the. >> but washington is the only place where sound travels faster than might. i know it is a fast place kind of place and i appreciate you coming and we have a copy of the book so if you would like to read one piece take a look at

that. please stand adjourned to. [applause] >> we now have secular norman said of theological board that governs our acceptance or rejection the way our god can speak to people and what impact. we have the davidians david koresh says he has special insight to the bible a and this helps other members of the community understand the bible better and allows them to understand they live in the times. >> that by itself does got saved to be a problem but

when it is indeed to other elements, if that trigger of the law enforcement concern and the popular press then the idea somebody listening to god is dangerous from the norms and that needs to be policed a and controlled.

>> stanley weintraub an award winning author ruth more than 50 highly acclaimed books including pearl harbor christmas 11 days in december and final victory and i actually remember when i was young undergraduate student reading a young folks on queen victoria so a man of many talents. the national book award finalist and a guggenheim fellow in the three time recipient from the pennsylvania humanities council living in delaware with his wonderful wife. i am pleased to welcome him to the stage so he could talk about his book "young mr. roosevelt" after he takes your questions he will be outside here in the lobby i am sure he will be happy to sign all the books you go by because you are inspired

by his top. ladies and gentlemen, stanley weintraub. [applause] >> fourth term presidential campaign we were near the end of world war ii and many soldiers, 11 billion in uniform, i wanted to find out they voted and why they voted the way they did.

i had teams of people around the country i also asked people who went through that period how they voted. quite a number said i voted for roosevelt because he is the navy man. that surprised me i did not expect that. i decided i would go back to find out what kind of a navy man he was. this book is the of results. very often the subject for a future book emanates from the previous book or the research know better examples could be found in he was a navy man i don't think he expected to be and

-- a navy man at the start although he wanted to go to annapolis. his father was rather elderly, a middle-aged middle-aged, wealthy, "esqui re" did not want his only son by a second marriage, he had a son by a first marriage, did not want him to be away at sea during his defying years and he refused the idea that roosevelt should go to annapolis for the navy. early on roosevelt had no big ambitions his father was one of the few democratic roosevelt. they were basically teddy roosevelt republicans. his father was a donor to the democratic party and

when young fdr was four or five years old, he was taken by his father to the warehouse to meet grover cleveland the first democratic president since the civil war. not one that anybody could have the and proud of. to say i have one wish for you that you will never become president of united states. [laughter] he was be set by all sorts of political troubles. roosevelt had no ambition but suddenly theodore roosevelt became president. he was running for vice president, and mckinley was shot in the theater became

president. the first entry into politics the young franklin made was he joined the young republican club as a freshman and did the campaign for cousin ted. he stayed with the young republicans just long enough for roosevelt to be elected. he was reasonably close and when roosevelt was about to be married to his fifth cousin he was close letter -- closer related to a theater than eleanor. he offered to have them buried in the white house. faber rejected that idea and were not married in the white house but roosevelt admirers theodore roosevelt very much.

he was the domestic reformer and energetic and active man interested in all kinds of things and roosevelt was especially interested in having then the assistant secretary of the navy. that was the first big event in roosevelts young life that he remembered. he had no idea she would become assistant secretary himself. he had graduated from harvard he went into law practice the first year he got no pay at all. then he got a small salary then came an opportunity.

even though he admired his uncle ted and but the democratic party in this part of new york state needed a candidate for state senate. it did not look like he could win any way but as a president -- roosevelt he could sustain the campaign cineaste if he would be a candidate. he agreed. it cost a little more than $2,000 he hired a chauffeur and a car he hired a down and out journalist and strangely enough he won. he did not expect it to he ran for reelection having

like the idea being in the state senate and won again by a bigger majority. said in 1912 it was in the country. because woodrow wilson was running on the democratic ticket the former president of brinson. -- princeton. they were split and a local ted was the uncle of eleanor he was out of office four years and pushed into office with one of his cronies william howard taft that proved to be a disappointment he was more interested in the business community and theodore decided he wanted to run again. the party did not want him to read was against tradition to run a third term but he broke from the party and forms the progressive party he was

asked about his health and his condition and he said ims strong as a bull moose and that was the mascot. the bull moose party in the republican party split the vote will send only one with 41 percent in 1912 but he won. then he had to find a cabinet. you look for your political cronies and give them positions. a newspaper publisher wanted to be postmaster general because they're required very little work and gave the opportunity to appoint postmaster's all over the

country to give you a lot of political clout. he said i am sorry but there is someone else i will make postmaster general but there is a job open for years -- for you as secretary of the navy. he knew no naval terms and had never sailed to north carolina was inland so he took the job as secretary of the navy. at the democratic convention of 1912 if tenniel's matt young roosevelt was very active to get them to vote and he felt this is my guy.

