not just the relationship between franklin roosevelt and joseph kennedy the relationship between eleanor roosevelt and john f. kennedy. we will start with the relationship between franklin roosevelt and joe kennedy. joe kennedy may most of his money in a night 20's in the market. he was appointed as the head of the security exchange commission. some said that was putting the oxen control of the henhouse. joe kennedy really became a very close confidant of fdr. you want to talk about how he managed that posting in london right before the war? >> it is an interesting time. i almost want to go back a tiny bit before that. when young people are in the age where they are graduating from high school, whoever is the president in that moment, has a profound impact on them. fdr is the president as jfk comes of age. much of his vision of what is the nation is informed by fdr. clearly through his father and the courting of st. james he has direct connection to what service might would fight. when the german u-boat sank the first u.k. ship, jfk is asked by his father to look after the surviving u.s.

written for more than 20 years in the lady sternal, held at the franklin roosevelt library and museum. this is an hour. >> good afternoon everyone. welcome to the wallace center at the roosevelt presidential library. happy birthday eleanor roosevelt. [applause] it is one of the things we are so lucky to have eleanor's papers here along with franklin roosevelt's. library ares of the the roosevelt wings built in 1972.

the the director of franklin roosevelt library and museum. today, we will talk about the relationship between two of the most important political families in american history during the 20th century, the roosevelts and kennedys. to assist me i am joined by the , director of the jfk library. >> it is good to be with you. >> thank you for joining me. this is one of the most interesting and complicated relationships, two families that are really dynasties in the way they impacted american political life. there is a component of this that a lot of people do not understand. not only is there a relationship between franklin roosevelt and joseph kennedy, but a relationship between eleanor roosevelt and john f. kennedy. we will start with the beginning, which is the relationship between franklin roosevelt and joe kennedy. joe kennedy made most of his money in the 1920's in the stock markets. kennedy asppointed the head of the security exchange commission. some said that was putting the fox in charge of the henhouse. this created a relationship in whic

not only was there a relationship between franklin roosevelt and joseph kennedy, but there was a very incredible relationship between eleanor roosevelts and john f. kennedy, and so i think we'll start with the beginning, which is the relationship between franklin roosevelt and joe kennedy. joseph kennedy made most of his money in the '20s in the stock market. and when franklin roosevelt became president one of the things he did, appointed joseph kennedy as head of the securities and exchange commission, which was sort of as he said, putting the fox in charge of the henhouse. then this created a relationship between the two of them in which joe kennedy really became a very close confidant of fdr, and he got, ambassador too court of st. james. >> yes. >> want to talk how he managed that posting in london right before the war? >> well it is an interesting time. i almost want to go back just a tiny bit before that. as you can imagine, when young people are in the age where they're graduating from high school, whoever is the president in that moment, i think, has a profound impact on them

and jfk signed it, and franklin roosevelt signed it. so, we have, fdr collected rare books among other things. that is one of our most precious possessions, the volume that is signed with both jfk and roosevelts signatures in it. you might not know this story. it is one of my favorite anecdotes. in 1940, when kennedy came back from europe, he came to visit the fdr library, which is under construction at the. time it's not open until 1941, it was under construction. he left a gift for fdr. >> really? >> and we have the note, the thank you note, the copy of the thank you note that fdr wrote to jfk. and it is a scrambled note, it is a little hard to read. but, it appears to say, thank you for the machine gun and goggles. really? >> could you imagine? john f. kennedy dropping off a machine gun at the presidential library, with a card? actually, what it said was, marine gun. a spear gun, for fishing. he knew fdr loved to go fishing, be near water. the goggles were like swimming goggles. >> oh! >> so, we have never been able to find what happe

