recounts franklin delano roosevelt's last presidential campaign in 1944 to secure his fourth term. mr. weintraub examines the key events that marked his wartime reelection, in which he defeated republican house dewey. this is about 45 minutes. [applause] >> my book is called, as you heard, final victory. final victory suggests that there were nothing but victory is in his life. actually, that wasn't the case. he did have to terms as a state senator from new york state and he became assistant secretary of the navy in a little more one. he then was chosen to be the vice presidential candidate on the democratic ticket in 1920 and the democrats were sure to lose and they lost.

he lost with them, but he thought that this would only energize his career. he had a national visibility. he was going to go on to do other things. but that was 1920. in 1921, he severed polio, he was paralyzed, and the period that we are dealing with now is 23 years until that period of mobility on his part. i don't think the president realized how paralyzed he was that he had no agility physically though he had a good deal of agility verbally. he was a brilliant speaker. she was a brilliant come banner of words and most of the public never knew that he was crippled.

victories were not taken, pictures were not taken of him using braces or crutches. if they were, the press was discreet. they didn't do such things back then. today they would be less discreet. but ideally the public thought they didn't really know very well. he gave speeches on the radio. there was no television yet. they had fireside chats and he had no fireside. the people he spoke to more not near any fireside either. this was just the make believe that was in the media at the time. he gave a tremendous number of press conferences during his

presidency. nearly a thousand press conferences and he did say by sitting behind his desk people them to realize he sat behind his desk because he couldn't stand up. they just accepted it for what it was. he was very astute with what he said and during world war ii when there were problems about the crisis and shortages and so on, he knew exactly what to say and when to say it. for example, at one point he tried to stress that the prices of things were not very high. he said someone visited me who was a four men. you can imagine a foreign he

said he kim tammie. i said what is the trouble? the cost of living? well, i said do you see what i've got? of got a dollar in the quarter. that is an outrage. when have you been by teeing asparagus in january? he said i never thought of that. i said tell that to the old lady with my compliments. someone at a press conference said is that the same guy? no, that was someone else. of course they all make believe that a lot of the communications to the public was make-believe the real communication dealt with more significant matters.

for example we went through the worst in our history. the worst war in our history and he was the president when they to get out of them as they did. pithead but 1944 he said we are long past that is dealing with the safety net. we have to deal with dr. win the war. there's still parto net that hasn't been established, the g.i. bill. the g.i. bill was in congress in 1943 before the election and many conservatives in congress would claim the g.i. bill would stifle the urge of the veterans to go work. they didn't need it.

well, the g.i. bill was actually drafted and written by a former chairman of the republican national committee and had a hard time getting to congress. reza bald finally had to go to the congressman from georgia, and the g.i. bill passed by one vote. it's possibly the most significant legislation of mobility in the history of the country, and was written by a republican legislation. we have an equivalent now. it was written by republicans for romney.

it is obamacare with very few words changed, but here we are in 1944 and the last year of world war ii. world war ii in 1944 was not yet. we had been invading in the central pacific with the japanese taken over earlier in the war. we hadn't yet landed in europe and it wouldn't be until june 6, 1944 which i remember because my wedding anniversary is the tenth anniversary of d-day. i don't know that has to say about marriage, but in any case, i won't forget the anniversary. the result of the war at this point was that roosevelt felt

that he had to continue. the war had to be one and the peace after that had to be one so there is somebody else to take the case. he knew he wasn't well. in the cover of my book shows roosevelt the way he actually looked in 1944. behind me is a flattering picture of roosevelt supposedly than early in 1945 and it looks like a campaign poster. roosevelt's colors were great and he had lost 19 pounds in the previous year. he said you need to get a check out. he said i get a check of

everyday by the surgeon general of the navy. he said he comes in every day and checks me out. he came in every day and he was a physician what is emt? your nose and throat. that is what he did. he didn't check his blood pressure or his temperature. he didn't check anything else. if the surgeon journal of the navy was a big man and he was good going to count, he had to say because the badgering franklin was taken to the bethesda naval hospital. it was almost knew at that time. he was taken there with his

wheelchair. his wheelchair was an old kitchen chair. he didn't want to be seen in a conventional wheelchair because he didn't want to be a cripple so he sat in the wheelchair and he was pushed along in the kitchen chair. you can see that kitchen chair here in washington because it shows him sitting in it and you see the wheels on the kitchen chair. the bethesda naval hospital recall the conditions. a young of doctor and york was then the commander of the navy and was called in as a heart surgeon he said roosevelt is in bad shape indeed.

