the reasons why you have this kind of difference is the legacy of world war i. the end of world war i let's be very bad taste in americans mouth. it didn't come out the way were supposed to. the idealism that crashed and ended up with a cynical treaty of her side effect is aged for world war ii. it did not -- there's the joke that we beat the germans in 1917 and it hardly bothers to. they bothered is very much in the years to come. more important for americans who thought the war ended at home. number one, and they sometimes forget is, on the tail end of the war came to worst epidemic in history, flu epidemic of

1890, which killed over 20 million old world wide. that is sort of a sag card. number two, the american economy had ramped up to produce armament for the war. ironically, most of those never got in the war. when we got in the war in 1919, we used most european weapons. for example, we started building airplanes. not a single american tanks had entered the war. and goodnight, we fought for the british. but we had a not quite was the largest armaments industry in the world. i must immediately after the armistice and the end of the war, the government started canceling contracts. when i see canceling, i mean just like this yet without warning, they pulled them.

factories were left literally with lines half-full. thousands of workers were let go without warning. the state but connecticut really felt this because it had so many of these kinds of plants. and companies were left with buildings, factories to produce armaments. well, they said you've got to do something for us. what are we going to do with all the buildings and machinery for it at the least time to give tax credit so we can carry these in case there ever needed again. government wouldn't do it. the result was in almost every case, these companies, everybody from remington arms to you name it simply tore down the factories, guided them because they didn't want to carry the expense of them. the result was by the time you get to 1939, we have no

armaments industry. so when the war breaks out in europe, we are in very pitiful shape. the u.s. army sent in the 28th in the world. when it went on maneuvers in 1940, which was a fires, time said after looking at these, it appeared as if they might give a good battle sunni group of boy scouts. not much more. all of his coupled with the scandals that emerged after the 20th and 30th over munitions contracts, bankers, and they develop this whole idea, which became very popular at the war had been brought on by the bakers and the munitions manufacturers, simply for

profits. that weighed very heavily so that when it came time in the 1939, 40. to talk about localizing preparedness, one was we are not going to take another generation of instant millionaires. franklin roosevelt was serious incentives to this because the obvious he had his conflicts with the business community and he wasn't about to let that happen. but at the same time, he had to get this process moving. and so, that was one of his many to one month after the invasion. >> up next on booktv, historian stanley weintraub recounts the early political career of frank roosevelt in 1939 at 31 years old was appointed the assistant secretary of the navy by president woodrow wilson.

this program from the franklin d. roosevelt presidential library and museum in hype park, new york, is one hour. >> stanley weintraub is a historian and and award-winning author with 50 highly acclaimed books of history and biography including pearl harbor christmas, 11 days in december, is really at a rate here can actually remember when i was a young undergraduate to a wonderful book he wrote on queen victoria. is a man of any talent. he's a national book award finalist from a guggenheim fellow three-time recipient of a distinguished humanist award for the pennsylvania humanities council. he lives in newark, delaware, with his wonderful wife, rebel. i am pleased to welcome him to the stage to talk about his new book, "young mr. roosevelt: fdr's introduction to war, politics, and life." after his talk and after after he takes his questions, he will be outside the new deal gets stored in the lobby, where he will be happy to sign all the

books you are going to die because you are inspired by his top. ladies and gentlemen, stanley weintraub. [applause] be met thank you all for being here. i have written about franklin roosevelt before him the last book i wrote about him most about the 19,444th term presidential campaign. near the end of world war ii. many soldiers, voted by absentee ballot. i wanted to find out how they voted and why they voted the way

they did. and so, i had teams of people around the country and on my own. i also asked people who lived through that. how they voted. quite a number of them, especially those who have been sailors said i voted for roosevelt because he was a navy man. that surprised me. i hadn't expected that. i decided after that but i would go back and find out what kind of a navy man he was. and so this book is the result. very often what happens is the subject for the future book emanates from the previous book nor the research research for the previous book. no better example could be found i guess they and he was a navy man, which got me to "young mr. roosevelt." i don't think he expected to be a navy man at theariage, the other son by his first marriage.