standard of the late 1930's. >> what was the state of the democratic party, amity shlaes, and franklin roosevelt and his support in 1940, eight years after the new deal at a time when most residents would step down? >> roosevelt's victory -- 46 out of 48 states in the preceding election -- was so hard to get past. even as the party was beginning to get past it, this idea of having a third term -- the war was coming closer. war in 1940 had already been declared in europe. germans had invaded poland and britain. all of a sudden, roosevelt was good at war. they knew that. they knew that when he served as secretary of the navy. he might be a good war leader. all of a sudden, people were tongue tied and did not protest against roosevelt. still, it was quite amazing. >> professor madison, the headlines in the summer of 1940 with one "at the republican nominee, hitler moving to france and declaring victory. the big question, is great britain next? juxtapose the politics of 1940 and the limning clouds of war in 1940-1941. >> france surrendered to the not sees a couple of days before the philadelphia --

kennedy gave a copy of the book to franklin de roosevelt and jfk signed in franklin roosevelt signed we have fdr collected where books and that is one of our most precious books. the possession is the book had the signatures in it. you may not know the story, it is one of my favorite antidote. in 1941 the kennedy came back to europe, he came to visit the fdr library which was under construction at the time, it didn't open until 1941 but it was under construction. he left a gift for fdr. >> really? >> we have the note -- a copy of the thank you note that fdr wrote to jfk and it's sort of a scramble no so it's a little hard to read but it appears to say, thank you for the machine gun and goggles. >> (laughs) really? >> everyone was like, can you imagine john f. kennedy dropping off a machine gun in the presidential library? actually what it said was marine gun. it was a spear gun for fishing because he knew fdr love to go fishing and love to be in water and the goggles were, you know, like swimming goggles. we have never been able to find what happened to the spear gun or the goggles b

standard of the late 1930's. >> what was the state of the democratic party, amity shlaes, and franklin rooseveltnd his support in 1940, eight years after the new deal at a time when most presidents would step down? >> tongue-tied because roosevelt's victory, 46 out of 48 states in the preceding election was so hard to get , past. even as the party was beginning to get past it, this idea of having a third term -- the war was coming closer. war in 1940 had already been declared in europe. germans had invaded poland and -- britain. all of a sudden, roosevelt was -- just when you say roosevelt could not run again, roosevelt was a naval president. all of a sudden, people bit their tongue or were tongue-tied and did not protest against roosevelt. still, it was quite amazing that here they were for a third time. >> professor madison, the headlines in the summer of 1940 with willkie as the republican nominee, hitler moving to france and declaring victory. juxtapose the politics of 1940 and the looming clouds of war. james: willkie it worked very much to advantage that france surrendered to the nazis bef

to fill the place left vacant by the sudden death of franklin d. roosevelt, harry s. man became the 32nd president of the united states on the evening of pril 12, 1945. president truman quickly and skillfully assumed all of franklin d. roosevelt's responsibilities. among the many important problems and duties was the united nations conference of international organization in san francisco, to which the president journeyed by plane. at san francisco's hamilton field, the president is welcomed by a host of high-ranking officers and world diplomats, ambassadors, ministers, secretaries of foreign affairs, the governor of california, united states senators, and equally important representatives from all the continents of the earth. diplomatic readings were followed by meeting the ilitary. the president inspects the guard of honor, his first formal inspection of a military unit since he became president of the united states. when he came abreast of the bandleader, mr. truman stepped aside to thank him for his election of the music. his greetings and official inspection of th

after hoover, we need franklin roosevelt -- we needed franklin roosevelt.plause] but we are not merely running against mr. nexen. our task -- mr. nixon. not one -- our task is of itemizing republican failures. nor is that wholly necessary. the family forced from their tell themt need us to of their plates. -- their plight. the families without a decent home. the parents of children without a decent school. they all know it is time for a change. [applause] we are not here to curse the darkness. we are here to light a candle. [applause] as winston churchill said, on taking office some 20 years ago, we shall be in danger of using the future. today, our concern must be with the future. the world is changing. the old era is ending. the old way on not do. the balance of power is shifting. new and more terrible weapons are coming into use. one third of the world may be free. one third is the victim of a cruel repression and the other is rocked by poverty and disease. communist influence has penetrated into asia. it stands in the middle east. now sits some 90 miles

