75th Anniversary of FDR's Second Inaugural and a New Inauguration Day January 20, 2012 marks the 75th anniversary of Franklin Roosevelt's Second Inaugural Address. It also marks the first time that a president was sworn in on January 20th, the date having been moved by the 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Previously, American … Continue reading Found in the Archives
Do you remember your childhood excitement when you received an invitation to a party? Imagine how exciting it would be to receive an invitation to a party at the White House! While Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt’s children were all adults during the White House years, two of their grandchildren lived for a time in the … Continue reading Found in the Archives
First President to Fly in/Steer a Blimp? Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first sitting president to ride in an airplane, an occasion marked by a very long overseas flight to attend the 1943 Casablanca conference. FDR’s distant cousin, Theodore, was the first president ever to fly, a trip that took place back in 1910 shortly … Continue reading Found in the Archives
How the Roosevelts Spent Christmas, 1936 As the holiday season approaches, we often get asked for details about how the Roosevelts spent Christmas in the White House. This memorandum describes the plans for Christmas 1936, including how the White House was decorated, the First Family's schedule and house guests, and even procedures for opening presents. … Continue reading Found in the Archives
What was President Franklin Roosevelt doing on December 7, 1941, before he learned of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor? Which advisers did he summon when he realized that America was on the brink of war? Most Americans know where the President was on December 8th, but where was he on December 6th . . … Continue reading Franklin D. Roosevelt Day by Day
The Thanksgiving Before War, 1941 It was Franklin Roosevelt's yearly tradition to go back to Warm Springs, Georgia, and celebrate Thanksgiving with the patients and staff at the polio rehabilitation center he had founded there. The patients would always prepare a little program with skits and songs, and FDR would carve the turkeys himself. Thanksgiving … Continue reading Found in the Archives
Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Thanksgiving Proclamation At the beginning of Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency, Thanksgiving was not a fixed holiday; it was up to the President to issue a Thanksgiving Proclamation to announce what date the holiday would fall on. President Abraham Lincoln had declared Thanksgiving a national holiday on the last Thursday in November … Continue reading Found in the Archives
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and "Chief" Charles Alfred Anderson, 1941 In 1941, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt flew with one of America's first black pilots, Charles Alfred Anderson, over Tuskegee, Alabama. Mrs. Roosevelt's flight was well-publicized, and it demonstrated to the public and the military that African Americans could be competent pilots. Shortly after the flight, … Continue reading Found in the Archives
Armistice Day, November 11,1941 On November 11, 1941 - seventy years ago - President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his Armistice Day Address at the Amphitheater at the sacred site of Arlington National Cemetery. Although this annual event was a presidential tradition, the speech this year took on special meeting, for the world was again aflame … Continue reading Found in the Archives
The following is an excerpt from the Fall 2009 Rendezvous article, “Eleanor Roosevelt at 125,” by Allida Black: In 1962, as ER battled fatal illness, she also sought to complete her final call to action. In Tomorrow is Now, she dared us to recognize the power we had as citizens and to use our power … Continue reading 49th Anniversary of Eleanor Roosevelt’s Death
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