he didn't want to be away during his declining years. so you refuse the idea that roosevelt -- young russell should go to annapolis and become a navy man. early on, roosevelt had no big ambitions about becoming president or anything else that the sewer. his father was one of the few democratic roosevelt. the roosevelts 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 white house to meet grover cleveland, who was the first democratic president since before the civil war. the previous democratic president, not one anyone could've been proud of was james buchanan. in any case, grover cleveland

three greeted the young franklin. he said i have one wish for you, little man, that you never become president of the united states. he was beset by all kinds of political troubles and he didn't think he could wish that on anybody. roosevelt had no ambitions to become president. but suddenly, his fifth cousin, theodore roosevelt became president. he was running for vice president. mckinley, the president elected. he was reasonably close to theodore. in fact, when he was about to be married to his fifth cousin once removed, eleanor, he was actually closely related to theodore van allen r. theater offered to have said mary in the white house.

they rejected that idea and they were not married in the white house. roosevelt admired theodore roosevelt very much. he was a domestic reform or, an energetic, active man who is interested in all kinds of things that roosevelt was especially interested in his having an assistant secretary of the navy. that was the first big event in roosevelt's young wife that he really remembered. roosevelt had no idea he had become assistant secretary of the navy himself. he was bored by law practice. he graduated from harvard. he had gone into the pack is of new york city. it was boring. it was pushing paper. in fact, the first year he got no pay at all.

then he got a small salary. it was of no interest at all to him. he wanted to do something else. fortuitously, all i keep an opportunity in politics. even though he had mired his uncle ted and what his uncle ted had done, i don't think he thought of a career for himself. but the democratic party, in this part of new york state needed a candidate for state senate. they had one and it didn't look like the candidate could possibly win anyway. but if it were roosevelt, he could finance his own campaign. so they asked you roosevelt if he would be a candidate. roosevelt agreed. he did finance his own campaign. it cost him a little more than $2000. he hired a show for and a car and decided down and out

journalized to help him campaign. strangely enough, he won. he didn't expect to win. he ran for reelection, having liked the idea of being in the state senate. he won again by an even bigger majority. in 1912, the big election was not new york state, but in the country. because widger wilson was running on the democratic ticket. the governor of new jersey in the former president of princeton. the republicans were split. uncle ted had been out of office. uncle ted the cozy with the uncle of eleanor. uncle ted was out of office for four years. he was pushed into office. one of his cronies prove to be a disappointment. he was no reformer. he was more interested in the best as community and theodore

decided he wanted to run again. well, the party didn't want him to run again. it was against tradition in any case to run for a third term. roosevelt broke from the party, formed his progressive party. he was asked about his health and his condition to run again. he said i am as strong as a bold moves. that became the party, the bull moose party. the bull moose party in the republican party split the republican vote. wilson only one with 41% of the vote in the country in 1912. but he won. and then he had to find a cabinet. he did what most presidents do. you look for your political cronies and you report them. you give them positions of the cabinet if you have one ticket. his publicist, major publicist had was to see this daniels, who was a newspaper publisher from

raleigh, north carolina. he wanted to be postmaster general because postmaster general required. that'll work and also give you the opportunity to appoint postmasters all around the country. god give you a flood of political crowd. that is what daniels really wanted. i'm sorry said wilson. there is another guy that i'm going to name postmaster general. someone from texas. there is a job opening for you. it is secretary of the navy. daniels knew nothing about the navy. he knew no naval terms. he had never sailed. raleigh, north carolina was in tennessee. but he wanted to be in the cabinet. so he took the job as secretary of the navy. at the democratic convention in 1912, daniels had met young roosevelt, who was very active,

handling people to get them to vote for wilson. he thought, this was my guy. he knows the sea. i've talked to him. he has failed a lie. summer home is along the sea across the coast of maine. just the person for me. and besides, his uncle ted was assistant secretary of the navy back when mckinley was first president. and so, he asked roosevelt. roosevelt was delighted to take the job. and then, a visitor came to the office of the secretary of the navy. lsu root who was the senior senator from new york state. he said is pretty dangerous to appoint a roosevelt within a position. roosevelt's want to take over anything they can't manage anything that guy. he's not a good choice.

