The Bronx Zoo and Mario’s on Arthur Avenue

4-24-10

Richard J. Garfunkel

Hello from rainy Tarrytown. Yesterday was a fabulous spring day. Linda played tennis indoors in New Rochelle and I drove 15 miles up to the Armonk tennis Club and played for an hour and a half with a young guy 35 years my junior. The weather was pristine. I got back home at 1:15 pm, showered and got dressed. We both got ready for our trip to the Bronx Zoo. Our friend, Diona, who a retired professor of Bio-Chemistry at Marymount/Fordham College is now a docent at the Zoo, and with her husband Ron, organized the tour. So my old friend Warren, whom I met in 1953, and his two daughters; Zannie and Katie and son in law, Nanno, met with us and our friends Bob and Corinne at the zoo at 2:45 pm.

The Zoo, which was founded in 1901, is a remarkable place covering 265 acres. Fordham University owned most of the land which became the Bronx Zoo and New York Botanical Garden. Fordham sold it to the City of New York for only $1,000 under the condition that the lands be used for a zoo and garden; this was in order to create a natural buffer between the university grounds and the urban expansion that was nearing. In the 1880s, New York State set aside the land for future development as parks. In 1895, New York State chartered the New York Zoological Society (later renamed to Wildlife Conservation Society) for the purpose of founding a zoo.

The zoo (originally called the New York Zoological Park) opened its doors to the public on November 8, 1899, featuring 843 animals in 22 exhibits. The first zoo director was William Temple. Hornaday Heins & LaFarge designed the original permanent buildings as a series of Beaux-Arts pavilions grouped around the large circular sea lion pool. Many exhibits, for example World of Birds and World of Reptiles, maintain the original taxonomical arrangement, while others are arranged geographically, such as African Plains and Wild Asia. These same buildings still stand today around the seal pool.

Once we gathered all together, we made our way past the majestic eagles, and the hunched over vultures, and the huge Andean condors. We were just in time for the seal feeding, which was crowded with people of all ages, cultures, and economic strata. Everyone loves seals!

After the seal feeding, they could eat 30 pounds of fish during the day, Diona led us to the Madagascar House, which featured lemurs. They are a class of strepsirrhine primates that is endemic to the island of Madagascar. The name is derived from the Latin word lemures, signifying ghosts or spirits, from which they earned their name due to the ghostly vocalizations, reflective eyes, and the nocturnal habits of some species. Although lemurs often are confused with ancestral primates, the anthropoid primates (monkeys, apes, and humans) did not evolve from them; instead, lemurs merely share morphological and behavioral traits with basal primates. Meanwhile they are attractive and engaging animals that dote on their young, live high up in trees in the rain forest, and are representative of scores of varieties. Though it was hard to leave the Madagascar House, we pressed on past the flamingoes as we worked our way to the Congo Gorilla Forest, a 6.5 acre preserve, where we watched the antics of those legendary creatures. The gorilla lives in a tightly-knit group of up to 30 animals, lead by a dominant male known as a silverback. This male leads and protects this group of animals whose weights range from 150 to 500 pounds. After a few charges by one of the gorillas, at the thick glass that separated all of us from the preserve, we all decided to move on.

As we were running out of time, we moved quickly to see the lions. Lions are the most social of all the wild cats. They live and often hunt together, but have a reputation for terrible manners when it comes to sharing food. Related females form prides of around 15 members, while males (related and unrelated) form nomadic coalitions that compete for access to prides. Female offspring of pride members remain in the group as adults, but male cubs leave as they approach adulthood at around three years of age. When a new coalition of males comes into a pride, they often kill young lions so their mothers will be ready to mate again. We were able to observe a large male and his one-year old daughter. The daughter kept on pacing along the fence and the moat that separated us from her territory. The lions were anticipating the up-coming feeding time and in reality were not interested in the spectators. It was now 5:00 pm and we had decided to finish our visit and make our way to our cars.

It was a full day and we made plans to eat at Mario’s, on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. Located in Belmont (Little Italy) — “the safest neighborhood in America,” five generations of the Migliucci family have been turning out fresh, robust Neapolitan food since 1919. Mario’s isn’t too far away, and we were able to reserve a private room and a set-up for ten. We arrived by six, I said hello to the owner, who’s a friend of WVOX’s Bill O’Shaughnessy, (that is the station where my show The Advocates is broadcasted) and we were treated royally. It was a great meal, with a terrific antipasto featuring clams, mussels, calamari, egg plant and stuffed mushrooms. We had a few bottles of Italian red wine and everyone ordered their own specific dishes. I had my usual tortellini with Bolognese sauce and Linda had sole francaise. By 8:30pm all the all bread, wine, appetizers, and entrees were consumed. We spent about 15 minutes trying to figure out the bill of faire, but all was solved and we headed home, exhausted, but satiated with a day of tennis, a tour of the zoo, and a large enjoyable meal.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010, at 12:00 Noon, I am hosting my show, The Advocates on WVOX- 1460 AM, or you can listen to the program’s live streaming at www.wvox.com. One can call the show at 914-636-0110 to reach us on the radio.  My guests are Barbara Burt, the Director of the Frances Perkins Center in Newcastle, Maine, and Mr. Christopher Breiseth, former President and CEO of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, and a Board Member of the Perkins Center.

Our subject is Frances Perkins, a fighter for social justice, and the role of the Frances Perkins Center: www.francesperkinscenter.org/ and their effort to support and sustain Social Security

Barbara Burt is a graduate of Boston University and Harvard University School of Education, Barb brings varied experience to the position. She has been a writer and editor for many publishers and educational institutions, including Houghton Mifflin, McGraw-Hill, Scholastic, National Geographic, and Harvard University.

Long an advocate for responsive government and progressive politics, Barbara joined Common Cause in 2003, eventually becoming vice president and director of national election reform programs. In 2007, Barb became the online communications director for Chellie Pingree's successful campaign to represent Maine's First Congressional District in the 111th Congress.

Dr. Christopher N. Breiseth is the immediate past president and CEO of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, located at the FDR Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York, serving in that position from 2001 to 2008. He was president of Deep Springs College in California from 1980 to 1983 and of Wilkes University from 1984 to 2001. He earned his B.A. in history at UCLA, a Masters of Literature in Modern British History from Oxford and a Ph.D. in European History from Cornell. While at Cornell, he lived at the Telluride House where Frances Perkins was a guest for the last five years of her life while she was teaching at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Together, Breiseth and Miss Perkins organized two seminars for house members, one with Henry A. Wallace, the other with James Farley. Following Miss Perkins's death in 1965, Breiseth wrote an article, “The Frances Perkins I Knew,” which provides some of the material on Frances Perkins's life at Telluride House for Kirstin Downey's book, “The Woman Behind the New Deal.” The article is available on line. He also served for a year and a half in 1967 and 1968 as Chief of Policy Guidance for the Community Action Program which was part of the Office of Economic Opportunity, President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty. He is married to Jane Morhouse Breiseth and they have three daughters and two grandchildren.