he hedges sale lot off the coast of maine and just that person besides uncle ted was assistant secretary of the navy when mckinley was first president. so roosevelt was delighted to take the job. then a visitor came the senior senator from new york state. he said it is pretty dangerous to appoint a roosevelt. they always want to take over anything fade get he is not a good choice. for that is what daniels wanted. he did not know anything about the navy. besides what he viewed the wanted to do was to do

publicity for the new president he told roosevelt he would make him assistant secretary and when he was away giving speeches roosevelt is the acting secretary of the navy. this is a great opportunity for fdr to take the job and came to washington and discovered the senate had confirmed them. he returned when he was confirmed and one of the early pictures shows tenniel's and franklin stinting on the back of the navy department called the executive office building it now has eisenhower's name in front of it looking out

across to is a warehouse from the long bond ledger he took a picture of the two of them looking out over the balcony in roosevelt had a smile the camera man snapped the picture and daniel said i know what you are smiling at. you were looking at the white house thinking someday i will live there. this was pretty early in his career for ambitions like that and i and pressure he had them but uncle ted was very proud and in fact, when he ran for state senate theodore roosevelt got in touch with one of roosevelt's cousins and seven of my campaign in the district that franklin is running in other words, he was giving him the opportunity.

that was not a happy circumstance for his son's. roosevelt had four sons he wanted them to become important in politics and in the military and he wanted them not to have a rifle with franklin and tear roosevelts family did not think much of him. they thought he was a lightweight and would not make it the way theodore's sons would make it to a and they would call him a feather duster, a light weight because his initials were f.d. [laughter] became the energetic assistant secretary of the navy but everything was contrary to what did ministration wanted. roosevelt was interested in

foreign affairs the anneals was the isolationist the president was the isolationist secretary of state william jennings bryan who had ran three times unsuccessfully was secretary of state and an isolationist and roosevelt knew the war was coming and he wanted to prepare the navy it was hard to get along with the big rigs that were superior. one of the reasons is what dingell's did not expect, when he went away and fdr became assistant secretary the add rules that were interested to boost the navy and modernize would sent memoranda and tell dan

is -- daniels was a way in brazil would sign them summit was pretty much see opposite of what the of fenestration wanted a and he modernized the navy. it was a coal-fired navy antique yet it cost a great deal of money. 20 percent of the federal budget hard to believe 20 percent went to the navy. of this is a very important job when it came to spending money so if you are collectors period no keeping shows up costs money this is what the navy was. roosevelt began arranging contracts for new coal-fired warships and in 1914 just before brodeur war one began in europe he was at the

brooklyn navy yard presiding over the battleship arizona one of the first modern battleships he may remember it would come to roosevelt attention again later ready because president december 7th 1941 to the japanese think it to the bottom of pearl harbor where it still is but it is the beginning of his crusade to improve then maybe he was not disloyal he liked the economic policies of woodrow wilson the federal reserve system and on one occasion as acting secretary of the navy he went to retting pennsylvania to present them

with the anchor of the cruiser that was sunk in havana harbor in cuba. it was being distributed to please -- to places that they've wanted to go democratic many of them were phony. there were many phony artifacts including his law but roosevelt said this was the authentic acre and he said he represented the administration for the 99% of the people did frustration that only represented the 1%. this was 1914 in redding pennsylvania and as far as i know it is the first time that political gem of a quotation was used

used, 99 percent and 1% it was franklin roosevelt that has claimed that. some complained that i referred to president barack obama in my book which did not belong and i did not he will not find obamacare at all in the index put the receiver thought that was the case because i referred to the 99% that automatically registered to the critic as obama but it was not but hit shows out a tune she was to the electorate that early in his career. he moved ahead to modernize the navy as best he could. he had his political advisor sunday york state with him and and like the little man that stayed with him from

the 1920's and as his first term as president very capable and interesting who made a politician out of roosevelt he was everything that franklin was not. when roosevelt came into the navy department he discovered the navy secretary was the isolationist and also a teetotaler he wanted to take said navy of of alcohol altogether. servicemen like they're drinking and in fact, in world war i and it turns out that the british army had rule on days that a range soldiers could have a pot of rum to warm them up. said debt warmed to them up enough that almost every day during the war the british

army declared there was rain someplace. [laughter] and soldiers got the room. daniels did not like that idea. he went to be an alcoholic beverages all together and when the navy department brass wind to newport were arriving for an inspection the admiral sidled up to the bar with the secretary and ask him what would you like to drink? he said white rum that was the brand of new york state's spring water. what were they to do? they ordered light truck.