that's exactly what daniels wanted. he didn't know anything about the navy. he'd be very glad to have somebody do the work as possible. besides, what he really wanted to do was stop the country from boston and do publicity for the new president. so he told roosevelt that he would make an assistant secretary and that when he was away giving speeches, roosevelt would be the acting secretary of the navy. well, this was a great opportunity for fdr. he was very glad to take the job. he came to washington to take the job and he discovered the senate hadn't yet confirmed him. he had to go back home to new york. he returned when he was confirmed, that his office in the navy department. one of the early pictures in my book called the youngest roosevelt shows daniels and young franklin standing on the balcony of the navy department.

later called the executive office building. it now has eisenhower's name in front of it. nevertheless, looking from their balcony across the white house. a photographer from the longtime philadelphia public ledger came to take their pictures. he took a picture of the two of them standing at the balcony, looking out. roosevelt had a smile on his face. the cameraman snapped the picture. daniels said i know what you are smiling that. you are looking over the white house and thinking someday i am going to the fair. this is pretty early in roosevelt's career for ambitions like that. he did have uncle ted in the back of his mind. when he ran for state senate, the other roosevelt got in touch with one of roosevelt cousins

and said, i am not going to campaign in the district that franklin is running from. in other words, he was giving him his opportunity. now that wasn't very happy a circumstance for roosevelt sons. theodore roosevelt had four sons. he was ambitious for all of them. he wanted them to become important in politics and perhaps in the military. he wanted them to not have a rival necessarily in franklyn. the family, theodore roosevelt's family didn't think much of roosevelt. they thought he was a lightweight. he wouldn't make it the way they gather theodore roosevelt sons would make it. they caught him feather duster, lightweight feather duster because his initials were asked d. feather duster became an

energetic assistant secretary of the navy. everything he did seem to be contrary to what the administration wanted. roosevelt was interested in foreign affairs. his bosses were not. daniels was an isolationist. wilson, the president was an isolationist. the secretary of state, william jennings bryan, who had run for president three times unsuccessfully with secretary of state and an isolationist. roosevelt knew the war was coming and he wanted to prepare the navy for four. it is very hard to get around the three bigwigs who are all very much superior to that. but he managed to do so. one of the reasons he managed to do so was exactly what juicy this daniels didn't expect would happen. he went away and fdr became assistant secretary of the navy

and acting secretary of the navy. the admirals who are interested in using the navy and modernizing the navy would wait to send memoranda until daniels was away and roosevelt would find them. roosevelt did 30 much the opposite of what the administration wanted. he modernized the navy. the navy when he took it on was coal-fired navy. it was antique and it cost a great deal of money. 20% of the federal budget, hard to believe, 20% of the federal budget went to the navy. so this is a very, very important job when it came to spending money. if any of you are collectors of antiques, you know keeping antiques i've been collecting antiques cost money. and this is what the navy was. roosevelt began arranging contracts for nato oil fired

warships. in 1914, the second year the administration, just before world war i began in europe, he was at the brooklyn navy yard, presiding over the lane at the kyl of arizona, one of the first modern battleships in the navy. the ironic thing about the battleship arizona, as many of you will remember is that it would come to roosevelt's attention again much later on when he was president on december 7, 1941. the japanese sank it to the bottom of pearl harbor, where it still is. but it was the beginning of his crusade to improve the navy. it isn't that he was disloyal to the administration. he likes the economic policies of woodrow wilson. the federal reserve system, for example. on one occasion, as assistant or

acting secretary of the navy, he went to the city of redding, pennsylvania, to present them with the anchor of the cruiser named that had been sunk at havana harbor in cuba. they were all kinds of lilacs and be distributed to the places that government wanted to go democratic in the next election. many of them were phony. there was a whole traffic phony artifacts including domain. the roosevelt said this was the authentic anchor to the main essay represented it. represented the administration that was more than 99% of people. the administration that was out only represented 1%.

this was in 1914 in reading, pennsylvania. as far as i know, it is the first time that political jab of a quotation was used. 99% and 1% and it was franklin roosevelt that koine. summary view of my notebook -- new book contains that president barack obama in my new book, which didn't belong. i never did it if you look at the index you will find obama there at all. the reason the reviewer thought that was the cases are referred to the 99% and 1%. that automatically registered to the critic as obama. it was not. but it showed how is turned roosevelt was to the elect. that early in his career. he moved ahead on modernizing the navy as best he could.