 Meanwhile, the mission of The Advocates is to bring to the public differing views on current “public policy” issues. “Public policy,” therefore, is what we as a nation legally and traditionally follow.

One can find my essays on FDR and other subjects at https://www.richardjgarfunkel.com. All of the archived shows can be found at: http://advocates-wvox.com.  Next week on WVOX The Advocates will host Shari Gordon, Norman Solovay, and Mary Beth Morrissey and the subject will be “Divorce American Style.”

Submarines, The Goodspeed Opera and Lobsters

Richard J. Garfunkel

April 20, 2010

The Connecticut coastline abuts right against the Long Island Sound, and there are a number of lovely resort towns that stretch east of New Haven and right to the Rhode Island border at Westerly. These towns that stretch from Madison to Mystic, each offer a typical, but individually unique quaintness. Certainly on one stretch of Route I, from Clinton to Old Saybrook, a hungry visitor can find an incredible number of venues to satiate that craving for cuisine from the sea. When it comes to clams, mussels, lobsters, chowder and the entire accoutrement that goes with it, one can’t go to far wrong. Of course our visit was a few weeks before the real season opens on the 1st of May, but there is plenty of parking along all of the road houses like, Lenny and Joe’s Fish Tale, the Westbrook Lobster, the Harbour Seal Restaurant, and the Clam Castle. After a two hour trip up I-95, we pulled into the Water’s Edge Resort at about 6:30 pm. Water’s Edge is located in Westbrook, right on the Long Island Sound’s shoreline , and is a beautiful time-sharing resort and hotel, where we had booked a comfortable and commodious duplex. The town itself is bordered by the communities of Essex, Clinton, and Old Saybrook, where the Connecticut River empties into Long Island Sound.After unloading the car we headed out for dinner, and decided on Lenny and Joe’s Fish Tale.

Meanwhile, on our way up to Westbrook, we had a problem with our cigarette lighter and thus our GPS. The next morning, Linda searched the yellow pages and came up with a few options for our car. One was the All Pro Automotive Center in Old Lyme, so we headed east on the Boston Post Road. On the way we passed through Old Saybrook. This town is where the Connecticut River Meets the Sound.  It is one of the oldest towns in the state, incorporated on July 8, 1854 and has a long history dating back to 1635 when it began as an independent colony known as the Saybrook Plantation.  The colony was started when a company of English Puritans headed by Viscount Saye and Sele and Lord Brook, and led by one John Wintrhop, Jr. erected a fort to guard the river entrance.  This settlement is the site of the Pequot Conflict (war) in 1636.  Yale University was founded in Old Saybrook as the Collegiate School for the education of ministers in 1700.  The Saybrook College of Yale University Seal is used as the Town logo on its letterhead and town-owned vehicles. On our way, we stopped at Smith Brothers Transmissions, but unfortunately they could do us no good, and after 45 minutes of tinkering around, we headed up the road to Old Lyme, where All Pro Automotive Center was located. They knew what the score was, they found the blown fuse very shortly, they recommended a heavier battery for the Jaguar, and it wasn’t long before the car was ready, the bill was paid, and we were back on the Post Road.

So, while we had to wait for Dana and Jon to arrive from Boston, where they have lived for quite a number of years, we headed down (west) the Boston Post Road (Route 1) and stopped at the Clinton Antique Center. Linda found some decently priced pieces of Wedgwood, and I found three interesting military books: Death in the South Atlantic (the sinking of the German raider, the Graf Spee), The Chindit War (Orde Wingate fights the Japanese in Burma, ) and Osprey’s 49^th Fighter Group, (Tom Lamphier and his friends, with their P-38 Lightnings, shoot down Admiral Yamamoto!).

Our “adult” children arrived about noon at the Water’s Edge and since every one was hungry we drove west on Route 1 and stopped at the Westbrook Lobster in Clinton. Linda and I split a Caesar salad and a lobster and the kids each had chicken francaise and barbecued salmon. The Town of Clinton traces its history from 1663 when the land between Guilford and Saybrook, as they were then bounded, was known as Homonoscitt.  In that year, a committee was appointed by the General Court at Hartford to lay out this area as a plantation. In 1667 the settlement was designated a town and named Kenilworth. By the middle of the eighteenth century, through changes in usage, this name became Killingworth. In 1838, the southern portion was incorporated by the General Assembly as the Town of Clinton, the northern portion retaining the name of Killingworth. The line marking the division between the towns of Killingworth and Clinton was the same as that which divided the first and second ecclesiastical societies, or, as they were later known, “school societies,” which were established in 1735.

As in most small New England shore towns, life centered about fishing, farming, shipbuilding, and the church. One of the early leaders of Clinton's church was the Reverend Abraham Pierson. In 1701, when the General Court of the Colony in Hartford granted a charter for “the founding of a collegiate school within His Majesty's Colony of Connecticut, ” its founders chose the Reverend Mr. Pierson as its rector. The first classes were held in his parsonage in Clinton. In later years the school was moved to Saybrook and then to New Haven, where it eventually became Yale University. But today there are fortunately no British Redcoats, who derogatory were called lobster backs, and lobster is still the main attraction along this coastline.

After our enjoyable and filling meal, we were off to the outlet mall, where everyone got something. By the way there were great bargains to be had, and I bought a couple of golf shirts at 33% off list. After all of our shopping and running around, we decided on Chinese food, and let our Garmin GPS direct us to a few nearby. We finally agreed on a Taste of China, and ordered the usual cuisine and took it with us back to our rooms. Meanwhile, one can hear, with great clarity, all the New York radio stations and we were all happy listening to another Yankee victory. The Mets meanwhile began another marathon with the Saint Louis Cards, and almost seven hours later they eked out a narrow 3-2 victory. I don’t know whether the Mets won or the Cards gave it away, but the hapless boys from Queens needed a victory. It was a terrific sports weekend with Red Sox being swept by the Rays, the Celtics coming back and beating the Heat, and the opening up of the Stanley Cup’s early rounds.

We were all up pretty early. It was unseasonably chilly, but the rains that plagued both New York and Boston must have passed north of the Sound and therefore we remained quite dry. After breakfast we decided to head up to Groton, which is a town located on the Thames River in New London County and is the home of the Electric Boat Corporation, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United States Navy, and the Navy's SUBASE New London. The Avery Point section of Groton is home to a regional campus of the University of Connecticut. We decided to see the Submarine Museum which is located right next to the Electric Boat Yard which  produced all our submarines, including the all the atomic submarines built under the guidance of the legendary Admiral Hyman Rickover. Groton, Connecticut was established in 1705 when it made its separation from New London, Connecticut. Over the years Groton has become a very populated city with numerous monuments that makes it one of the most historical cities in the area. A hundred years before the town was established, the Nehantic Indians were settled in Groton, Connecticut between the Thames and Pawcatuck Rivers. The Nehantic Indians were brutally attacked by a band of red skinned invaders. These invaders burned their wigwams, destroyed their cornfields and food supplies and a few possessions were stolen. Many of the Nehantic Indians warriors were tomahawked. The survivors fled to Misquamicut, Rhode Island.