the franklin roosevelt presidential library provided this video. >> welcome to at home with the roosevelts. i am director of the roosevelt presidential library and museum and joined by the director of the herbert hoover presidential library museum. schwartz, i am the director of the herbert hoover presidential library and museum in iowa. paul: we are here today to talk about one of the most remarkable transitions in american history, the presidential election of 1932, and hoover and roosevelt, their long relationship before and after their presidencies. this was a period of incredible trauma for the united states, with the great depression. the two of them had known each other for quite some time. during world war i, franklin roosevelt was the assistant secretary of the navy under woodrow wilson. tom, do you want to talk about what hoover did during world war i? thomas: sure. herbert hoover was the head of the u.s. food administration. the food administration had to essentially provide food to the soldiers going to europe and hoover was able to provide the necessary food by getting america

not only is the relationship between franklin roosevelt and joseph kennedy, but there was an incredible relationship between eleanor roosevelt and john f. kennedy. i think we'll start at the beginning which is the relationship between franklin roosevelt and joe kennedy. joseph kennedy made most of his money in the '20s in the stock market, and one of the things he did was he appointed joseph kennedy as the head of the securities and exchange commission which would serve as he said putting the fox in charge of the hen house. then this created a relationship between the two of them in which joe kennedy really became a very close confidant of fdr ending up as the ambassador of st. james. you want to talk about how he managed that in london right before the war? >> well, it is an interesting time. i almost want to go back just a tiny bit before that. as you could imagine when young people are in the age where they're graduating from high school whoever is the president in that moment i think has a profound impact on them and shapes their view of the presidency, and fdr is the president when

franklin d roosevelt.plause] the party of fighting democrats who showed us that a common man could be an uncommon leader. harry truman. a party of a brave young who called the young at heart regardless of age to seek a new frontier of national greatness, john f. kennedy. now the party who took office in a tragic hour and went on to do more than any other president in this century. lyndon johnson. [applause] our party was built out of the old lower east side. the blazing heart of illinois, the coal mines of pennsylvania. [applause] the southern coastal plains, and the unlimited frontiers of america. welcomeshat generations of immigrants. , polls, all of the others. they thought the political battles that helped bring them to the american dream and they have shaped the character of our party. that is our heritage. our party has not been perfect. we make mistakes. ours is a tradition of leadership, compassion, and progress. americans, united, a diverse power of the nation. entering with pride and confidence.

franklin roosevelt was trying to convince hoover to become a democrat. there was some sense of maybe we can get him as part of our party but hoover had other ideas. can you talk about why he decided to become a republican? thomas: he grew up in a quaker community, which had supported lincoln because of their abolitionist sentiments. john brown visited west branch. hoover actually had registered as a republican, but because he had lived abroad for most of his adult life with his mining career, people did not know his political affiliation. so he had to write to roosevelt to indicate that he was, his tribe was the republican tribe, and he considered himself, theodore roosevelt, a progressive republican. roosevelt was the vice presidential candidate on the democrat side. harding became president and hoover was part of the harding and coolidge administrations while fdr ended up getting polio and disappeared for many years. he was secretary of commerce and was big on government regulation. can you talk about his role as a commerce secretary and how it influen

navy's new supercarrier to --tinguish his predecessor to honor his distinguished predecessor, franklin d. rooseveltmmissioning this ship the american people are honoring a stalwart hero of this war who gave his life in the service of his country, franklin d. ofsevelt, and it is a symbol our commitment to help the peaceloving nations of the world to stop any future international gangsters. ♪ >> in the cities spacious central park, more than a million persons gathered to hear the president declare world affairs, that the united states seeks no international expansion, the return of all sovereign rights deprived of them, no territorial changes, for all people the choosing of their own form of government, our assistance in establishing democratic government's, the disapprove meant of governments established by force and equal rights to all. ♪ >> in new york harbor, 51 warships from the mightiest navy the world has ever known were waiting to be reviewed by their commander-in-chief. ♪ >> the fighting misery, flagship of the pacific fleet that decimated the japanese -- the fightingmisery -- the except --

