THE NEW PRESIDENT

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVI, Issue 3448, 22 November 1932, Page 8

THE NEW PRESIDENT

HIS RISE TO PROMINENCE. MR. ROOSEVELT'S CAREER. The rise of Mr. Franklin Delano Roosevelt to national prominence has been comparatively slow but steady. He first appeared on the ’national political stage as Assistant-Secretary of the Navy in the administration of Woodrow Wilson. In 1920 he was the Vice-Presidential nominee of the Democratic Party when Mr. James M. Cox of Ohio headed the ticket, which was defeated under the avalanche of votes that swept Mr. Warren G. Harding into the White House. After that Mr. Roosevelt retired temporarily because of serious illness, to emerge again as Governor of New York.

Tu that position he has been, almost from the beginning, in the forefront of possible candidates for the Presidency His nomination was the result of persistent work on his part and by his friends toward tht goal which he now has reached. Mr. Roosevelt was born at Hyde Park, Dutchess County, New York, on January 30, 1882, a son of James and Sara Delano Roosevelt The family is of Dutch origin and went to America in 1648. The branch to which Franklin belongs moved to Hyde Park about 100 years ago. His father, James, was a fourth cousin of a former President, Theodore Roosevelt As a lad young Roosevelt was credited with an ambition to enter the Navy Academy at Annapolis. He went, however, to the Groton School, where he prepared for Harvard, from which he was a graduated in 1904. Upon graduating Mr. Roosevelt went to New York and entered the Law School of Columbia University, from which he obtained his degree in 1907. He then joined the staff of Carter, Ledyard and Milburn, where he served as managing clertk until 1910, when he formed a partnership of his own, Marvin, Hooker and Roosevelt. His law pi-actice was of a general nature and did not bring him into particular public notice. Entry Into Politics. Mr. Roosevelt first entered politics in 1910. The State Senatorial district in which he lived in Dutchess County had for twenty-eight years sent a Republican to Albany to represent it continuously. Twentyeight was the exact age of Mr. Roosevelt at that time. ... He was induced to contest the position, entered the campaign with characteristic vigour and was elected by a substantial majority. The new Senator went to Albany, almost unknown outside of his own section of the State. Almost immediately, however, he came into prominence through the part he played in the defeat of Mr. William F. Sheehan as a candidate for United States Senator to succeed Mr. Cauncey M. Depew. Because of the part he played in the fight Mr. Roosevelt became the leader of the Democratic insurgent band in the Legislature. In 1912 Mr. Roosevelt was reelected to the Legislature, returning to Albany with an even more impressive majority.

Defied Tammany. That same year he attracted national attention by his part at the National Democratic Convention in Baltimore, which named Mr. Woodrow Wilson candidate for President. In defiance of the Tammany delegation, which was opposed to Mr. Wilson, Mr. Roosevelt led the fight among’ the New York State delegates for Mr. Wilson’s nomination. With Mr. Wilson’s election came his reward, when the President named him Assistant Secretary of the Navy under Mr Josephus Daniels. Mr. Roosevelt’s record in the Navy Department had been cited by his friends as evidence of his resourcefulness and executive ability. He is credited with introducing many important innovations which proved of value during the war, particularly in the administration of navy yards and protection against submarine attacks. He is an assiduous student of naval history. His libraries at Hyde Park and in his town house at 49 East Sixty-fifth Street are filled with ship models and historical works on the navies of the world. His nomination for Vice-President by the Democrats in 1920 was unanimous. Mr. Roosevelt waged a vigorous fight in the campaign, remaining on the road most of the time. But defeat was in the air and Mr. Roosevelt spent election night at his home in Hyde Park, knowing- beforehand that the Democratic ticket was doomed to failure. With the election over, Mr. Roosevelt resumed his law practice, devoting his spare time to the rehabilitation of the party. Suddenly Stricken 111. In August, 1921, while Mr. Roosevelt was with his family at his summer home, he was stricken suddenly with infantile paralysis. The attack was serious. He was taken back with difficulty to New York,

where for several months his life was despaired of. His fight for life was a remarkable example of courage and patience. He was paralysed from the waist down and his disability was doubly difficult for one who had been a crack tennis player, a swimmer, and general outdooi man. Very slowly he began to recover and gradually regained the use of his legs. To-day he is in good health. He has discarded his crutches and is able to walk with the use of canes and the steel braces which have been fitted to his lower limbs. Yielding to the importunities of the Governor of New York, Mi. Alfred E. Smith, and his friends in 1928, Mr. Roosevelt agreed, much, against his own desire, to run for Governor after he had been told that his candidacy would help to carry the State for the Smith-Robinson ticket. Although Mr. Herbert Hoover carried the State, defeating Governor Smith by a majority of 25,504, Mr. Roosevelt was elected Governor by a majority of 103,481. Throughout his administration as Governor, Mr. -Roosevelt has had to wage the same fight with the Legislature which marked the terms of Governor Smith. Mr. Roosevelt, for more than a year and a half after he assumed office, maintained a complete silence on the question of prohibition. He finally announced himself in favour of the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment and for control of the liquor traffic by the various States. By this time Mr. Roosevelt was being prominently mentioned as the next Democratic Presidential nominee. He declined to announce himself as a candidate, however, and issued a statement in which he declared that he intended to devote himself entirely to his duties as Governor.

Married a Distant Relative. On March 17, 1905, Mr. Roosevelt married Miss Anna Eleanor Roosevelt of New York, a distant relative. She was a first cousin of Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, who gave her away at the wedding ceremony. They have five children, James, Anna, who is Mrs. Curtis B. Dali, of New York; Elliott, Franklin D., Jr., and John A. Roosevelt. In addition to polities and his professional and business connections, Mr. Roosevelt has a wide variety of interests of educational and of public nature. He was a member of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration Commission in 1909, the Plattsburg Centennial Committee in 1913, and of the National Commission for the Pa-nama-Philippine Exposition in 1915. Mr. Roosevelt served as an overseer of Harvard University from 1918 to 1924. He has served as a trustee of Vassal’ College, St. Stephen’s College, and of Cornell University, and as President of the Boy Scout Foundation of New York.