The newcomers to the land were the Pequots, a branch of the Mohawks, who were most feared in the region. They were brave, heartless and had little sympathy which allowed them to create horrifying types of torture for their enemies. They wrote their names in blood and fire all over, but also in Groton. As the Pequots population grew it forced them to move eastward into the Connecticut Valley. But soon enough they began to rampage through the villages of the River Indians. The Peqouts finally rested and made their headquarters in Groton and built 3 villages at Groton Heights, Fort Hill, and Mystic. This was all prime Indian country. The land supplied them with all they needed to survive, and there was game of all kinds.

The summer on 1614 was the first time the Pequots ever met the white settlers. They started trading furs for the settler’s goods. Things like steel knives, needles and boots. In 1633 the Dutch bought land from the Pequots and permission for River Indians to bring their fur for trade. Meanwhile the English bought land for settlement away from the local tribes. The Dutch had unintentionally killed the Pequots Chief. This created a need for revenge by the Pequot tribe, so they attacked. Soon after attacking the new leader of the Pequots Sassacus realized that they were in grave danger because the English hated them and so did the surrounding Indians. The Pequots had been expelled from their land by white settlers. They too could see the beauty of the land as it was covered in forest and flowing with wildlife and all types of birds and animals that they have never seen previously.

The first settlers of Groton had to be farmers because they needed to provide the necessities of food and clothing. The land was mainly made up of rocks and trees and farming was not easy. Because of the earlier glaciers it wiped away all of the top soil. Therefore, all of the rocks and trees had to be removed before any work could be done to the ground. Livestock was also very important to the settlers. Cattle were great for providing dairy; pigs and sheep for wool and animal protein; and the oxen did the heavy farm work.

Meanwhile the centerpiece of the Submarine Museum is the USS Nautilus, SSN 571, which is anchored permanently in the Thames River and is accessible to all who wish to climb down its steep ladders, and squeeze through its water tight doorways. The Nautilus was made possible by the successful development of a nuclear propulsion plant by a group of scientists and engineers at the Naval Reactors Branch of the Atomic Energy Commission, under the leadership of Captain Hyman G. Rickover, USN. Hyman George Rickover (January 27, 1900 – July 8, 1986) was eventually raised to a four-star admiral in the United States Navy. He invented and controlled the naval nuclear propulsion. Rickover was known as the “Father of the Nuclear Navy“, which as of July 2007 had produced 200 nuclear-powered submarines, and 23 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and cruisers, though many of these U.S. vessels are now decommissioned and others under construction. With his unique personality, political connections, responsibilities, and depth of knowledge regarding naval nuclear propulsion, Rickover became the longest-serving naval officer in U.S. history with 63 years active duty. Rickover's substantial legacy of technical achievements includes the United States Navy's continuing record of zero reactor accidents, as defined by the uncontrolled release of fission products subsequent to reactor core damage. He was incredibly controversial. He refused to wear a navy uniform in his later years, was quite acerbic, he didn’t tolerate fools easily, and was tough as nails. He personally interviewed all of the officers who applied to work in the nuclear navy, and many were “washed out” because of his strict standards of excellence. His interviews with these candidates were often fraught with sarcasm, biting comments, and a sense of urgency. He was quite tough and even many WWII veterans of the submarine service were also cashiered out of the new and emerging nuclear navy because they could not meet Rickover’s exacting standards. Over the course of Rickover's record-length career, these personal interviews amounted to tens of thousands of highly impressionable events; over 14,000 interviews were with recent college-graduates alone. These legendary interviews loomed large in the minds of Navy ROTC students. Varying from arcane to combative to humorous, and ranging from midshipmen to very senior naval aviators who sought command of aircraft carriers (which sometimes lapsed into ego battles), the content of most of these interviews has been lost to history, though some were later chronicled in the several books on Rickover's career. During his wartime service, as noted later in the January 11, 1954, Time magazine issue that featured him on its cover: “Sharp-tongued Hyman Rickover spurred his men to exhaustion, ripped through red tape, drove contractors into rages. He went on making enemies, but by the end of the war he had won the rank of captain. He had also won a reputation as a man who gets things done.“

In July of 1951, Congress authorized construction of the world's first nuclear powered submarine. On December 12th of that year, the Navy Department announced that she would be the sixth ship of the fleet to bear the name Nautilus. Her keel was laid by President Harry S. Truman at the Electric Boat Shipyard in Groton, Connecticut on June 14, 1952. After nearly 18 months of construction, Nautilus was launched on January 21, 1954 with First Lady Mamie Eisenhower breaking the traditional bottle of champagne across Nautilus' bow as the submersible slid down the ways into the Thames River. Eight months later, on September 30, 1954, Nautilus became the first commissioned nuclear powered ship in the United States Navy. I can remember quite well when it was launched, when it sailed under the North Pole and when it broke all the endurance records of a submersible. The museum itself tells the remarkable history of the submarine from its earliest days as a one-man self-propelled vessel called the Turtle, to the gigantic Ohio Class Trident II atomic submarines which are 560 feet in length and weigh over 16, 000 tons. After our tour, the kids headed back to Boston, and we headed over to Mystic. Linda also found out that the naval personnel are all assigned to a three- year stay at the museum. That is quite a change from the rigors of Iraq and Afghanistan, where many of these men and women spent a tour. I had a great time talking to one of the men, who happened to have his young family there on Sunday. He was well schooled in naval history, and I had an enjoyable time exchanging naval vignettes about WWII.

Mystic is a historic locality, though it has no independent government. It is not a legally recognized municipality within the state of Connecticut. Rather, Mystic is located within the towns of Groton (west of the Mystic River, and also known as West Mystic) and Stonington (east of the Mystic River).Historically a leading seaport of the area, the story of Mystic's nautical connection is told at Mystic Seaport, the world's largest maritime museum, which has preserved both a number of sailing ships (most notably the whaler Charles W. Morgan) and the seaport buildings ashore. The village is located on the Mystic River, which flows into Long Island Sound, providing access to the sea. The Mystic River Bascule Bridge crosses the river in the center of the village.

A major New England tourist destination, the village is also home to the Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration, and notable for its research department, dedication to marine life rehabilitation and not captivity, and its popular beluga whales. The business district, on either side of the Bascule Bridge, where US 1 crosses the Mystic River, includes many popular restaurants including Mystic Pizza which inspired the name of the 1988 film, though that was not the location of the restaurant in the film. Scenes in Mystic Pizza were shot in Mystic, Stonington, Noank, Watch Hill (RI), and also at the Planetarium at Mystic Seaport. We didn’t stop at Mystic Pizza. Linda revealed that they only rated a “17” in Zagats, so we passed. By the way Johnny’s Pizza in my old hometown of Mount Vernon gets a “27” rating! We strolled around town, relaxed in a coffee house, looked over the book store, went into a great Army-Navy store and took some pictures of the sailboats anchored on the Mystic River. From Mystic, it was on to New London, where very little was going on. Maybe it was because it was a Sunday morning, and the tourists were in the coastal towns.