one given by herbert hoover on constitution day in 1935 in one given by franklin roosevelt on constitution day in 1937 so two years apart. it's just a classic comparison and contrast. roosevelt begins his speech by pointing out that the constitution opens with the expression, we the people. and he said so, this reminds us that the constitution is a peep olds document. it's not a lawyer's document, to people's document. it was done by the people and for the people and what that means is according to roosevelt when the constitution gets antiquated and a little out of date and he was giving us a 150 year constitution we the people can fix that. we can take it over and change that in any way we want and accommodate it to today. if we need regulation and people ask if that's unconstitutional we shouldn't have to worry about that. you will remember he tried to pac the supreme court to get more judges on their to quit slowing down his centralization and regulation agenda, unsuccessfully it turned out that he finally got enough judges to go along to begin the cycle of increased regulation and the

they were both in the same administration, franklin roosevelt was trying to convince herbert hoover to become a democrat and there was some sense of, maybe we can get him as part of our party. but herbert hoover had other ideas. can you talk about why he decided to become a republican. >> he grew up in a quaker community which had supported lincoln because of their abolition sentiments. john brown visited west branch. and hoover actually had registered as a republican but because he had lived abroad for most of his adult life with his mining career, people didn't know his political affiliation. and so he had to write to roosevelt to indicate, you know, that he was -- his tribe was the republican tribe and he considered himself theodore roosevelt, a progressive republican. >> the 1920 presidential race, franklin roosevelt was the vice presidential candidate on the democratic side and the democrats lots and harding became president. hoover became an important part of both the harding and the coolidge administrations while fdr ended up getting polio and disappearing for many years. during

the south was a major component of the coalition that elected franklin roosevelt and kept the democratsfice for 20 years. in recent years the more conservative section of the country has been driving into a republican camp. bringing in the presidential nominee as a southerner is a major step that kept them in the 1930's and 1940's. stephen: the reason this could happen, the issues that divided the democrats and republicans were the issues of civil rights and the issues of vietnam war. both of these are gone, the vietnam war because it is completed. but the civil rights one is at least minimized because of the tremendous progress in the united states. change both in the south and the north, in the degree of racial equality that has come about over the last 15 years. or thereabouts. and that problem is not at such an exacerbated level that a party gets fully divided as the democratic party once was over this issue. richard: let me ask those of you, howard and steve, do you agree -- we have been talking about moderation in politics, moving towards the center -- would you agree that in fore

would you rather quote herbert hoover or franklin roosevelt? would you rather quote nature richard nixon or john fitzgerald kennedy? the republicans have always been the party of privilege. but this year, their leaders have gone even further. in their platform, they have repudiated the best traditions of their own party. where is the conscience of lincoln in the party of lincoln? what's become of their traditional republican commitment to fiscal responsibility? what's happened to their commitment to a safe and sane arms control? i don't claim perfection for the democratic party, i don't claim that every decision that we have made has been right for popular. certainly, they have not all been easy. but i will say this, we've been tested under fire. we've neither docked nor hidden. and we have tackled the great central issues of our time, the historic challenges of peace and energy, which have been ignored for years. we've made tough decisions and we've taken the heat for them, we've made mistakes and we've learned from them. and we have built the

next, a united auto workers animated film promoting president franklin roosevelt's campaign for a fourtherm. it was directed by chuck jones, who helped create bugs bunny and other characters for warner bros. and in 1966 produced and , directed "how the grinch stole christmas." ♪ [locomotive chugging] ♪ ♪ ["i've been working on the railroad" on harmonica] ♪ ♪ >> hey joe, joe. >> yes, sam? >> take a look at today's timetable. only one of these trains can get through to washington. 44 is a single track, you know. >> but sam, aren't the american people on board the win the war special? >> well, all but a few wreckers. see that switch, joe? you have got to sidetrack the peters limited. >> i am just the guy that can do it, sam. >> you can't if you don't fall asleep the switch like you did in november of 1942. >> don't worry about me. he will have to knock me out first. ♪ [train on railroad tracks] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [beautiful dreamer] ♪ >> what happened? who are you? >> not at all, not at all. glad you dropped in, my boy. glad you dropped in. sam has been overworking. high production. he's been overwork