he may not live out the year. the first thing we have to do is the only thing we can do to combat high blood pressure. things have changed a great deal then howard bloom said he has to be cut down to one cocktail a day. he loves his martinis which he would have at children's hour which was 5:00. because traditionally many adults would send their children out when they had their drinks. he was told he had to give up smoking. as you see the iconic figure in his hand in the portrait behind me he bargained for five

cigarettes a day. so instead of the two packs he told harry the chief assistant i'm down to five cigarettes a day and they taste just as horrible as ever but he couldn't give up his addiction and he continued that way. somehow he survived this additional restriction and he was able to continue on. but he would like to to have somebody take his place as a candidate and there were not very many people were eager for the job. he was so powerful figure in the government that he overshadowed everybody else in politics that people aspire to for that job. the onetime chairman of the democratic party and the then

postmaster general said he didn't feel up to the job. another person went to the job was henry wallace who was vice president, but he wasn't going to be given the task. he was considered flaky. that is another story. a conservative in the south that wanted the job was harry byrd of virginia. in the democratic national convention in july of 1944, he actually carried the states, the southern states in the convention but when roosevelt carried all the other states, the chairman of the convention center jackson the senator from indiana said i now would like to clear this unanimous. so of course has all the others

changed their votes and he was voted unanimously as the presidential candidate he had wanted though he couldn't get anybody interested up with him to be a candidate for. no one knew whether he was a democrat or republican. who was carter's? you may remember him if you're old enough as the industrial shipbuilder that built the ships on the liberty ships. it was a few years after world war ii it was on the victory shipped with seven bunks and you didn't want to be on that side of the bond because the rocky ocean. you know what happened there. in any case they continue for

many years to be used after the war. he was a brilliant man and a brilliant industrialist. there was no competition. roosevelt had to be the candidate. the candidate of a set of him on the republican side was tom dewey, the governor of new york. he only the governor of new york for two years. at this point he had been the attorney general in new york. he had no military experience. i don't think -- he wasn't really prepared to be a wartime president but he was the most popular candidate some other people wanted the job. the very conservative governor of ohio wanted the job and they gave him the consolation prize of being the vice presidential candidate. the senator from ohio wanted the job but nobody wanted him.

wendell willkie was made the nominee. he was again in 1952 and he became close by dwight eisenhower as a presidential candidate for the republicans. so roosevelt had a young man 20 years younger than he was and who looked energetic to run against him and he had to find a way to look energetic, too. his pictures didn't make him look very good. he was at camp pendleton california at the time of the democratic convention in chicago. he didn't want to be at chicago at the time. in the car that he used to traveling across the country,

microphones had been set up so he could give a speech accepting the nomination, he and she did. several reporters and cameramen were allowed to listen to the speech and to take his portrait. the picture taken made them look so hazard that they lost the election for him. that morning that he gave his acceptance speech later on he called to his son who is a marine major then at camp pendleton help me i have terrible pain. he had apparently a seizure but nobody knew. the doctor was in another part of the train. he said lee me down on the

floor. james lead him down on the floor. he said after a while i am beginning to feel better. help me out. and he was held up and assisted to the convertible that had been in the car in one of the railroad cars to travel to the camp pendleton area where they were going to take place for the marines in the invasion of japan. he was at those maneuvers. he looked okay then. of course nobody is wrong except for the distance but his speech was accepting the nomination. it didn't sound very good. he needed to show some effort physical strength so he traveled to hawaii from california. he lives near pearl harbor and visited other places in hawaii.

she met general macarthur to discuss the future of the war. he deliberately traveled to the hospitals then in a conventional wheelchair so he could see the troops and they could see them. he wanted troops that had been disabled to see that he was a diet that had overcome such disability and was a rare occasion that someone saw him like that. i don't think that any pictures were allowed. no pictures taken. he went from hawaii to alaska and they went to the islands captured by the japanese and had been evacuated, but when he was occupied by the canadian american troops, they found that they had been left behind by the

japanese and they became a campaign after that because they got around and turned to the seattle area from alaska traveling about 14,000 miles. this is a very sick man traveling 14,000 miles going out fishing and so on. pictures taken showing him doing this. the problem became he not only made another speech from the naval base that sounded bad, she was drafted from the shipping. but also there was a report based on those japanese that he had left behind his own fellow in the islands and they took millions of dollars in warships to go off and rescue and this

was used by republican congressmen for having to the views the defense. well, it wasn't true. and it turned out not to be true but it gives him a terrific campaign issue, and the result was that the first major speech he gave when he returned from his trip was to a group in washington, d.c. i believe it was the teacher's union annual convention. he talked with them and he said towards the end of the speech don't put this in. it's not a good idea. he said i will live it and he did carried he said of course i don't resent the tax but soon

the republican and congress had concocted the story that left behind from the islands and send the story to find him at the cost of tax payers or $20 million they were serious. she hadn't been the same sense. they said roosevelt is backing. this is the old roosevelt, and he determined to take the speech. he didn't repeat that. everybody knew about that. he determined to take his campaign rigorously to the big cities and went again.

