The LuLac Edition #4,716, April 12th, 2022

 

MAYBE I’M AMAZED

 

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FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT EDITION

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that FDR was an avid stamp enthusiast. Collecting stamps was a lifelong passion.  He started up with this hobby around the age of 8. Roosevelt's mother encouraged this activity, having been a collector herself as a child. When FDR contracted polio in 1921, he turned to his stamps as a distraction during his bedridden days. In fact, he once said that "I owe my life to my hobbies—especially stamp collecting."

In the White House, FDR found working on his collection a form of stress relief from the demands of his presidency. He even had the State Department send over envelopes it received so that he reviews the stamps. FDR took an active role in the creation of new stamps as well. He approved more than 200 new stamps during his time in office.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that the 32^nd President dripped out of law school. His undergrad studies seemed to be a piece of cake for him. He only took him three years to earn a bachelor's degree in history from Harvard. FDR then enrolled at Columbia University's school. But he abandoned his legal studies in 1907 after he passed his bar exam. FDR only practiced for a few years before jumping into politics. In 1910, he won his first election to the New York State Senate.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED……he married Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, his fifth cousin once removed, on March 17, 1905. Eleanor was the niece of another of FDR's distant relatives, President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt. President Roosevelt actually walked Eleanor down the aisle at her wedding to FDR, filling in for Eleanor's late father

MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that his first run for national office was a failure. . FDR won the Democratic nomination for vice president in 1920 with James M. Cox, governor of Ohio, as the party's presidential pick. The pair lost out to Republican Warren Harding and his running mate Calvin Coolidge. Their victory was a decisive one, with Harding taking roughly 60 percent of the popular vote and roughly 76 percent of the electoral votes.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…….that when running for president himself, FDR would score several substantial wins of his own. The 1936 election was perhaps his greatest victory, picking up roughly 98 percent of the electoral votes. His opponent, Republican Alfred M. Landon, only won two states, Maine and Vermont.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED….but not really that FDR made history by naming a woman to his Cabinet. He selected Frances Perkins as secretary of labor, Perkins became the first woman to hold a cabinet post in a U.S. presidential administration. She was instrumental in helping Roosevelt with many of his programs, including Social Security. This was the second time FDR had tapped Perkins for a government post. As governor of New York, he picked her to be the state's labor commissioner.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that FDR is the longest serving President. In 1944, FDR was elected to his fourth term. And no one can ever challenge this feat. In 1951, the 22nd Amendment was passed, which limited future presidents to only two terms. The amendment states that “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.” 

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…that Roosevelt’s dog Fala is buried with him and Eleanor in Hyde Park New York on the grounds of the Library.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED….but not really that there are still many Democrats who describe themselves as FDR Dems.  In these turbulent times, it is wise to remember the policies he enacted that improved the lives of Americans.

(Biography, LuLac)