he had his political adviser from new york state now with him. louis mchenry, a disheveled little man who stayed with him in the 1920 and into the first term as president, a very capable and interesting guy who made a politician out of roosevelt. he was a turned to things that franklin was not. when roosevelt came into the navy department, he discovered not only with the navy secretary, an isolationist, he wanted to take the navy off alcohol together. servicemen like they drank. in fact, in world war i, it turns out the british army had a rule that on days when it

rained, soldiers could have a tot of rum. this was to warm them up. it warmed them up enough from the morale standpoint that almost every day during the war, the british army cleared that there was rain someplace. and soldiers got their tot of rum. daniels didn't like that idea. he wanted to ban alcohol at averages altogether from the navy. he did mandate that and it became clear to the admirals, when the navy department brass went to newport, rhode island for an inspection. the admirals sidled up to the bar with the secretary and they asked him, of course, what would you like to drink, served? he said white rum. it turned out to be new york state springwater.

the jobs of all the admirals fell. what were they to do? after all that was the safe thing to do. the navy became totally navy. that was one of the most firm things that daniels managed to do. much of the operations that the navy, despite policy being rendered by the secretary, were under the command of franklin. he handled contracts. he handled labor relations. he was in charge of the navy yards. he was in a position to do a great many things that were very useful, including politically useful. if you had been navy yard in your district come you had a lot of people employed. if you are building the navy, he you of course employ even more people. roosevelt got to have a political crowd very quickly.

woodrow wilson wasn't concerned. the secretary of state wasn't concerned. after all, we had a notion on both sides of us. franklin is the panama canal was still a year from being a hint. we had a navy on each side of the country. but the navy's couldn't communicate with each other. we had a rather hopeless navy. in addition, the navy was sent teak. the army was even worse. the army was smaller than the army of portugal for the army of bulgaria. we're not in a position to get involved in the war. frankly we would get involved. we would get involved whether we like it or not eventually. ships were getting up regularly in the atlantic or germans occurring. many of them can take passengers

to a mary kay. this finally became really known to americans in the passenger lusitania was sung in the team 15. many americans were aboard. the ship was sunk in the shores of ireland and over a thousand people dead, drowned. this finally got the country interested in doing something about modernization. this assisted roosevelt a great deal. even some of the senior at girls were very concerned about it because they hated britain. britain after all had not been on our side in any war. they had of course bodice of the revolution. they fought us in the war of 1812. they threatened to go to war during the civil war. they made threatening advances

and move to the end of the last century into the late 1890s. when the admiral was finally to to london, the chief of naval naval operations, admiral benson, who knew very little outside of navy yard said, don't trust these british. i just assume that the british as the germans, which would give you an idea of how strong the opposition was to eating right. but the war had begun. britain needed help. sooner or later we were going to get in the war. the germans are making overtures to mexico to get into the war, offering them the opportunity to take back the southwest they had lost during the mexican war in the 1840s. if they joined the war in the

germans type. this became known as the notorious zimmerman telegram that had been found out by the british. the spies had managed to decode it. this changed a lot of the attitude of the country about the germans. we had a big german population in the country. they were largely hostile to the idea of coming to the aid of the. roosevelt went to britain without telling posted or daniels, dirty destroyers, just after we were forced into the war. dirty destroyers because they needed them for such a patrol and convoys. they thought this was wasting ships. roosevelt insisted the convoys safe ships. but save ships, you need ships.

you need patrol boats and destroyers and he contracted for them. the landing of dirty destroyers to the british was first attacked by daniels and wilson. then i realized it was quite necessary to do. to want a personnel committee raised the number 236. so there was the beginning of the space program of the 1940s when we had 50 destroyers to the british. some of you may be old have to err actually happening. a lot of what he did prefigured but he would do during his administration. he did not want to be assistant secretary of the navy. he wanted to be in uniform somewhere. after all, that is what uncle ted had done. he had written them a note

saying you must get a uniform somewhere. franklin went to daniels and wilson and said he wanted to get in to uniform and fight the war. they hated him at home. he was doing the major work for the navy bureaucracy. they wanted him to stay where he was. they convinced him or force him if he were only a lieutenant commander in the navy or in the marines, he would be nothing. this is a minor opportunity. he would command almost nothing. he was really an effect discharge of the navy in the war, once he got into the war. so he stayed in as assistant secretary of the navy. he did want to be involved in the war somehow.

