in Gen. George S. Patton’s First Army, he must have been through plenty of hardships and must also be a good soldier. This should make him a good campaigner, since whoever fought under Gen. Patton fought hard and long and kept going on no matter how weary he might be!

It was interesting to see how the whole spirit of the convention seemed to rise as the nominations were made and as the nominees accepted. I think everyone left Albany with the feeling that they had an obligation to do their best, because the Democratic ticket is a good ticket. Unlike the Republicans in Saratoga Springs, we came through our deliberations with no hard feelings and with no bitter antagonisms such as we sometimes have had in our conventions!

My son Elliott and his wife, Faye Emerson Roosevelt, who was a delegate, seemed to have a wonderful time with the Dutchess County delegation, and I thought the whole delegation enjoyed marching around the hall in the demonstrations, carrying their banner high. I hope this means that this Republican county is going to see a good Democratic organization built up which, with the aid of the Independent Voters Committee, should elect our very excellent candidate for Congress, Capt. Killgrew, and perhaps some of the other members of our local ticket.

One of the big metropolitan newspapers this morning has a wonderful editorial which praises the candidates for governor and the United States Senate on both tickets, and says that these excellent candidates should certainly clarify the issues of the campaign for the independent voter who will be making up his mind how to vote between now and Election Day. I entirely agree with this statement, but it seems to me that, very soon on its editorial page, even this so-called independent paper carries the responsibility to make up its mind which candidates are best, since there are so many partisan papers whose minds are made up before nominations are made!

Miss Thompson and I motored home with Mrs. Henry Morgenthau, Jr., in the late afternoon. We stopped for supper in Rhinebeck and arrived home in time to attack a formidable accumulation of mail.

215

September 7, 1946

HYDE PARK, Friday – Yesterday noon I went across the river to West Park to lunch with Mrs. Richard Gordon and the judges of the West Park flower show. From her house we went to the Episcopal church, a very charming little church which has a tie with our old Episcopal church in Hyde Park, since originally the West Park people came across the river to worship here on a Sunday. The tale goes that one of the boats was swamped and after that they built their own church.

My mother-in-law used to open this West Park flower show occasionally, so this year they invited me to do so. It was held in the parish house, and the booths for the little fair were out on the lawn. It is a real community undertaking, though the proceeds go to the support of the Episcopal church. Everyone who has anything to exhibit does so. I presented the cup to the person winning the most points, Samuel Tinney, who won 156 points.

There were beautiful gladiolas and dahlias and a new variety of gladiola called the “Atom,” grown in Poughkeepsie by Humphrey Hedgecock of the Conservation Department. It is a very beautiful flower. I was given a large bunch and am enjoying them.

I have been hoping that, since we had such cold weather in August, we would have warm weather again in September, but I am afraid that cold nights are with us “for keeps.” As I walked through the woods this morning, I saw tinges of red on many of the green leaves and, across my brook, I can see one tree turning yellow and gold against the dark green background of the pines.

This pine plantation, which we can see from the cottage, was planted many years ago by my husband. It has now become a dark and mysterious wood, with a floor of pine needles thick beneath the branches. It has an atmosphere in which the children can play Indians or any other mysterious game and really feel that they are miles away from civilization.

Our two little boys came down from the top cottage for supper with me last night and we read a delightful children’s book called “Little Squeegy Bug,” story of a firefly by Bill and Bernard Martin. The illustrations are just the kind that appeal to children. There is a moral to the tale but it isn’t too obvious.

Squeegy is a little “nobody bug” who wants to be like Buzzer, the bumblebee, and carry a gun in his tail. Hunchy, the spider, weaves silver wings so that Squeegy can fly like Buzzer and live at the turn of the road just south of the Moon. But instead of a gun, Hunchy hangs a lantern in Squeegy’s tail so that he can be a friend to all the world. Thus he becomes “Squeegy the Firefly, Lamplighter of the Sky.”

Another children’s book that seems to be of great interest is “At Daddy’s Office,” written by Robert J. Misch and illustrated by Roger Duvoisin. It is a simple recital of the routine which is familiar to almost any child who has gone with Daddy to see where he works.

216

September 9, 1946

HYDE PARK, Sunday – It is serious and sad reading that we cannot reach peaceful decisions between employers and employees without strikes, even when so much is at stake as in the tie-up of our shipping. When you realize that this not only means losses to employers, shippers and wage-earners, but also may result in actual starvation in many countries throughout the world, you wonder why it is not possible for reasonable men to come to just arrangements. There is risk that our troops in many countries will not receive their supplies and thus be forced to make life even harder for the people in occupied countries. And the consequences seem to go on endlessly – yet the only thing dividing us here in this country is an economic situation.