then they became a teetotaler navy that was one of the most firms things ted daniels managed to do because much of the operation despite policy rendered by the secretary was under the command of franklin he canceled contracts and labor relations did was in charge of the navy yard and in a position to do a great many things that was useful because if you had a navy yard in your district you had a lot of people the implied and if you were building of the navy employe even more. so roosevelt got to have a lot of political clout very quickly. but word came august 1914 woodrow wilson was not concerned william jennings bryan was not concerned after all we have an

emotional sides franklin ruled the panama canal was still one year from being opened and a navy on each side of the country but they could not communicate with each other. we had a helpless navy and it was anticancer army was even worse it was even smaller than the army of portugal we were not in a position to get involved in the border we would get involved rather reflected not and as the ships were sunk regularly especially in the atlantic by german submarines many contained passengers that were americans of this became brutally known to americans when the passenger liner was sunk in 1915.

many americans died and its was sold within the shores of ireland in doing something about modernization. even at the senior admirals because they hated britain. and of course, what is in the revolution they threatened to go to war after the civil war they've made advances their with the last century to the late 1890's and when an admiral

was finally sent to london said chief of naval operations to do very little anything said don't trust the british of a just as soon fight the british than the germans which gives you an idea how strong the opposition was to aid britain and but it needed help sooner or later the germans were making overtures to a mexico offering the opportunity to take back the southwest if they joined the war on the german side. this became known through the notorious zimmerman pact that was found out by the

british their spies had finished and this change a lot of the attitude in the country about the germans. we had a big german population and they were hot style. roosevelt let britain without telling wilson did bills 30 destroyers just after they were forced into the of war because they needed them for submarine patrol. the navy did not want to do convoys. roosevelt insisted they saved ships but you need patrol boats and destroyers. the landing of 30 destroyers

was first detected then they realized it was quite necessary in they raise the number up that 36 so there was the beginning of his program of the 1940's when we had 50 destroyers. some of you may be old enough to remember that happening. of what of what he did prefigured his administration as president but he did not want to be assistant secretary to the navy but wanted to be in uniform. uncle ted had written him a note to say you must get into uniform summer he went to daniel said wilson they

needed it at home they wanted him to stay where he was a and convinced him or forced him into realizing if he was only a lieutenant commander or a lieutenant colonel in the marines and they were under the navy he would be nothing. it is a minor opportunity. he was really an effective charge of the navy. so he stayed as assistant secretary of the navy but he did want to be involved in the war somehow. he finally managed to reason. the biggest most effective force we had once we got into the war sending

hundreds of ships to france were the marines. the only body that was professional to know with the ruling in roosevelt saw how there we're behaving he convinced daniels to expect the navy to see what they we're doing very interested in aeronautics that were primitive he wanted to see how all the navy's harm was doing. he did not think they needed the ambush at all. but roosevelt insisted he went overseas by destroyer

and went across the channel he visited after just a link to a terrible siege it was still being fired on in to be under fire but to beat under fire that date attacked ships in the channel. once they were in and go for is the navy ships lake the arizona that were involved were of no use. have no role of sea warfare.

he had an idea why not take the 14 and 16-inch guns and move some of them to the flat cars that could be used as a traveling artillery to the front lines? favor done that way and successful they would say can i be in uniform? of be glad to make you aide lt. cmdr that was true. he campaigned right to to the end of the war to get into uniformity could not do it. we were equally far from reality various kinds of

inventors came to the navy department to help the of war effort. what could they do to spee victory? they came up with creasy inventions, all kinds of encounters, well-known and unknown and came to the navy. and nothing much one idea come from a rather crazy person from western powers pennsylvania who said he could turn water into gasoline. to make it possible for cheap fuel for oil fired ships.

he brought a lawyer case the contract would be signed and sure enough he turned water into a real -- into oil. they thought it was an amazing operation i have a chapter in the book. but he disappeared after that. they wanted to sign a contract with him but they said that detectives after him and nobody knows to this day how he managed to turn water into oil. maybe he did not but if he didn't he pulled over all over their eyes and this might have worked. one idea that came to

roosevelt was that we could use the approach to england from the english channel and remind them which would keep said german submarines from entering the atlantic to do the damage they we're doing. help 1.it was more ships then we could build the roosevelt kept insisting it would work. finally he managed to get them to agree. and it was a very expensive proposition like the manhattan project with the and equivalents of the money in fall because it meant building hundreds of thousands of mines and shipping them across and

planting them in the north sea and the english channel. inventor came with the 80th of the proximity fuse so if they would not have to touch a submarine but just be in the vicinity and their proximity to you made it work. but this was close to the end of the war. this would have been a completed project roosevelt came home from the first trip to europe very sick. in 1917 or 1918 the influenza epidemic began to ravage the overall.