We headed back to Water’s Edge, relaxed for a few hours. At 5:00 pm we made our way up to the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, to see Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun, which is located 19 miles north of Westbrook. The Goodspeed isa non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and advancement of musical theater and the creation of new works, was formed in 1959 to restore the Goodspeed Opera House to its original Victorian appearance. The Goodspeed reopened in 1963 and, under the direction of Michael P. Price and since 1968 it has sent 16 productions to Broadway. Goodspeed productions have won more than a dozen Tony Awards, while Goodspeed Musicals have won two special Tonys. The opera house was originally built by a local merchant and banker, William Goodspeed. Construction began in 1876 and finished in 1877, but despite the name, it was not in fact an opera house, but rather a venue for presenting plays. Its first play, Charles II, opened on October 24, 1877. We had been here once before when we went to see, Most Happy Fella in 1992. The show at that time had been in the midst of two major revivals. The first, a limited engagement by the New York City Opera at Lincoln Center, opened on September 4, 1991 and played 10 performances in repertory. Four months later, a duo-piano version, transferred from the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut to the Booth Theatre on Broadway and ran for 229 performances. We had a quick meal at La Vita Gustosa on Main Street (10” pizza) which is right across the street. We finished our last bite at 6:28 pm and left just in time to climb up to our $45 mezzanine seats. The theater holds 390 people and I quickly estimated that it was about 90% full. Meanwhile the show was significantly different from the production we had seen at the Broadway Palm Theater in Mesa, Arizona in March of 2004. The producers added two songs, I’ll Share it With You, and Who Do You Love, I Hope, and removed Indian Ceremonial. This new production was modeled on a more politically correct and racially sensitive one, which removed perceived stereotypical and demeaning references to Native Americans. But, all in all, the show was quite good. The leads, Jenn Gambatese, who played Annie Oakley and Kevin Early, in the role of Frank Butler were great. They both have wonderful voices and were supported quite well by a very engaging cast. The show has a wonderful score, featuring such standards as: There’s No Business Like Show Business, They Say its Wonderful, Anything You Can Do, and You Can’t Get a Man With a Gun. Of course, the show was originally opened on Broadway, at the Imperial Theater in May of 1946 with Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton. It ran for 1147 performances and was revived for a short Broadway run of 78 performances again in 1966 with Merman in the lead and Bruce Yarnell as Butler. Jerry Orbach played the role of Charlie Davenport. The 1999 Broadway, at the Marquis Theater ran for 35 previews and 1046 performances and featured Bernadette Peters, with various leads following, including; Susan Lucci, of soapbox opera notoriety. In 1950, Metro Goldwyn Mayer made a well-received movie version of the musical. Although MGM purchased the rights to the film version with an announced intention of starring legendary singer-actress Judy Garland as Annie, early work on the film was plagued with difficulties, some attributed to Garland. Garland was fired and replaced by the brassier, blonde Betty Hutton. In 1957, a production starring Mary Martin as Annie and John Raitt as Frank Butler was broadcast on NBC. In 1967, the Lincoln Center production described above, starring Ethel Merman and Bruce Yarnell, was broadcast on NBC.

After the show, I was able to meet the charming and talented Ms. Gambatese, and I invited her to be a guest on The Advocates. We’ll see what happens. So it was a very successful, long, and entertaining day. We were on the road by 9:30 pm and within 30 minutes we were back at Water’s Edge and snuggly ensconced.

The next morning we packed the car, checked out, but altered our earlier plans a bit. We had first thought about going to one of the Yale University museums in New Haven, CT, but decided instead to work our way down Route 1, see some of the small towns and then find I-95 south and head back to Tarrytown. We actually made one stop in Madison, walked around their charming downtown, had our fill and found our way to the interstate. The trip was punctuated by many slow downs because of mid-day work on the road, but within two hours we were back in Tarrytown and glad to be home.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010, at 12:00 Noon, I am hosting my show, The Advocates on WVOX- 1460 AM, or you can listen to the program’s live streaming at www.wvox.com. One can call the show at 914-636-0110 to reach us on the radio.  My guest is Jeff Shesol, author of Supreme Power, and our subject is FDR, the Supreme Court and the battle over its re-organization in the 1930’s.

Jeff Shesol is a founding partner of West Wing Writers, a speechwriting and communications strategy firm, and is author of the forthcoming book, Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. The Supreme Court (March 2010). He is an accidental speechwriter. In 1997, President Clinton read “Mutual Contempt,” Jeff’s book on the Lyndon Johnson-Robert Kennedy feud, and invited Jeff to become a White House speechwriter. Jeff, at that point, had written exactly one political speech in his life: nearly a decade earlier, as a Capitol Hill intern, he had drafted a tribute to America’s nurses.

During his three years at the White House, Jeff became the Deputy Chief of Presidential Speechwriting, a member of the senior staff, and took the lead in drafting the State of the Union Address, the President’s 2000 convention speech, and the Farewell Address. He covered a range of issues — from global trade and economic development to information technology, the federal budget, and the arts. He also helped lead the President's team of humor writers — a team that produced the Clinton comedy video, “The Final Days.”

A Rhodes Scholar, Jeff got his masters in history from Oxford University in 1993 and graduated from Brown University in 1991. He was the 2002 Anschutz Distinguished Fellow in American Studies at Princeton University, where he taught a course on the history of the presidential speech. Jeff lives in Washington with his wife Rebecca, and their two children. http://www.americanprogress.org/events/2010/04/supreme.html
 Meanwhile, the mission of The Advocates is to bring to the public differing views on current “public policy” issues. “Public policy,” therefore, is what we as a nation legally and traditionally follow.
One can find my essays on FDR and other subjects at https://www.richardjgarfunkel.com. All of the archived shows can be found at: http://advocates-wvox.com.  Next week on WVOX guest will be hosting representatives from the Frances Perkins Center, and we will be discussing their activities and the 75^th anniversary of Social Security.
 
 

FDR – 65 Years Ago in Warm Springs

April 12, 2010

Richard J. Garfunkel

At Warm Springs on April 12, 1945, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt spent his last day on this earth. He was doing his work until the end. He was dictating to his main secretary, Grace Tully and Dorothy Brady in the terrace of his small pre-Civil War home, known as the Little White House. He was accompanied there by his distant, but loyal cousins Laura “Aunt Polly” Delano and Margaret “Daisy” Suckley.