next on the presidency, two programs from the franklin roosevelt presidential library series at home, designed to keep connected with the public during the pandemic. the directors of the hoover and roosevelt presidential libraries talk about the 1932 campaign in the midst of the great depression and the transition that followed from a hoover -- from a hoover to fdr administration. we will hear a conversation about relationships between the franklin, the roosevelt presidential library presented this video. >> welcome to at home with the roosevelts. i am director of the roosevelt presidential library and museum and joined by the director of the herbert hoover presidential museums. >>

would you rather quote herbert hoover or franklin delano roosevelt? [applause] would you rather quote richard nixon or john fitzgerald the republicans have always been the party of privilege. but this year their leaders have gone even further. in their platform they have repudiated the best traditions of their own party. ofre is the conscience lincoln in the party of lincoln? republicanional commitment to fiscal responsibility? what happened to their position around safe and sane arms control? i don't claim perfection for the democratic already. claimed that every decision we have made has been right popular. certainly, they have not all been easy. but i will say this, we have been tested under fire. we have neither not nor hidden. ed nor hidden. [applause] the historic challenges of peace and energy have been ignored for years. we have made tough decisions and taken the for them. we have made mistakes and we have learned from them. we have built a foundation now for a better future. we have done something else. perhaps even more important. bad, in th

so, secretary of state is not strong, poor president truman who had lunch once with franklin roosevelt and had not been included in on what roosevelt unschooled ins where things stand and so vandenberg goes to san francisco as really the most influential american delegate and he has and hedeferring to him is helping set to stage for what the united nations charter is going to look like. >> no nation hereafter can immunize itself by its own exclusive action. only collective security can stop the next great war before it starts. >> so, he found himself being the country found looking to him as an outspoken ,oice for rational approach nothing utopian, it was not going to be one world. rivalshis republican wendell wilkie had written a book called one world and there were people who thought maybe we should have a world government and then there were isolationists coming out of the closet saying bring the boys home and let's wash our hands of what is happening in the world. vandenberg said no, we can't do that, but we have got to look after american interests as part of a global structure. v

written for more than 20 years in the lady sternal, held at the franklin roosevelt library and museum. this is an hour. >> good afternoon everyone. welcome to the wallace center at the roosevelt presidential library. happy birthday eleanor roosevelt. [applause] it is one of the things we are so lucky to have eleanor's papers here along with franklin roosevelt's. library ares of the the roosevelt wings built in 1972. ,ven after the library opened fdr started sketching what ended up being the structure here to incorporate elinor's papers. when his archivist said, do you think she will give them to you, and fdr said, you can never tell what my missus is going to do. which i think is a true statement about eleanor roosevelt. how many of you are members here today? look at that. thank you so much. your support makes programs like this possible. we appreciate everything you do for us. the library is a federally funded institution, but we rely on private donations to allow us to do many nonfederal programs like exhibits and things like that. today we have with us a very special friend and gu

and from that point forward, of course, franklin roosevelt never walked alone. he always wore metal braces. he was assisted by somebody if he ever managed to walk to a podium to give a speech. typically, though, he was sitting, that was usually, whenever you see a picture of him, typically he was sitting down and he was often in pain. and his mother felt the best -- the best path for roosevelt to follow would be to come home to hyde park, she would take care of him, and he could lead this lovely quiet life. but his wife eleanor convinced him otherwise. she felt the very best thing was for roosevelt, no, to re-enter public life to really try on get back to some kind of normal life if at all possible and fortunately, of course, that is what he did. it's amazing how many people in this country never realized that roosevelt was handicapped, that he had had polio and that he could not walk. i've had students do oral histories of people who 11th in the 1930s and '40s. and they're, like, no, no, he wasn't paralyzed. he wasn't. they really did not know, and so roosevelt