he was is ill on the way home. he was so ill that some getting on tuesday troop ships were buried at sea. some funeral services were held at the box and then buried in france. he was very ill to go home and was taken off the ship in new york city and his mother's hair and his wife was there isn't they took him to the apartment in new york city with a doctor to take care of him and the doctor turned out to be a former classmate. they were classmates of his all over the place. he was so ill there was nothing he could do to

unpack his luggage so very kindly if they found a packet of letters from eleanor former social secretary. he was involved with lucy for about a year at that point. the women did not know if this. roosevelt fought it was a secret but lucy sent him letters and he kept them which was a mistake tied up with a ribbon and they were found. lucy was a beautiful young woman who needed work in the socially connected, eleanor as the wife with the biggest budget in washington needed somebody to help her with various social activities.

at the same time eleanor was fed up with pregnancies. she had six and five children. one child died and that was franklin, jr.. there was a second franklin, jr. after that so there were two of them. she decided the only birth control possible was separate bedrooms so they had separate bedrooms roosevelt a handsome young man interested in women found suze was available and and also got suspicious that she fired lucy but that did not mean that she

disappeared. she worked at the navy department then she joined the navy. actually she was in uniform and and of all things was assigned to the navy department. you think maybe she had influence. [laughter] daniels was also suspicious and after a few months lucy was fired to give her discharge from the navy. that did not mean roosevelt stopped seeing the herb of war on the sly after that. when sarah and eleanor found out it nearly destroyed the marriage as soon as roosevelt was able to pick his head up they held a family conference.

eleanor offered to divorce him. if he did he would be free to very lucy but lucy was a roman catholic who would not marry a divorced man. the problems were greater. the scandal would have been so great it would cost him his job in the navy department and the political future he may have held at that time. so they decided to forget the matter and eleanor would become of a real political wife and that is all. and she and franklin were never husband and wife again domestically except in the same house. the loyalty she showed afterwards for she was very bitter and disillusioned.

she would often go back to the rock creek cemetery in washington d.c. there was a statue called grief that was a monument to she would sit by the statue and more she was not dead but her marriage was and her future was dead so she thought. it did not work out that way. later as we know when roosevelt was crippled she traveled for him and was a political deputy am politically and extremely loyal but the marriage was more than anything else after that event in 1918.

she dared travel with franklin and his second trip to europe. the war ended november 11, 1918. it was arranged that as soon as the war ended, they would cancel all contracts for outstanding manufacturing to pay off a small percentage because they did not have a plethora of destroyers that was of no use. some of those cancellations of contracts have frankland said he had to go back to england and france to rage for the cancellation of contracts and arrange for the shipment of the troops home but daniels was not about to do it. at first he would not let

franklin go. for some reason sara roosevelt, the mother who was very devoted and very ambitious went to c. daniels just before christmas 1918. we don't know why. i have the feeling she went to persuade him to let franklin do his job. he did go back and take care of things and went over at the same time as woodrow wilson he went to negotiating a treaty of peace. on the first trip back to sign papers he came back with the roosevelt so they had won social opportunity to be with him and his new wife. wilson's first wife had died shortly after he became president. he buried again, a socially ambitious lady who may have

fostered several minutes as much as wilson can't one of the british hall on foyers when to around to joking saying do you know, what edith did when woodrow wilson proposed to her? in his answer was she fell at of bet. that got back to her. the result was edith and woodrow became great enemies of franklin and any stories you hear about the friendship or admiration was turned off that this actually happened roosevelt remained friendly and to the

deputy who had passed around the gossip. but wilson had a stroke just after the war ended. in fact, he had a series that disable him to make it impossible to campaign actively for the of the conditions that was the most important part of the peace treaty and he had very little to do with the election of 1920 for someone to replace him. kim was assumed no democrat could win by then he had become very difficult he was not empowered to do anything the democrats were sure to lose a and day nominated the innocuous politician for president in 1920 they