A few days earlier, on the 9^th, Lucy Mercer Rutherford, with whom FDR had been involved in a romantic way from possibly mid-1916 to the summer of 1918 and had been married to the late Winthrop Rutherford until his death in 1944 was traveling to Warm Springs. Along with her was the portrait artist Elizabeth Shoumatoff and the photographer Nicholas Robbins. Ms. Rutherford wanted a painting of the president and Robbins, who an excellent photographer, was friendly with Ms. Shoumatoff and assisted her in her work. On that day, FDR and Daisy drove 85 miles to Manchester, Georgia with a security detail behind them, where the president stopped for a Coca-Cola, and they met the two women who had parked their Cadillac. The Lucy and Madame Shoumatoff transferred to his car, and they all drove back to Warm Springs. Robbins, who was also a Russian, and a naturalized American, born in the Crimea as Nicholas Kotzubensky, was instructed to drive Shoumatoff’s car back to Warm Springs.

On the evening of April 11^th, he had dinner with Henry Morgenthau, Jr., his Secretary of the Treasury, who was pressing the president over his idea to create an agrarian post-war Germany. He claimed that FDR had said that he was “with him 100%.”  But, Secretary Morgenthau was quite a bit concerned over the president’s health and found him a bit distracted, forgetful, and in his own words confused when it came to certain people’s names. When he left, after complaining about the State Department’s views on the reconstruction of Germany, his last views of the president were of a man quite happy, surrounded by three adoring women who were laughing and talking.

The next day, while he was working on his papers in the late morning, Ms. Shoumatoff painted his portrait. Being a Russian, Shoumatoff asked the president what he thought of Stalin. FDR said that he liked him, but he thought he had poisoned his wife. At the same time, Laura was fixing a floral arrangement, and Daisy was crocheting. His aide Bill Hassett came in with some papers to sign and read and was a bit annoyed with Ms. Shoumatoff’s presence. The president looked at his watch, after saying, “Here’s where I make a law,” and saw that it was 1 PM and said that the portrait session had to end in 15 minutes. At that express moment, both Laura and Lucy, who had left the room, were called back by Daisy when the president fainted. He had dropped something on the floor, appeared to be fumbling for it, put his hand to the back of his neck, and said almost inaudibly, “I have a terrific pain in the back of my head.” Not long after, he was carried by a Filipino steward Joe Esperancilla and his valet Arthur Prettyman into his bedroom, while Howard Bruenn, his doctor, was phoned. Grace Tully arrived into the room, prayed quietly as he had lapsed into complete unconsciousness. Dr. Bruenn, who arrived shooed, the women out of the room, called Dr. James Paullin, an Atlanta specialist and worked on the president. While he was on the line with FDR’s personal physician Vice-Admiral Ross McIntire, his labored breathing stopped 3:35 PM. Dr. Paullin, a specialist, who was part of FDR’s team of physicians, arrived almost simultaneously and gave the dying president a shot of adrenalin directly in the heart. It did not make a difference.

Lucy Mercer Rutherford and Elizabeth Shoumatoff, quickly packed up their belongings and her paints. The president’s chief bodyguard, Mike Reilly, of the Secret Service, found gas for them for the 186 mile trip back to Aiken, South Carolina. Once the car was ready, they were on the road not long after the president had been stricken.

The assumed physical relationship between Lucy Mercer and Franklin Roosevelt ended in the fall of 1918, with the discovery of a bundle of letters from Lucy that had been found by his wife Eleanor. He had become quite ill upon his return from an inspection trip of Europe and had to be carried from the USS Leviathan and transported to his mother’s townhouse in NYC on September 18^th. With the affair exposed, a family crisis ensued, but in the end, FDR parted with Lucy. They may have met once or twice again, and the details of their parting conversations are not known. There is also no evidence regarding whether FDR revealed to Lucy any arrangements which he had made with Eleanor. Under the conditions of the reconciliation, FDR was not to meet or talk to Lucy again, and he and Eleanor would never share the same bed again.

This, of course, is interesting because Eleanor once told her daughter that sex was an ordeal to be borne, and that according to what has been written by members of the family, the fact that they didn’t share the same bed had already been met to avoid further pregnancies. One could speculate that after Eleanor’s 6^th childbirth in ten years to her youngest son John, and her removal to a separate bedroom from her husband, that his attraction at age 34 to Lucy may have become more intense. It is hard to believe that a man of his age, with the high libido that all the Roosevelt men possessed, would or could be sentenced to a long celibate life.

Lucy met the wealthy widower Winthrop Rutherford early in 1919 and entered his employ in an undefined role. It may have been as a quasi-governess to Rutherford’s young family of six. But Rutherford, a man in his 50’s, who was exceedingly wealthy and handsome, became enamored with her in short order. They were engaged and married on February 11, 1920. At the age of 29, Lucy had married a man who was 29 years older, or twice her age. The union was successful, the step-children adored her, and she gave birth to her own daughter in 1921. She was a dutiful, loving, and loyal wife, and the marriage lasted until his death in 1944. In the years from 1941 through the war, there were enormous pressures on President Roosevelt, and with Eleanor off traveling to all parts of the country and the world, he sought the company of friends with whom he could relax and escape from the burdens of office. During these years, he was visited at times by Lucy Rutherford. After suffering for years as an invalid, Winthrop Rutherford died in 1944, and Lucy made her first visit in March of that year to Hyde Park. With Eleanor gone, she ate with the president and Daisy Suckley and left by train the next day. There were other meetings, and it was said that he enjoyed immensely her company and her ability to make him relax and not make demands. Could one call her his mistress?  I would say that then she was a dear friend from another chapter in his life. He may have been always in love with her, but he did need trusted friends, and through the toll of war, these friends were few and far between. She, especially after the sickness and death of Missy LeHand and others, gave him that friendship and companionship which he so sorely needed.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was both the Soldier of Freedom and as James MacGregor Burns said,  “the Lion and the Fox.” He was the creator of the New Deal which halted and reversed the Great Depression. He authored the Four Freedoms and wrote the Atlantic Charter with Winston Churchill. He was the architect of victory for the Western World over the forces of darkness and enslavement. He founded the United Nations. His words and ideas would be incorporated in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He fought for victory to the end, and gave his life as an average soldier would in battle.

At his death Winston Churchill said, “In the days of peace he had broadened and stabilized the foundation of American life and union. In war he had raised the strength, might, and glory of the Great Republic to a height never achieved by any nation in history. “ To Churchill, as he stated, “for us it remained only to say that in Franklin Roosevelt their died the greatest American friend we have ever known and the greatest champion who ever brought help and comfort from the New World to the Old.”

In speaking of the late President, Churchill said in Parliament to the members of the House of Commons on April 17, 1945, “he died in harness, and we may say in battle harness, like his soldiers, sailors, and airmen, who side by side with ours are carrying on their task to the end, all over the world. What an enviable death was his.”

Wednesday, April 7, 2010, at 12:00 Noon, I am hosting my show, The Advocates on WVOX- 1460 AM, or you can listen to the program’s live streaming at www.wvox.com. One can call the show at 914-636-0110 to reach us on the radio.  My guests are Dr. Terry Kirchner and Patricia Dohrenwend, from the Westchester Library System and our subject is the future of libraries, how they are evolving, what they could look like in the future.

