The Little White House

April the 16th! That was my last blog post. I really intended to be more diligent during my summer break, but, as you can see, that did not happen. I had hoped to schedule the post below for the 23rd of April, as we made the trip that is the topic of this post on April the 10th. I don't recall why I didn't make that deadline. But here we are, three months later.

He was not my favorite president: that honor is reserved for either Calvin Coolidge or Ronald Reagan, depending upon my mood. (Given the unprecedented spending binge going on in Washington, DC, Silent Cal currently has the edge.) He was, however, a transformative president. For my parents’ generation, he was THE president. Franklin Delano Roosevelt came to power in 1933, during the third year of the Great Depression, and died, in office, in the twelfth year of his presidency. Though several tried, he was the only president to break George Washington’s precedent of only two full terms as president. Thanks to the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, ratified less than six years after his death, he will remain forever the only president to have done so.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born into a wealthy family. His father, James Roosevelt I, was married to his second cousin, Rebecca Brien Howland. That union produced a son, James Roosevelt. Unfortunately, Rebecca had heart trouble, and died from a heart attack in the 23rd year of the marriage. Four years later he met and married his sixth cousin, Sara Ann Delano. Two years later, Franklin was born, during his father's 54th year. I find it interesting that Franklin continued this tradition of marriage within the family by marrying his fifth cousin once removed, Eleanor Roosevelt.

Franklin was educated by private tutors, and at Groton and Harvard. He entered Columbia Law School, but dropped out after he passed the New York bar exam. After practicing law briefly, he entered the world of politics, following in the footsteps of his fifth cousin, President Theodore Roosevelt. He was in the New York State Senate for two years, then joined the Woodrow Wilson administration as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, for seven years. Roosevelt's plan for his next political office showed extreme ambition: he had his sights set on becoming the Vice President of the United States.

Roosevelt left his position as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in August of 1920, a presidential election year. He had tried to talk Herbert Hoover into running for the presidency, with Roosevelt as his running mate, but Hoover revealed that he was a Republican, and was not inclined to run for the presidency that year. James Cox of Ohio was eventually nominated by the Democratic convention, with Roosevelt as his running mate. This ticket lost to the Warren Harding/Calvin Coolidge Republican ticket.

All that is prologue. The story of Franklin Roosevelt that is most familiar to the public began the following year, 1921, when he was stricken with polio. He was left permanently paralyzed from the waist down, but he had no intention of letting that interfere with his political career. He learned to maneuver for short distances with leg braces, usually supported to one side by an aide. Although his paralysis was not a secret, he was never photographed in a wheelchair. This is where the town of Warms Springs, Georgia, enters the story.

Believing the warm springs in the area to be beneficial, he established a polio rehabilitation center in Warm Springs in 1926. The springs did not cure his disease, but he believed that the springs helped with his symptoms. He eventually built the house that is now called the Little White House in Warm Springs in 1932, while he was still governor of the state of New York. He was inaugurated as President of the United States the following year. It was in this house, on April 12, 1945, at the age of 63, that Roosevelt suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died.

Although the house is a National Historic Landmark, the Little White House is a part of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, State Parks and Historic Sites. In order to get to the house itself, one first passes through the museum. I am not normally fond of that diversionary tactic, but the museum was well done and absolutely worth the visit. The house itself is quite modest, by today's standards, but laid out in a way that I find appealing. I could see retiring in such a house. Of course, the modest size of the house is achievable because of the two adjacent houses: one for visitors, one for servants. In order to exit the grounds, one is forced to go through the gift shop, but the gift shop, like the museum, was well done.

The town of Warm Springs is absolutely charming. We had an excellent lunch at Lightnin' Bugs Bakery and Cafe. I can see visiting this town again.