wanted to find somebody who was better known on the ticket so they dominated franklin roosevelt who was only 38 years old as vice president because he had the magic name so they became candidates gave roosevelt the opportunity to travel he had to resign but he traveled around the country and became well known as a feisty speaker and it was thought he would have a tremendous political future and unfortunately they lost. that is where my book had to end because that was the end of "young mr. roosevelt." no locker young where in political office and no one would have realized about 10 months later he would have

the catastrophe of his polio attack which crippled his legs but turned out not to cripple his career but that is another story and i will leave it there if you have questions will be glad to take them. [applause] >> i hope you all appreciate it is to hear somebody speak for over one hour with no notes. well done. [applause] if you have questions please come up over here at the microphone end to speak clearly and stanley weintraub will answer your question. >> thank you for a magnificent talk. i look forward to reading the book. young fdr was under the

hierarchy of three heavyweight isolationists and yet he was not. what was said about his upbringing that led him to be an internationalist not the isolationist? >> john franklin partly because he understood the see that the two functions the isolationist did not protect us at all because the country in the world had changed and communications had changed in the navy had changed the panama canal was now open 1953 were under threat constantly and would remain under threat as long as their request -- countries that princess we headed international position to maintain because after the spanish civil war we had acquired colonies if

we would maintain those colonies to have to protect them. >> thank you for honoring us by coming to the home of franklin and eleanor roosevelt here at hyde park i read to of your books recently in of four verge to reading this one i did read from a different author when he was secretary of the navy he had his first run and with joseph kennedy? is there any mentioned were you aware of this at all? >> his connection with the elder joe kennedy? the senior kennedy the father of the senator in

president we know so well was the assistant to rector of the shipyard in massachusetts it was very effective at his job and he really knew his contacts andrew so effected he became very important to roosevelt because he could not contract all the ships had to be built on in the yard the hajjis private shipbuilding facilities and he had to negotiate as joe kennedy and found him to be a formidable third person and got to know him well during the first world war and he continued to know him afterwards. jocundity be caved infolded high finance and financing projects in hollywood and to although he was

untrustworthy and a great many ways he was very shrewd and competent with finances that roosevelt eventually gave him appointments some of them were great mistakes you should not be too loyal to your friends when they may be disloyal to you and one of the chief isolationist before world war ii was senior joe kennedy that was not mistaken the appointed to the ambassadorship of england. he appointed him ambassador to england because he was rich and he knew people put to be ambassador to england or france happens to be so plum job if it gives you much prestige but you have to put your own personal fortune into it because the state department does not pay enough expenses for the

upkeep of the position which is why someone like pamela harriman mitterrand became ambassador to paris and actually died there. but joe kennedy finally had to be relieved of his job as ambassador because he was disloyal to the administration it did not want somebody like that in the job when kennedy came home from vacation discovered he was not going back he expected other jobs from roosevelt but roosevelt never gave him another job during world war ii and this created great bitterness on the part of the kennedy family. >> i must say i admire your memory. [laughter]

really. is it is unbelievable. to things. you mention sarah, the mother what ever happened to the father and the third part there was a movie out recently hyde park i know if you have seen it but how close to reality is that movie? >> i have seen it that what is the question? how close is the reality? >> maybe that hanky-panky? >> it is correct that george the sixth did eat hot dogs that par is absolutely correct. [laughter] but i don't know about the

bad language used by the queen. [laughter] i don't think that was recorded by the press but films like to put in in fiction there is a lot of fiction with hyde park but he did eat the hot dogs. thank you for your speech i am struck by the parallels between the naval career of world war i that fdr had about modernizing the fleet to in churchill's career similarly with the naval office knu talk about how there were marching hand in hand? later at the beginning of a world war ii churchill began to write letters to roosevelt under the name of

former naval person because he was the first lord of the admiralty and got the job again at the beginning of world war ii but moved into the prime minister's job and then was former naval person he met churchill twice during world war i churchill came over once on a mission to the united states had met roosevelt apparently it was a brief meeting either one remembers a very well but churchill was there and apparently attracted a lot of attention from other people per roosevelt when he made his first trip to england with the ministers was invited to dinner meeting of politicians with

the prime minister brendon get in london and he did not know that he and the representative from its of the would be called on to make speeches. he thought he was the guest so he had to make the impromptu speech and churchill after words apparently having a drink too much which was not unusual came up to roosevelt and apparently complained nastily about what roosevelt had to say and how he said it and roosevelt was offended but he said nothing to church show about it. when the bee cave so-called friends later covered churchill wanted to forget it altogether but some people remember he was quite rude to fdr.

but churchill was a person who could alter his memoirs very easily. his memoirs are totally untrustworthy and he wrote a lot of them. [laughter] . . [applae]