he was lifted into it. they are waving to the thousands and millions of viewers and they were just amazed at his remarkable stamina to be able to do this. of course that remarkable stamina rose but heated. he did the same thing. he delivered to camden and also campaigning there. then the loss of chicago mayor kelly said you've got to come to

chicago and show the midwest that you are vigorous and able to be president for another four years. so he got on the train again and went to chicago. chicago was even worse. this is now towards the end of october. he went to soldier field, which wasn't yet the home of the chicago bears as it is now but it was an open stadium vessey to over 100,000 people. there were at least 100,000 more outside and the cold wind blew in from lake michigan. the temperature was zero. he drove them to soldier field on the platform where they were microphones and he spoke from his car to the crowd outside and

they were amazed at his vigor to point out the safety net, the social safety net available for the veterans and was important to have the amenities they needed not just as he had enunciated earlier that the economic freedoms and the public was amazed at his vitality. it still wasn't enough because there were rumors spread by the oversight that he was a diamond to veto by ian man. then he went to boston and the home of the red sox and one of the people that introduced him who was then a major star frank

sinatra sing america the beautiful. frank sinatra by that time was not only a hero but he had a son whom he named franklin roosevelt sinatra. one doesn't realize that because later on as he became wealthier he also changed his party designation and as a result frank sinatra jr. came along the way. he changed his name and became frank sinatra, jr.. but roosevelt returned to hyde park and the feeling that he had done very well and he did. she was helped by the soldier vote. i have a whole chapter in the book on the soldier's load. how did they go and where they

restricted from building? we have problems now in the current season to restrict the vote because you want to restrict the vote of people in this case the soldiers may have voted for the commanders in chief. the absentee ballot and four and a half million soldiers and sailors and marines voted. it was a tremendous number that was able to vote and there were all kinds of and later on i became the officer and i found out what was then.

i had to sign the back of the envelope with my name and rank and serial number. soldiers did much the same thing and you're looking at pacific in world war ii. i wanted to put something about the soldiers showed there's a whole chapter on it, and a number of people interviewed about how they voted. many veterans especially sailors said because he was a navy man and that puzzled me at first because of a navy man was assistant secretary of the navy during world war i so he was a navy man, and he wanted very much to join the marines and go over and fight but woodrow wilson wouldn't let him. he said we need you here, we need you at home as assistant

secretary. so he went over towards the end to inspect the troops and see what he could but he never was in a fighting situation. he was a navy man. a lot of troops voted the other way but they said that's the way my family voted. they didn't really know much about either candidate, and roosevelt was the overwhelming favorite so one chapter deals with the soldiers showed. but another chapter, check my time making we are okay, another chapter deals with the the event in the election in other seasons it was unpatriotic.

roosevelt or his government at least had the secretary of the communist party and the violations. in 1942 towards stalin who was then our ally who might not have needed him that he was there, and this was a gesture for stalin. the result was the republicans' attack roosevelt and said the person that is going to sit at his side if he is reelected. this is of course nonsensical but nevertheless, it was declared and people accepted this. the other problem was that roosevelt was unpatriotic because he had failed at pearl

harbor and he knew what had gone on. conspiracy theories are very common. we love conspiracies and read about them all the time and listen and watch about them on tv. the japanese military could be in the pearl harbor and do nothing about. that was not true. we had broken the diplomatic code before pearl harbor and he knew a week or ten days before pearl harbor the japanese are going to break relations with us in that very likely meant the concept. general marshall and admiral king, i'm sorry, the admiral hooley he -- admiral leahy sent

to the posts in the pacific saying this is a warning that looks like the japanese media on alert 24/7. this will send on november 27th. pearl harbor was november 7th. nobody was on the alert on the cables. nobody was on the alert until the admiral and general short in charge of pearl harbor on sunday morning. five minutes before 8:00. they also were not on the alert. general macarthur was asleep in his bed and he didn't believe it. pearl harbor, they couldn't have