When you try to arrange matters between nations, you have racial, political and economic questions involved. It seems to me we are giving a very poor example of our people’s ability to govern themselves and settle their differences.

Mayor O’Dwyer so far has been unable to get the employers and employees together in the trucking strike, and so the people of the great city of New York will be living on the bare essentials. This will cause a vast loss from the economic standpoint, but will also mean real suffering to a great many persons.

The effect of what we do over here is so far-reaching today that we have no right to be as irresponsible as we are showing ourselves to be in these two great strikes. I suppose labor will accuse management and management will accuse labor, and government will say that it has done what it could to bring them together. There is only one voice left to be heard. That is the voice of the public, and I think they had better say in no uncertain terms that labor and management committees must be formed and they must come to agreements.

On Friday I visited the Emma Hardy Memorial Home in Cornwall-on-Hudson, where blind people under care of the Lighthouse in New York City come in groups of 45 for a two-weeks vacation. Many of them are cases who really need help and adjustment to a new and terrible handicap, and things are so arranged for them here that they find themselves more able to do things alone. For instance, wires are strung all along the paths so they can take walks alone. They learn to bowl in the direction of a voice, often getting a ten-strike.

The group I saw yesterday were older men, for the most part, but I could not help feeling that this must be a lift to health and to morale in lives that might well be fairly drab the rest of the year. We lunched afterwards at the Storm King Arms with Mrs. Sidney Sherwood and a few of the staff, and I returned in time to greet my weekend guests.

217

September 10, 1946

HYDE PARK, Monday – At last I am going to tell you about a bill in which I have been interested for some time. It has been introduced in both the House and the Senate and has strong bipartisan backing.

It would establish a Labor Extension Service within the Department of Labor. It would provide for a $10,000,000 to $15,000,000 grants-in-aid program to land-grant colleges and universities, and to other colleges, universities and educational institutions which are prepared to spend their resources and teaching facilities for the benefit of the 45,000,000 wage and salary earners.

The Agricultural Extension Service in the Department of Agriculture now uses more than $44,000,000 of federal, state and local funds for services to some 6,000,000 farmers and their families, totalling 20,000,000 persons.

This new bill would really carry out the purposes of the Morrill Act of 1862, which provided for the “diffusion of useful information” for the benefit of persons engaged in agriculture and the mechanic arts. This bill is open for amendments between now and the convening of the next Congress in January. Therefore labor, teachers and other groups have been asked to study it, and improve it if possible. All of us should support it, because in wider education lies the solution, we hope, of some of our labor and management difficulties.

This is one of those gray, damp September days which remind us that autumn is on the way. We need rain badly. The farmers who have corn still not quite ready for their silos are praying for wet weather, but those who are picking apples are praying for nice, dry sunny weather!

We have filled our deep freeze with all the vegetables and fruits for which we could get sugar enough to put them up. I must say it gives one a wonderful feeling of satisfaction to know that, even if we are snowed in this winter, we can always have enough to eat by taking a trip to the cellar.

As though the plants knew that their time for blooming is nearly over, some of the loveliest roses of the summer are filling my vases, and the marigolds and petunias are still gay, and even my pansies are still flowering.

The other evening, though, when I was walking my little dog, I heard the katydids very clearly, so our first frost is not too far away.

218

September 11, 1946

HYDE PARK, Tuesday – I forgot to tell you that, last Saturday morning, a committee of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of New York came here to present me with the resolutions which the annual convention at Troy, N.Y., had passed in memory of my husband. I had hoped to go to Troy to receive these resolutions but, when I was unable to go, they very kindly came here and then went over to my husband’s grave to place a wreath.

When I was talking the other day with the staff caring for the blind people at the camp in Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y., they told me of one of their difficulties. Frequently people want to leave their eyes, after death, for the use of sightless people. If the optic nerve is not affected, it is possible apparently, within a short period after death, to transplant the window of the eye and have it serve a living person. But sometimes the families, even though the dead person may have desired this, will refuse consent. This is natural, I suppose, but where such great happiness can be brought to a living human being, it seems too bad for a family to thwart the desire of their loved ones to be helpful even after death.

In the course of the last month, I have heard of a group which is putting on a campaign to raise $50,000 to establish two clinics in New York City for the treatment of those suffering from a disease of the eye called retinitis pigmentosa. A remedial treatment has been discovered by a Russian doctor, Vladimir Filatov, and therefore the National Council to Combat Blindness is working in cooperation with the American-Soviet Medical Society, which is a purely scientific body.