franklin delano roosevelt. [applause] we are the party that knew how to give them hell, harry truman. [applause] as truman said, he just told the truth and they thought it was hell. we're the party of john fitzgerald kennedy. [applause] we're the party of a great leader, lyndon baines johnson. [applause] the party of a great man who should have been one of the greatest presidents in our history. [applause] i have appreciated -- [indiscernible] a great man who epitomizes the democratic party. i would like to say that we are also the party of governor jerry brown and senator edward kennedy. [applause] i would like to say a personal word to senator kennedy. ted, you are a tough senator and a superb campaigner, i can attest to that. [applause] your speech before this convention was a magnificent sight of what the democratic party is and what it means to the people of this country. while a democratic victory is so important this year, i reach out to you tonight, and i reach out to all of those in your passionate cam

half an hour, a conversation about the relationships between members of the roosevelt and kennedy political dynasties. the franklinl library provided this video. >> i am director of the roosevelt and herbert hoover presidential museums. >> are here to talk about one of the most remarkable transitions in american history, the presidential election of 1932, and hoover and roosevelt, their long relationship before and after their presidencies. this was a period of incredible trauma for the united states, the great depression.

franklin roosevelt was the vice presidential candidate in 1920 when james coxe and franklin rooseveltost in a landslide. 12 years later he was elected to the first of four terms. he has been the most successful in terms of presidential politics of unsuccessful vice presidential candidates. if you think about some other people who ran for vice was thet, earl warren losing vice presidential theidate in 1948 and became chief justice of the united states in 1953. pivotal role in brown v. board of education and caseser of other critical that are among the most important supreme court decisions. edmund muskie who ran a marvelous campaign, but was unsuccessful in 1968, became the secretary of state at the end of president carter's administration. lloyd benson was the vice presidential candidate who lost in 1988 and became secretary treasury under president clinton. there have been a number of unsuccessful vice presidential candidates. paul ryan was unsuccessful in country 12 and became speaker of the house of representatives -- 2012 and became speaker of the house of representatives. there h

john kennedy franklin roosevelt you see in these people that they have these traits they either have a full blown manic depressive illness or bipolar illness as call or they have these traits as part of their personality all the time a little bit an example would be churchill who had very severe depressions and during the 1930 s. the most famous wilderness years as he called it when he was out of political power and nobody listened to him he was very depressed at the same time was extremely realistic about the nazi threat while almost all politicians of all spectra in anyone's really were in denial about it and i think that's an example of where the depression brings out the realism that makes you a great in who you are now you are now undef various. you know that many sex ask people i'm mentally unstable and perhaps it's that i'm in mental illness bad powers them through but i think many psychologists these days believe that it is a compound satori a coping adaptive mechanism will learn this children and that mechanism has to be dispensed with if one wants to be happy and how he you

doris kearnes goodwin. >> doris kearnes goodwin author of "no ordinary time" if you could ask franklin roosevelt or elino eleanor roosevelt any questions, what would it be? >> i would ask her why she was unable during the war where he asked her to be his wife again and stop travelling and take care of him, to say yes to him. and i know he loved her and she loved him and why didn't she do it, he was going to die soon. and why he couldn't share himself with anyone. he was an ebullient and sparkling personality, but underneath there was reserve in him and i'd want to try and understand why that was so and why he couldn't give more to the people he loved him. >> what makes this book different than all the rest? >> well, i think what i wanted to do in this book was to understand not only franklin and eleanor's relationship, which had as been looked at in many cases about you to understand the extended family that surrounded them in the white house and came to an understanding that these two characters both needed other people to meet the untended needs left over as a result of their troubled marriage