Dr. Terry Kirchner joined the Westchester Library System as Executive Director in January 2009 and oversees all aspects of the 38-member public library system. His experience in various management positions at public and academic libraries spans more than 15 years.

Previously, Dr. Kirchner served as Director for Access Services at Columbia University Libraries. There, he coordinated and led system-wide interaction between activities across 22 campus libraries, launched effective assessment and marketing programs, conducted ongoing strategic planning and implementation, and expanded the campus-wide interlibrary loan operations. In his prior position at the New York Public Library, Dr. Kirchner managed numerous public service operations, coordinated interlibrary loan operations across its major research centers, and directed the inventory and relocation of over 2 million volumes to an offsite, high-density storage facility.
 
Skilled in fostering collaborative and cooperative team-based work groups, Dr. Kirchner earned his doctorate in Human and Organizational Systems from Fielding Graduate University. He holds an MBA in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Baruch College and an MLS degree from Rutgers University. Dr. Kirchner has actively participated in the American Library Association and the New York Chapter of the Special Libraries Association.
 
Patricia (Patty) Dohrenwend is Director of Westchester County’s Archives and Records Center, a unit within the Department of Information Technology. She was elected as a Trustee of the Westchester Library System in 2002 and currently serves as Board President. In addition to this board, Patty also serves on two state boards supporting the work of the NYS Archives and the State Education Department: the Local Government Records Advisory Council (since 2001) and the State Historical Records Advisory Board (since 2006). Previously, she served for fifteen years as the elected Town Clerk of Eastchester, where she also has participated in many volunteer activities.
Meanwhile, the mission of The Advocates is to bring to the public differing views on current “public policy” issues. “Public policy,” therefore, is what we as a nation legally and traditionally follow.
 
One can find my essays on FDR and other subjects at https://www.richardjgarfunkel.com. All of the archived shows can be found at: http://advocates-wvox.com.  Next week on WVOX my guest will be Jeff Shesol, author of Supreme Power, FDR and the Courts.
  
 

Early Spring in New York City

March 22, 2010

Richard J. Garfunkel

We had great fun staying at the Manhattan Club at 200 West 56^th Street. It’s a large time-sharing edifice and our room had a wonderful king-sized bed, two bathrooms, a living room and a kitchenette. It was just perfect for our needs

I drove into the City in the late afternoon. I did a few errands and met Linda at her office on 55^th Street. I parked the car a few blocks over, we checked in, brought our gear upstairs, and made our way out to Columbus Circle late that afternoon. We bought part of our dinner, some shrimp with dill, mushrooms, clam chowder, salad, olives, and cold tortellini at Whole Foods, in the Time-Warner Building on Columbus Circle. Columbus Circle features the statue of Christopher Columbus standing at the apex of a large imposing obelisk, and for all of you out-of-towners, it sits at the south western corner of Central Park. So after standing on an incredible line, which electronically steered us to a myriad of cash registers, we settled our bill, sauntered out into the warm early evening air and made our way back to our suite. Along with some food I brought from Tarrytown and Linda carried over from her office, we ate heartily.

The next morning, after a very sound sleep, we were out and about the West Side of NY. We headed again to Columbus Circle, walked north on Broadway, and headed east to Central Park West to the New York Historical Society, where they were hosting a year-long Abraham Lincoln exhibit, which has been on view in since the bicentennial of his birth (1809) and the 150^th anniversary of his election in 1860. In front of the Historical Society were a group of men dressed as Confederate soldiers, and I told him of my visit to Richmond’s White House of the Confederacy back in 1957.

After touring the incredibly detailed exhibit and going up to the top floor, where they had a small display of FDR’s 1933 early economic advisors (The Brain Trust), we headed west to Zabar’s, a most unique NYC institution. Zabar’s, for all that do not know, is a fabulous delicatessen that features terrific cheeses, smoked fish (lox, Nova Scotia salmon, white fish, etc.), cured meats (salamis, hams, corned beef, pastrami, and much, much more), spectacular breads and other wonderful delicacies. We loaded our basket, paid our bill, and headed back to the Manhattan Club for lunch.

After lunch we headed back out to the beautiful and unprecedented weather. We headed south on 7^th Avenue bearing east towards Rockefeller Center to see if the skating rink at 50^th and 5th was still functional. Even with the 80 F sun beating down on the watery ice, there were skaters doing their loops, pirouettes and glides. The rink had thousands of spectators, and after a slight respite we then headed over to Times Square where more multitudes were people-watching, buying discount theater tickets and awaiting the start of their matinees. Times Square has two great statues of NY legends, George M. Cohan, the theatrical impresario of the first 3^rd of the 20^th Century and Father Francis Duffy, one of the heroes of NY’s 69^th Regiment (The All-American Rainbow Division).

George Michael Cohan was an individual who became the stuff theatrical legends are made of, and he himself made up some of the legends himself! George M. Cohan was not the oldest of the five that I have selected, but he probably made the earliest impact.

Cohan's baptismal certificate — which is his only written birth record — verifies that he was born in Providence, Rhode Island on July 3rd, 1878 (died 1942). However, Cohan's family unfailingly insisted that George and his country shared birthdays on the 4th. Although noted for their honesty and knowledge of the calendar, the Cohans were traveling actors and had to make connections all of the time, but certainly found it hard to resist the publicity value of a performer (their son) being born on the Fourth of July. 

Cohan changed the definition of a Broadway leading man. He danced with a style and grace that defied Newton’s Laws, while maintaining that leading man look! In a way he created a unique look that had never been seen before or since. Cohan's dance routines covered the whole stage, even sending him climbing up the side of a wall into a back flip.

There was no other performer, songwriter or playwright like Cohan at that time. Before the emergence of Al Jolson, one could have easily called him the “world’s greatest entertainer. Most veterans of the theater and critics were not sure how to react to his overwhelmingly sincere combination of flag-waving and sentiment bordering on mawkishness and showmanship.

In the early 1960s, a statue of George M. Cohan was erected in the center of Times Square, at the intersection of Broadway and 47th Street. Crowds pass the base of that statue every day, and most pay little if any attention to it. But the visage of the man who once “owned Broadway” still gazes down the street to which he dedicated his life. In a neighborhood caught in an ongoing vortex of upheaval, Cohan's monument provides a much-needed visible link with the past. George M. Cohan became and remained the consummate Irish-American entertainer of his day. He was patriotic and was the embodiment of assimilation from the old world to the new.

Father Duffy, as he was known to almost all New Yorkers in the first quarter of the 20^th Century and George M. Cohan also share the distinction of having their statues in Broadway’s theater district. Interestingly, James Cagney had a leading role in both film treatments about Duffy and Cohan.