In time, the National Council to Combat Blindness hopes to establish clinics, strategically placed throughout the United States, where this treatment will be provided under the guidance of competent ophthalmologists. They estimate that about 35,000 people in this country are afflicted with this ailment at the present time.

They also wish to promote further research into remedial treatment for other diseases which cause blindness. Finally, they hope to facilitate the transportation of individuals to the clinics when they have a condition threatening blindness and to arrange for the patients’ maintenance and shelter during the course of the treatment.

This seems a very vital service. And anyone who has seen any of the young people who were blinded in the war will be anxious to have all possible research done which might restore their sight.

219

September 12, 1946

HYDE PARK, Wednesday – I’ve received a letter from George Palmer, superintendent of the “Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt,” giving some figures which I think might be of interest to the public. On a recent Sunday, 9,836 persons passed in front of the grave. During August, 104,311 people visited the grave, and 70,031 went through the home. In all, 203,628 people have visited the home, and 304,320 the grave, since last April.

Mr. Palmer tells me that they have decided that 2500 visitors a day are all that can be allowed to go through the house. It will not stand a great crowd at any one time. I can remember that once, when we had a reception years ago, my husband kept urging me to get the guests to pass through the library because he thought too many people were standing on the floor at one time!

Mr. Palmer also told me of a very nice incident. Former members of the 240th M.P. Battalion, who used to guard my husband when he was here and who trained in the nearby M.P. school for their future overseas service, have formed an association. About 50 of them met at Hyde Park on Sunday, August 25, and visited the home and the grave. They had such a successful day, seeing friends in the village of Hyde Park and having dinner in Poughkeepsie, that they have decided to make this an annual pilgrimage.

We always had two parties during the week after Christmas for the group which was stationed here. They brought their wives and sweethearts and danced in the library. We served simple refreshments and had a tree and small Christmas remembrances for them.

My husband always went over from the house. I think one of the evenings which was most enjoyable was a very stormy night when the orchestra could not get there and many of the girls who were coming from Poughkeepsie were delayed. So the men all sat on the floor in front of my husband’s chair, sang Christmas carols and then asked him questions. He told them things about the first World War and about the countries which they might someday see. When, finally, some of the lady guests arrived to dance, I think the stag party broke up rather reluctantly!

At one of these parties, John Golden, the theatrical producer, provided us with one of those extraordinary entertainers with a prodigious memory who reeled off population figures and any number of other statistics about any place in the United States that anyone in the audience mentioned. My husband enjoyed it enormously and was enchanted when he found his own guesses coincided with the knowledge of the entertainer!

220

September 13, 1945

HYDE PARK, Thursday – Last Tuesday, I went down to Philadelphia by train and was met by a delegation from the Helen Fleisher Vocational School which, together with the Benjamin Franklin School, is being used for veterans. These students are finishing their high school courses or taking refresher courses preparatory to going to college.

They have a committee which is running a series of lectures on questions of public interest. For the lecture last Tuesday, 1700 veterans were gathered in the auditorium of the Benjamin Franklin School for an hour of speaking and questions. I was very much interested in this audience of young veterans because they were so attentive and asked such good questions.

It was interesting to hear that the school had been dedicated by my uncle, President Theodore Roosevelt, and that the Athletic Department still uses a slogan that he gave them – “Don’t fumble, don’t foul, but hit the line hard” – which was characteristic of him. This is an old school and they are hoping before long to get a new building. I must say that this would seem to be a real need.

The committee of boys and the members of the faculty with whom I lunched seemed an able and public-spirited group, and it was the kind of meeting which gives one a sense of confidence in the processes of democracy.

Yesterday, I was taken to Newark, New Jersey, to speak in the orientation course at the War Department’s Office of Dependency Benefits. This office, during the war, had more than 10,000 employees and sent out the allotments and payments to all dependents of Army men. Now it is down to a little over 4,000 employees but it is still a big business undertaking, over which Col. Leonard H. Sims presides. Since he had charge of the finances for the D-Day invasion of Europe, I imagine this does not seem to him an overwhelming job.

As an outsider who has been familiar with the troubles and difficulties of people who did not get their allotments on time, or whose insurance was not being paid, etc., etc., I have a deep sense of the importance – to the dependents of our men in the service – of the work which is done in this Newark office.

After my talk, I was whisked back to my apartment in New York, where a large group of Cuban ladies, who have been making a goodwill visit to this country, came to tell me about a new association of women which they have formed in Cuba. They are devoting themselves to helping the underprivileged in their country and to developing a good neighbor policy toward the United States and the other Americas.

When I caught my train back to Hyde Park, I was feeling a little breathless from my day, and it was certainly a joy to wake up in the country this morning.