the biggest, most affect their fighting for us we had in france, what we got into the war and were sending hundreds of ships to france for the marines. the marines were the only body that was professional and knew what they were doing. roosevelt wanted to see how the marines were behaving in the war. he convinced daniels finally that he should inspect the marines and the navy and see if they were efficient, see what they were doing. he was very interesting aeronautics. he wanted to see how the navy's own air arm was doing. he thought that should go. he wasn't involved at all with the navy.

roosevelt insisted on an air arm. he went overseas. he went to london by destroyer. he went to france, across the channel and submarine infested waters. he visited for downwind verdun had just gone through a terrible siege in which hundreds of thousands died. for don was still being fired and roosevelt had the opportunity to be under fire. he loved the fact that he was under fire not only better, but under fire in the channel as the german aircraft and submarines attacked ships in the channel. one of the things he realized once we were in the water was the navy, big ships like the

arizona been involved in commissioning works no use. they were too big and unwieldy for submarine to send them they had no role in siege warfare because we were not involved in sea warfare. he had an idea. why not take the big guys, the 14-inch and 16-inch guns that were on battleships and that some of them on two flat tires that could then be used as traveling artillery, big artillery to go towards the front lines. he did. ever done that way and successful. and then he volunteered to an admiral who is in charge. can i be in uniform? been one of the batteries. the admiral said i'll be glad to make you tend to commander, but i don't think the president will let you. he campaigned to the end of the war to get into uniform, but he

could not do it. he was involved in other activities that were equally far from reality. the idea he was getting into work. various kinds of inventors came to the navy department, asking for a raise to help the war effort. what could they do to speed victory? they came up with crazy inventions, all kinds of inventors, well known and unknown. thomas edison was one of them, came to the navy with ideas. daniels provided the important ones and nothing much came of them. one idea came from a rather crazy adventure from western pennsylvania who said he could turn water with his device into

gasoline and made it possible for cheap fuel for our new oil fire ships. he brought his apparatus within and he brought a lawyer in case the contract with the signed and tested his device. sure enough, he turned water into oil. the admirals and bureaucrats in the navy department were baffled by it. they thought this was an amazing operation. i pretty much as chapter in the book when these crazies came at the inventive ideas. he disappeared after that. he wanted to sign a contract but they disappeared. he sent detect goods. they could not find him. nobody knows to this day how he managed the term water into fuel

oil. maybe he did not. this is one that might have worked. one idea that came to roosevelt that he wanted to use the secret behind the approaches to england in the english channel and the north sea. we could mind them with the mind barash, which would keep the german submarines are entering into the atlantic and doing all the damage they were doing. they're thinking more ships than we could build in the same month. it was pooh-poohed by most people in the navy. roosevelt kept insisting that it would work. finally, he managed to get them to agree to it. it is very, very expensive proposition . it was like the manhattan project building the atomic bomb

in world war ii in the equivalents of the money involved because it meant building hundreds of thousands, shipping them across implanting them in the north sea and the english channel. one knots of my adventure came to roosevelt with the idea of a proximity fuse so that the mines would not have to catch a submarine to sink your, but just the vicinity. they make this idea work. they began to get concerned about the submarines into the atlantic. unfortunately, this was close to the end of the war and we had no chance to find out whether this would have been a completed project and what it would've cost if it they had been completed. that was one that was not. roosevelt came home from his

first trip to europe very sick. in 1917, in the teen 18, the influence, the influence epidemic had he come to ravage the world, particularly europe. he was ill on the way home. he was so ill, as were so many others. some guy getting on to the troop ships going home and were buried at sea. some services were held at the docks. he left. zero and was taken off the ship on a stretcher in new york city. he was taken off. his mother, sir was there. eleanor, his wife was fair. they took him to the apartment in new york city with the doctor

to take care of him. the doctor turned out to be a farmer harvard classmate of his. he was so ill that there was nothing he could do to unpack his luggage. very kindly, sir and eleanor unpack his luggage and found in his luggage a package of love letters from eleanor's former social secretary. he then involved with lucy mercer for about a year at that point. the women didn't know this. roosevelt thought it was a secret, but lucy santan letters. catch them, tied them with a ribbon and they were found. the one they needed work, was socially connect to.

