Franklin Delano Roosevelt has been heralded by many as one
of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States. However, he was
one of the men who directed the nation down the road toward socialism. He was a
child of privilege, and attended private boarding school and Harvard
University. At Harvard he was introduced to progressivism under the presidency
of Charles Eliot. When he left Franklin began his political career when he ran for and won
a seat in the New York state senate. At this time in history, the Republican
Party was split between progressives and conservatives. The progressives were
led by Franklin’s cousin, Theodore Roosevelt. Because of this split, the
Democrat Party won the election. Franklin ran on a platform to drive out
political corruption.
One of his goals was to break the influence of the Tammany
Hall democrat political machine in New York City. The movie Gangs of New York shows how this
political machine ran the city of New York under Boss Tweed in the 1800s.
Tammany Hall was the building where the Society of Tammany, founded in 1789,
met. It was a fraternal order along the lines of the Freemasons which was
determined to further the cause of liberty and the union of the several states.
This group of men eventually gained political influence over the city and would
buy votes for the Democratic Party from unions and immigrants.
Franklin’s battle with Tammany Hall attracted the attention
of Louis
Howe, who became the key adviser of both Franklin and Eleanor until his
death in 1936. Howe began his career as a journalist at his father’s democratic-leaning
magazine; The Sun. Howe was covering
the New York state legislature for the New
York Herald when he met Roosevelt. Howe was impressed with Franklin’s tenacity
and charisma. He believed that Franklin had the potential to become president.
As a state Senator, Franklin not only opposed Tammany Hall,
including their candidate for U.S. Senate; but also defended the farmers in his
district, who were mostly Republican, with progressive legislation. Most of his
policies were progressive. Like Teddy, Franklin held that the government could
help to gain equality in society and protect people from monopolies in business
and political machines. He was able to win re-election in 1912, but he did not
finish his term. He had campaigned for Woodrow Wilson for president, who won
the election because Teddy Roosevelt’s progressive Bull Moose Party had split
the Republican vote. Wilson’s secretary
of the Navy, Josephus Daniels, asked Franklin to be his assistant; and he
accepted.
Franklin made Louis Howe his assistant. He worked toward
improving the United States’ military. He also strongly lobbied with the Wilson
administration to enter World War I in 1917 and managed the Navy’s involvement
in the war. In my previous post on Woodrow
Wilson, one can see how Wilson used the war effort to institute a great
many progressive policies.
During his service in the Wilson administration, he
continued to participate in politics. He ran for U.S. Senate in 1914 but was
defeated because the Tammany Hall machine did not forget his efforts to break
up its power. He ran as the vice-presidential candidate in 1920 with James Cox,
but they lost to the Republican – Warren Harding. Roosevelt then returned to
the private sector and worked for a financial firm.
FDR’s personal life also went through a bit of turmoil
during this period. Eleanor was tired of having children, five of them.
Franklin had an affair with his social secretary, Lucy Mercer. Eleanor found
out about the affair, and offered Franklin a divorce. He did not grant the
divorce because a divorced politician at that time was doomed to failure.
Therefore, Franklin and Eleanor remained married for political and social
reasons.
Franklin’s star was on the rise. His charisma and his
ability to strike a deal made him popular among progressive democrats. Eleanor
and Louis Howe will prove to be staunch allies in Franklin’s quest for
political power. The
Miller Center
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