Already famous in theological circles, Duffy gained wider fame for his involvement as a military chaplain during World War I when the 69th New York (The Fighting 69th) was federalized again and re-designated the 165th U.S. Infantry Regiment. When the unit moved up to the front in France, Duffy accompanied the litter bearers in recovering the wounded and was always seen in the thick of battle.

Duffy went far beyond the actions of a normal cleric. The regiment was composed primarily of New York Irish immigrants and the sons of Irish immigrants, and many wrote later of Duffy's inspirational leadership. Brigadier General Douglas MacArthur, the commander of his division, admitted later that Duffy was very briefly considered for the post of regimental commander. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Distinguished Service Medal, the Conspicuous Service Cross (New York State), the Légion d'honneur (France), and the Croix de guerre. Father Duffy is the most highly decorated cleric in the history of the U.S. Army.

From Times Square we headed to Bryant Park and the New York Public Library. Bryant Park, once a horrible place, a former hangout for drug addicts and once nicknamed “Needle Park,” is now a wonderful place to sit down, relax, have a bite to eat, and enjoy nature in one of the busiest parts of NYC.

After walking across the park, we stopped at its Carousel, watching children enjoying their $2 rides, and then walked around to the front of the library and headed north up 5^th Avenue. We first stopped at my great friend Alan Rosenberg’s office on the corner of 45^th and 5^th Avenue. Its tax season, so I assumed correctly that Alan would be there working on his client’s books. He was. After a short and always pleasant visit we head up the avenue to Linda’s office on 55^th Street off Madison Avenue. We got a drink up there, washed our hands, and on the way back to 5^th Avenue we met a Charlesbank associate who was down from Boston, visiting in New York with his wife and young baby. That was a nice coincidence.

On our way back to the Manhattan Club, we passed the famous Carnegie Hall. (The famous NYC question and answer, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice!” So it was back to our rooms, we relaxed a bit, put up out tired feet that had walked miles, and watched some March Madness on our flat screen television sets.

We were expecting our friends, Norman and Sandy Liss, who arrived at eight o’clock. After our welcomes, we had a bottle of wine and some great cheeses from Zabar’s. At eight-thirty we were off to Patsy’s, which is on 56^th Street, only a block away. Patsy’s has wonderful Italian food, and after appetizers of fried calamari and baked stuff clams arregandata, Norman and I enjoyed a terrific tortellini with Bolognese sauce. Sandy had calves livers cacciatora, and Linda had grilled chicken breast tre colore.

It was a great meal, we had a wonderful time, and by eleven o’clock we had been all talked out. So, after a day of eating, hiking all around the city, enjoying the exceptional weather, we collapsed. Sunday morning came very quickly and we went to an invitation only, time-sharing sales meeting. It is hard to turn down a $50 gift certificate for lunch and a $100 Visa card, so we endured the unendurable. In actuality it was a learning experience. We learned that for $50,000 and a yearly maintenance of $2200, one could own a week at the Manhattan Club. It wasn’t too hard to turn that offer down. But, as PT Barnum once sagely said, “There is a sucker born every minute.”

Since there was a half-marathon being run in New York and another parade getting off somewhere else, traffic was too heavy to drive around aimlessly. We headed back to Zabar’s for some more bread on our way uptown. After securing a loaf of seeded rye bread, we turned right onto 79^th Street, merged into the West Side Highway, and were home in 35 minutes.  Another great trip was sealed away in my travel journal

The Supreme Court in the 1930's was dominated by “aged” corporate lawyers who were stultifying needed reform initiated by the New Deal. When law after law was being overturned by being ruled unconstitutional, FDR proposed the the Judicial Re-organization bill. This initiative dealt will reform and overhaul of all levels of the federal judiciary. Historically there was no constitutionally authorized number for the amount of justices. Over the years it had varied. FDR may have been too bold with his action, but as the Chief Executive of the land, action was needed to reverse the affects of the Great Depression. In fact, it may of worked if Majority Leader Joe Robinson hadn't died early in the process. But, in the long run, another Justice Roberts, named Owen switched his vote in the West Coast Hotel v. Parrish Case in 1937. From that change came the oft repeated line, “a switch in time saved nine.” FDR got the last lasugh because almost all the judges resigned with in a few years. Maybe when Roberts switched sides, the other obstructionist judges; McReynolds, Van Devanter, Butler, and Sutherland decided to resign. The recent court ruling that will allow unlimited corporate contributions to political campaigns could be another blow to our electoral process. On top of the courts' rulings that allow individuals to give unlimited sums to their own campaigns, there will be more escalation in our insanely expensive elections. President Obama was right to express indignation. The whole process is out of control, and spending limitations, along with the consideration of federal term limits, should be passed and accepted by the courts.

The Death of Henry Wittenberg

http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=562367&f=31

I met the great and legendary Henry Wittenberg though my wonderful friend, teacher, and mentor, the late Henry Littlefield. He introduced me to him at the New York Athletic Club in the early 1960’s and I later met him 40 years later at the 92^nd Street Y, when I attended a forum on Olympic champions with my great Mount Vernon buddy Alan Rosenberg, who many of you know.

I walked up and introduced myself to Coach Henry Littlefield in the AB Davis HS gym in the fall of 1961. Coach Littlefield, I quickly learned, was an outstanding collegiate wrestler for Columbia and a member of the Class of 1954. I had been at the Horace Mann School the year before, and met Gus Peterson, the long-time and elderly trainer for all of Horace Mann’s teams. Since I played three sports at Horace Mann, basketball, baseball, and soccer, I came in frequent contact with Coach Peterson, who was easily in his mid to late 70’s in 1959. I later learned that he had been Columbia’s wrestling coach from 1915 to 1945. Therefore, when I heard Coach Littlefield mention the “Peterson Roll” I asked him whether that wrestling move had anything to do with Gus Peterson. He then related to me all about Peterson’s career and his illustrious place in the history of amateur wrestling. (The roll was indeed named after Peterson!)

Henry Wiitenberg was an outstanding wrestler ay CCNY (City College) in the late 1930’s and their chief rival was Columbia. He told me that one summer he had competed in an AAU sanctioned wrestling meet, and in those days, and even up until the 1970’s, the rivalry between both athletic governing bodies was quite vicious and self-defeating. Even President Kennedy had asked former General of the Army Douglas MacArthur to intervene and bring peace between the warring bodies. I am not sure that Henry even knew that competing in this event would jeopardize his collegiate eligibility. The next year, right before the Columbia-CCNY match, Coach Peterson challenged his eligibility and he was forced to withdraw from the match and the team for the academic year. Obviously this was a bitter blow to Henry and his career.