eleanor, as the wife of the assistant secretary, the assistant secretary of the biggest budget in washington needed somebody to help her with various kinds of social at two days. lucy mercer had been hired to do this work. at the same time, eleanor was fed up with pregnancies. she had expectancies since marriage and five children. one child died in infancy and that was frankly junior. there is a second franklin junior after that. the two franklyn juniors in the franklin family. she decided the only birth control possible with separate bedrooms. and so they had separate bedrooms. roosevelt, a handsome young man found lucy mercer was available and dad.

the lucy mercer affair got to be sufficiently suspicious to eleanor that she fired lucy. she fired lucy, but that didn't mean lucy disappeared. she worked for a while without being paid at the navy department and then she joined the navy. the navy was employing what they call young women who were in uniform. of all things, she was assigned to the navy department. he might think she must have had some kind of influence. [laughter] josephus daniels discovered it. he was suspicious, too. after a few months, lucy was fired. that didn't mean roosevelt stop seeing her, but he had to see her more on-the-fly after that.

when sir and eleanor turned out about it, it nearly destroyed the marriage. as soon as roosevelt was able to pick his head up from bad, they held a family conference. what are they going to do quite eleanor offered to divorce him. if he divorce eleanor, would he be free to marry lucy? she was a roman catholic who wouldn't marry a divorced man. further, the problems were greater than that. the scandal would've been so great that it would have cost him his job in the navy department at any political future he may have felt at that time. so he decided to forget the matter. eleanor would become a loyal, political wife, but that is all. she had franklyn were never her

husband and wife in the next expense again except for her staying in the same house again. the loyalty afterwards is admirable. but she was very bitter and very disillusioned about it. she would often go after that to rock creek cemetery in washington d.c., where there was a statue called grief that had been henry adams wife who had committed suicide. she was hit by that statue and mourn. she was not dead, but her marriage was dead and her future was dead, so she thought. she became later on when roosevelt was crippled, she traveled around for him. she was a political she was

extremely loyal, but the marriage was a correct marriage rather than anything else after that event in a teeny team. she did travel with franklyn on his second trip to europe. the war ended on november 11, 9 teen 18. danielson roosevelt had arranged as soon as the war and had, they would cancel all contracts for out to manufacturing to the navy entire a small percentage because they didn't need a plethora of destroyers and such that were no use after the war. they did that, as some of the cancellations of contracts were with reoffending when. franklin said he had to go back to england and france and

arrange for the cancellation of contracts and arrange for the shipment of troops home. daniels was not about to do it. first he would not drink window. for some reason, and maybe that is the reason, sir roosevelt, the mother who was very devoted to first on an very ambitious went to see daniels just before christmas and 1918. we don't know why she went. i have a feeling she went in order to persuade him to that franklyn do his job. franklin did go back, to take care of things. went over the same time woodrow wilson went no further. on his first trip back, because he had to come back to find, he came back with the roosevelts. they had one social opportunities to be with woodrow

wilson and his new wife. he married again. mary jay social ambitious, who may have fostered the romances such as wilson did. and in fact, one of the british envoys in washington at the time, went around joking. i will say this is true. he went around joking, saying, do you know what edith did with woodrow wilson propose to her? people would say no. his answer was she fell out of bed. the result was edith and woodrow wilson became a great enemies of franklyn. any stories you hear about their

friendship and admiration for the other is really turned off something like this that actually happened. roosevelt remained friendly to the british envoys and to the deputy who had passed around the map is not to the wilson's. wilson had a stroke just after the war ended. the series of strokes disabled hand, made it impossible to campaign actively for the league of nations that to him was the most important part of the peace treaty. he had very little to do with the election of 1920 in which somebody had to run through the sand. it was assumed that no democrat could win. roosevelt by then had become very difficult and much dislikes. he was not empowered to do any

name. the democrats of his fellow brochure to lose. they nominated an innocuous politician governor of ohio, james cox for president in 1920. they wanted to find somebody who is better known to be on the ticket. so they nominated franklin roosevelt, who was then only 38 years old. so roosevelt became candidates of 1920. it gave roosevelt an opportunity to travel the country. he had to resign in his last months as assistant secretary of the navy. he travels around the country. he became well known. he was a feisty speaker and thought he'd have a tremendous political future. unfortunately, they lost as they expected to lose. that is where my book had to end

because that was the end of jan mr. roosevelt. he was no longer young. he was no longer in political office and no one would have realized about 10 months later, he would have a catastrophe of his polio attack, which crippled his legs, but turned out not to crippled his career. that is another story. i believe that they are. if you have any questions i'd be glad to take them on. [applause] >> i hope you all appreciate how extraordinary it is to hear someone speak for nearly an hour without any notes. that was really well done. clap clap back those of you who have questions, light up at the microphone and speaker lisa c-span can equip your question.

