Today the folks visited the FDR Library/Museum and his home. He was the 32nd President. He was elected four times, but died during his fourth term.
The house that he lived in with Eleanor was his childhood home. It was actually his Mother's home and they moved in with her. It seems that his Mother was very close to him. When he was away at school, she moved a block away from the school so that she could be close to him.
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| The house started out with just the middle part and then the third floor and wings on each side were added as Franklin's family grew. The middle part of the 3rd floor was the children's playroom. They could ride bikes in there. |
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| Back of the house. |
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| View from back of the house. |
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| Entry way |
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| Living room |
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| This is the bed he was born in. He weighed 10 pounds. |
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| His bedroom. Eleanor had her own room. |
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| His favorite dog was a Scottish Terrier |
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| This is where his dog slept. |
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| Garden |
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| His tombstone is the size of the desk that he used. He is buried next to it and not under it. |
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| See the two raised areas? That is him next to the flag and the other is Eleanor. |
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| His favorite dogs; Scottish Terrier and German Shepherd are buried next to the sundial. |
After the tour, the folks ate lunch at the cafe in the visitor's center. They then turned the museum.
FDR was the first President to have a library. Hoover was a President before FDR, but his library was not constructed until 1962. FDR's library was constructed while he was still in office! It opened in 1941. He did it because he wanted to make sure that none of his papers were lost. He actually had an office in the library that he used. It was open to the public. Mom remembers when we visited the George H. W. Bush Library and one of our readers commented that she thought it was odd that he was still alive and had a library. We figured she wasn't a Republican and it bothered her because it was Bush that we were talking about (BOL!) but Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and both Bushes all had their libraries built while they were alive, but they were not still in office like FDR.
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| FDR Library |
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| Hat that FDR wore in all four Presidential campaigns. |
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| Campaign buttons |
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| Bible and glasses |
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| Rocking horse that belonged to FDR as a child. |
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| Fala, FDR's favorite dog. |
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| The is is the office that FDR used in the library. |
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| Painting of his mother. |
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| Fala |
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| Items belonging to Fala. |
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| Photo of Fala |
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| Desk that FDR used in the White House. |
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| He had a lot of stuff on his desk. |
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| FDR painting. |
FDR was stricken with polio in 1921. He worked hard to make it look like he could walk. He usually had a person on one side of him and he used a cane for the other side. There are only four known photos of him in a wheelchair. There is one video that shows him in the wheelchair. It was thought that a person who was disabled did not have a full mind and that is why he worked so hard not to be shown in the chair. It definitely was a different time because now the press would definitely be publishing pictures of him.
He really did a lot for the country. He took over during the depression. He started the CCC, social security, FDIC and other things. He was in office when Pearl Harbor was attacked.
Eleanor was his fifth cousin. Mom thought it was funny that her last name was already Roosevelt. Her middle name is actually Eleanor. Her first name is Anna.
Mom loved that he was a dog lover. She was really thinking he was a great guy. She then learned that he had a mistress. It was Eleanor's secretary. The affair started in 1916 and in 1918, Eleanor found the love letters. She told him they could divorce if he wanted that. His Mother told him there would be no divorce. Eleanor then told him the affair had to end. He said it would. Do you know what though? His mistress was with him on the day that he died in 1945! She wasn't with him when he actually died, but she had been with him earlier in the day. Grrrr! On April 12, 1945, while at Warm Springs, Georgia, he died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
I think the folks are going to visit Val-Kill which is Eleanor Roosevelt's cottage. It was built while FDR was still alive. It was her get away. I guess she needed it to get away from him and his Mother. The woman needed some privacy. She had her own bedroom in the house she shared with FDR, but her mother-in-law's room connected to hers. That seems odd.
Joey,
The Greyhound Who Had A Nice Long Nap Today