done at. and of course within hours she was attacked in the beginning of the invasion that have occurred. that was the diplomatic code. we didn't break the military code until after pearl harbor, but it did result because we know the japanese movements at midway. nevertheless, tom dewey wanted to attack roosevelt having known about the military event, and what was the president going to do? general macarthur, i'm sorry, general marshall intervened without roosevelt knowing and got a message to dewey physically sending somebody saying if you break the news

that we have now broken the military code this will be a great advantage to the germans and the japanese because the ambassador of japan in berlin is sending messages constantly to tokyo about what he is learning from hitler and he is sending it in the codes we have broken with they don't know that we've broken at. he said i really don't believe you, but i have no evidence otherwise. he spoke with his advisers and set dangerous. you have to stop it and there was never any effort to attack roosevelt for having closed pearl harbor or for having had known of the codes that were the result of pearl harbor's attacked. there are a lot of things in here that we learn perhaps not for the first time that we were

in the context of the election. there is one thing that i find quite fascinating almost unbelievable but it exists in the dewey campaign scrapbook which is at the university of rochester library. they kept all of the letters to the editor, cartoons, everything that was very valuable to have those in their scrapbooks and the curious predictions about the election came in and editor than from the newspaper and syracuse. bertrand was the name of the signer. he wrote the president would be the elected by the smallest plurality given in this campaign. that is the smallest popular vote while that is that the

other side. it is still a good vote. he also claimed that the unforeseen circumstance would cause both japan and germany to come to their knees within six months. what wasn't six months that it wasn't much beyond that. it was in the position to know he had died 1910. he showed and predicted the seance. is that a contribution to history? nevertheless it is curious that i thought i had to put in, so he died in 1910 from the electoral vote closely roosevelt did win. he received 432 electoral votes

in 99. that is a big difference but it doesn't respect the electoral vote which is closer than that. nevertheless, roosevelt won until he conceded the election and roosevelt finally heard in the early hours of the morning not that we conceded roosevelt but be conceded that he hadn't won and he was told that by one of the secretaries, and roosevelt said i still think she is an easy some of the bitch and that was his last statement about tom dewey. he was regulated again on january 20 at in this small inauguration ceremony he was not in good shape and 83 days later he died. april 12th, 1945, and harry

truman became president. let me stop there. if you have questions i will be glad to answer them thank you for meeting the year. [applause] >> questions? >> for the whole concept about the public not knowing -- you can drive the platform. how is that in a small group? did people realize that disability was or how was that none?

there is a set she could have been a convertible, but on other occasions he stood up to speak and they learn how to do this. the assistance got him up and standing and back down again and people didn't realize that he was standing on heavy braces. but by the time of adults the which was the conference in 1945 he couldn't wear them any more. they were too heavy and uncomfortable. he lost to much weight and when he came back and reported to congress he apologized for the congressman and said you must excuse me for sitting down because it is too much for me now. that is the first time that he ever confessed that in public and people must have known at that point that he wouldn't make a four year term.

>> how much would be that the election of truman? how much does the book going to the decision to select truman and was that something that fdr was in involved in? >> call truman became nominated? truman turns out to be on the campaign trail because he is very feisty and didn't need to have the compared remarks and he was good at speaking off the cuff. truman was a compromise candidate. there was a compromise because none of the conservatives which were then democratic and it's the same conservatives that change none of them would have accepted. on the other hand, james byrnes

who was other person that roosevelt burton for vice president wouldn't have been accepted by the north. the liberal north didn't want burns who was a south carolinian who was a racist a bigot, and he had also changed his religion, he was catholic to married and the catholics in the north wouldn't have accepted him, so he was out, too. it turns out they wanted somebody who would fall between the cracks as they put. somebody who didn't have a lot of enemies and that turned out to be harry truman. truman didn't want the job. he felt he was going to go into something over his head. he didn't want the job taken away but she was holding the second three nfl office for.

truman didn't meet roosevelt often during the campaign. a couple times that was about it. they didn't discuss the future. they did not discuss truman becoming president. but truman told one of his friends as they left the white house on one occasion i had a nightmare the president died. it was a nightmare and nothing he felt was in his ambition but he succeeded as an accidental president. >> i want to thank everyone for coming in a few additional questions and would like to look at the but there's copies over here mr. weintraub will be signing so please join me one more time for having stanley

weintraub tonight. [applause]