i feel that there is no public figure in the old second half of the 20th century as franklin roosevelto understood political power and like lyndon johnson. the thing attracted me to him which i didn't know it was him take me 20 years to get here was this torn when he Ãbjust like moses did something that no one else had done. he said, the senate never worked since the civil war since the days of webster clay and calhoun, except during the six years that johnson was its majority leader. if i could figure out how he did it when no one else can, then i will be showing something new about legislation. but i didn't really realize what path my research would take. >> robert caro, we are here at the lbj library in austin texas. how long have you been coming to this place? >> i think i started either very beginning of 77 or the very end of 76, i can't remember anymore, that would be about 26 years. >> you are saying something about you eat lunch out here. >> when we are here together we bring sandwiches and eat over there on the hillside under those trees. >> is not afraid of hard work, all of

and so on the way, he was a leader in the fight with franklin roosevelt as roosevelt was trying to engineer aid for great britain and for people would become our allies against hitler. and then, after the war in 1945, oregon the work vandenberg came forward and said things have to change. in effect, reversed his own position in said isolation was no longer possible to the u.s. as a global power. though we had to take leadership on the world stage or relinquish it to dark forces. and by making that shift in the last months of world war ii, he pulled a lot of american opinion with him and really hope to enable changes in america's right to leadership. as someone who grew up grand rapids with an interest in politics, i've always been curious about vandenberg's life. he was one of these ambitious kids, his father has a business nearly went broke in the panic of 1893. vandenberg was nine years old. and so he was always doing odd jobs and thanks to support the family. once he was in high school here, he thrived on he was editing the school newspaper and he thrived on political news. he gave a spe

because franklin roosevelt told him nothing. people know he was told about the atomic bomb that that was only part of it. it wasn't only irresponsible of roosevelt's part but unkind. so when mrs. roosevelt says you are in trouble now she knew what she was talking about. >> you write about the selection process for the vice president for the election and also a number of times how the people around roosevelt knew he was a very sick man. >> it was commonly known at the convention. i think it's one of the most dramatic stories of political history. they know the nominee for the presidency is running for the fourth term will not survive for last very long he is a dying man. this is kept secret. it's a cover-up of for very good reasons. it is absolutely essential neither our allies or the enemy get the idea the most powerful of all nations is being led by a dying man. but the vice presidency is worth everything. and the irony of the story is the man they nominate, truman doesn't want to be nominated whereas the other two henry wallac

he persuaded franklin roosevelt to make the race. although smith lost by a narrow vote, roosevelt was elected to his first term as governor. already roosevelt was the leading favorite for the nomination. the leading opponent, none other than his old p friend al smith >> frank len d. roosevelt, having received more than 2/3 of allle delegates, i proclaim him the nominee of this convention for president of the united states. >> you have nominated me and i know it and i am here to thank you for the honor. i pledge myself to a new deal for the american people. >> and back live in the new york constituent assembly chamber. beverly gauge, how did we get from 1928 al smith calling -- f.d.r. calling al smith the happy warrior and nominating him to the 1932 election? >> well, they had been allies before, both coming up through the same new york democratic party. a couple of things happened between 1928 and 1932, some of think -- which are very personal and some of which are on a grand scale. the most important thing that happened is of course

leader iny, he was a the fight for franklin roosevelt . and then, after the war, he came forward and said things have to change. in effect, reversed his own decision and said isolation was no longer possible. that we had to take leadership on the world stage or really wish it to darker forces. shift, he pulled a lot of american opinion with him and really helped enable the changes in leadership. up and beingo grew interested in politics, i was always interested in vandenberg's life. vandenberg was nine years old. he was always doing odd jobs and things to support the family. but once he was in high school, he thrived -- he was editing the school newspaper and thrived on political news. he gave a speech that won him second place in an oratory contest when he was a senior in high school, on the piece conference -- peace conference. he was already thinking about foreign policy as a teenager. he claims reading the congressional record at 15. we have no record, but that was what he thought of himself. he was an editor of a medium-sized daily ne