mr. weintraub will answer your questions. >> thank you for a magnificent talk. i look forward to reading the book. as you pointed out, young fbi was under the hierarchy of three heavyweight isolationists and he was not. what was it about his out and earn anything else that led him to be internationalist, at least not in isolationists? >> young franklyn understood the sea. he understood the two oceans that didn't protect us at all because the country and world had changed. communications had changed. the navy had changed. the panama canal was opened in 1815, for example. we were under threat constantly i would remain under threat as

long as countries threaten us. we had international position to maintain, especially because after the spanish civil war, we had colonies rose in the pacific. the philippines, guam, puerto rico and so on. if we were going to maintain colonies from a we had to protect them. yes. >> yes, thank you for honoring us by coming to the home of franklyn and eleanor roosevelt. i previously read two of her books and i look very forward to reading this one. my question to deal with a different book by different author during this period, when franklin was assistant secretary of the navy that he had his first run in dealing with joseph kennedy. is there any mention you were aware of this at all?

>> the elder joe kennedy? joe kennedy, the senior kennedy, father of the senators and president we know so well was the assistant there at the shipyard in massachusetts. he was very effective at his job that he knew his finances, his contracts. he was so effect give that it became very important to roosevelt because roosevelt could not contract all the ships that had to be built in navy yard city had to use private ship loading facilities. joe kennedy became one of the people he had to negotiate with and found to be a very formidable person. he got to know him well during the first world war and he continued to know him

afterwards. joe kennedy became involved in high finance after the war. he became involved in financing projects in the new film industry of hollywood. although he was totally untrustworthy, he was so sure it and so on but it was finances that when he became president, gave him appointments. some of them were great mistakes. you shouldn't be too loyal to your friends when your friends are people who may be disloyal to you. one of the chief isolationists before world war ii began with senior joe kennedy, roosevelt mistakenly appointed to the ambassadorship in england. he appointed ambassador to send because he was rich and have senior people. to be ambassador to england or ambassador to france happens to

be one of those plum jobs that require signature on personal fortune into it because the state department doesn't pay enough expenses for the upkeep of the position, which is why someone like him a lot herriman later on became ambassador to paris, actually died there in paris. anyway, joe kennedy finally had to be relieved of his job as ambassador to england because he was disloyal to the administration was not isolationists, didn't want somebody like that in the job. kennedy, when he came home on vacation discovered he wasn't going back and he expected other jobs from roosevelt. roosevelt never gave him another job during world war ii. this created great bitterness on the part of the kennedy family. yes, sir.

>> i must say i admire your memory. >> you have to lean more into the night. >> i admire your memory. really. it's unbelievable. two things. you mentioned the mother. what happened to the father? what about the brothers and sisters? the third part of this is the movie out, hide part of the hudson. i don't thought he seen it. >> via cnet. for what is the question about it? how close it is to reality? you seem to know a lot about the hanky-panky. [laughter] >> it is correct in that george the sixth two came over ditty

hotdogs. [laughter] that's absolutely correct. i don't know about -- i don't know about the bad language used by the queen. i don't think that was recorded at the press. films like to put in fiction. there's a lot of fiction in hyde park on the hunt them. but he did eat a hot dog. yes, sir. >> hi. thank you for your speech. i am struck by the parallels. maybe you could talk about them, between the naval career in world war i and modernizing the fleet. churchill's career similarly in the naval office in england. they were marching hand-in-hand in parallel.

>> young franklin roosevelt was very interested. later on, at the beginning of world war ii, franklin began to write letters to result under the name of a formal person because he had been the first word of the admiral at the end of world war i and got the job again at the beginning of world war ii. ..