Later on, after sitting out a year of college wrestling, he was able to compete again. Because of World War II, the Olympic Games were suspended until the Helsinki Games of 1948. Before the Olympic Trials, Henry, who had been undefeated for many, many years, seriously injured his ankle. He was really beside himself and quite concerned that he would not be able to compete. He was already 29 years old, and he felt that he may not have another opportunity. In discussing his problem with a friend and wrestling colleague, he complained that he didn’t know how to re-habilitate his injured ankle. His friend recommended that he call Gus Peterson, who was known to be one of the greatest trainers in the country. Henry told him that he couldn’t call Petersen, because he hated him and then told him about the incident that had happened many years before. The friend convinced him to call Coach Peterson and that he was sure Peterson could be of some help. Henry called Peterson, and to his surprise, Peterson was quite friendly and certainly wanted to help him with his injury. They were able to get together quite quickly. Peterson massaged his ankle daily, administered his own style of therapy and before long Henry’s ankle was in excellent shape. He competed in the trials and went on to win the Gold Medal in Helsinki.

I later spoke to Henry Wittenberg after he moved to Somers, NY. I called him after I had read a major feature on him in the Journal News and I reminded him of our earlier meetings. Henry Wittenberg was quite gracious and we had a long and memorable talk. He was a genuine upfront American hero, who fought for his ideals, was a victim of McCarthyism and always stood his ground. He will be missed by all who knew him.

Richard J. Garfunkel

Comments on FDR’s Deadly Secret,

“A Speculation on the Sickness and Death of FDR”

Richard J. Garfunkel

March 10, 2010

I just finished reading Dr. Steven Lamozow’s and Eric Fetterman’s book, FDR’s Deadly Secret. The authors speculate, without the access to probably over 90% of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s health records that he suffered from an incurable cancer, and covered up this fact from as early as 1940. They have speculated that FDR’s suffered from a metastasized Melanoma, which had evolved from a lesion over his left eye. They believe that the Melanoma developed into brain and stomach cancer, which affected the sight in his left eye and his digestive system. They build this case by investigating the supposed contradictions regarding testimony by his personal doctor, Rear Admiral Ross T. McIntire, who was recommended to him by Admiral Cary T. Grayson, who had become very close to the new president, and Dr. Howard Bruenn, FDR’s heart specialist. They explore deeply FDR’s available medical history, and they reveal again a great deal of the investigative material developed by Dr. Harry Goldsmith in his book, A Conspiracy of Silence, the Health and Death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Dr. Goldsmith, whom I met at Hyde Park in June of 2008, was a guest on my radio program on August 13, 2008, and that program can be accessed at http://advocates-wvox.com .

I found their book incredibly depressing, one-sided, intrusive, and bordering on revisionist history. As an historical document it regurgitates many facts and opinions that have been have been stated and speculated upon for decades. With regards to President Roosevelt’s health, their conclusions regarding his performance in office were often one-sided and fraught with political hyperbole. In truth, there is no evidence that even with his declining health, any history would have changed. Few other accounts of the time, articles written by friend and critic, books on the FDR’s life and times, and personal observances seem to agree with their evaluation of his conduct in the long period from 1940 until late 1944.

As to FDR’s physical condition, there is no doubt that he was diagnosed and treated for hypertension, he was under unbelievable stress, medical knowledge of lowering blood-pressure was primitive, and both the campaign effort of 1944 and the trip to the Crimean Conference at Yalta were incredibly draining. It is no secret that he was not well, but all the reports of his effort at Yalta or his meeting with Ibn Saud, on the USS Quincy, indicated that he was quite sharp and alert. He certainly understood the reality the Zionists faced regarding the intransigence of the Saudis. When he asked about the Jewish settlers’ amazing progress in “blooming” the desert, Saud indicated that this was irrelevant to him, as he was a simple Bedouin, and the development of agriculture meant little or nothing to his tribal people.

In fact, from the Quebec Conference, in August of 1943, with Winston Churchill, and MacKenzie King, and the Tehran Conference in December of 1943, FDR was completely in charge and every report from the participants, along with the newsreels of those events, reflect his vigor. These facts seem to be quite different then the information provided in the Lamozow-Fetterman book.

In Mostly Morgenthau and Closest Companion, there seems to be little confirmation of the author’s conclusion about FDR’s health impacting his work until Dr. Howard Bruenn’s early 1944 consultation regarding FDR’s hypertension. There is no doubt that FDR had a long history of sinus-related illnesses and there is ample evidence that he was highly susceptible to upper respiratory infections. He did contract infantile paralysis at an advanced age for infection (39 years old) with the polio virus. At the time of his contraction of polio, no others on Campobello Island or the adjacent areas of Maine off the Bay of Fundy contacted the disease.  He also was constantly battling influenza. But during that period of history many people succumbed to influenza. Many people, less physically strong than FDR, were debilitated by influenza. This debilitation affected their long-term immune systems, and many died of cardio-vascular disease. Certainly smoking, which FDR did, and alcohol consumption, affected the health profile negatively of millions of Americans.

With regards to FDR’s secrecy about his health, he was not much different from any one else. In fact, he was not much different from every president from Grover Cleveland to George W. Bush. It is interesting that Dwight Eisenhower had a massive heart attack in 1948 that was covered up by his doctors. Obviously the stress from his responsibilities during World War II and his post-war assignments, along with his 5-pack a day cigarette habit contributed to his attack at age 58. If it would have been known that he had a heart condition, he would have never been nominated in 1952, only four years later. As it has been well documented, Eisenhower’s eight year administration was fraught will illness, and he was much sicker that period of time than FDR’s almost 13 years. With all the health problems of his first term; a heart attack, severe depression and bowel obstruction surgery, he decided to run again for election. His second term was a disaster and he suffered from a stroke in 1957 and the start of gall bladder disease. FDR’s 3^rd term was much more successful than the 2^nd term of any president in American history up until Bill Clinton.

As to whether Admiral McIntire was incompetent or incredibly engaged is also basically irrelevant. Obviously the truth is always somewhere in the middle. Dr, McIntire was an Ear Nose and Throat specialist and he treated FDR, who had a long history of sinus and upper chest infection and illness. Therefore, he fulfilled his basic assignment. When FDR showed signs of circulatory problems and hypertension, he brought in Dr. Howard Bruenn who affectively treated FDR until his untimely death.

As to keeping his health information private, FDR knew who his opponents were and how vicious their tactics and actions could be. There are unlimited examples of their efforts, innuendos, lies, fabrications and character assassination for the sake of political gain. It seems that the authors relied upon the words and files of reporter and columnist Walter Trohan, the Limbaugh, Beck and Hannity of his day. FDR got along quite well with Trohan, even though he worked for the Chicago Tribune, and the author’s admitted that he was probably the source of much disinformation and under-handed criticism of the president. There is no doubt that FDR’s political enemies, not unlike the right-wingnuts of today, would use any edge to bring down his administration. FDR had an obligation to his millions of supporters who supported wholeheartedly his ideas and policies.

With regards to FDR’s mental condition and attention span, there is very little evidence of any real decline until the last few months of his life. With regards to the Russians, it was Churchill’s trip to the Soviet Union, and his meeting with Stalin, which reflected the type of singular diplomacy that FDR wished to avoid right up to the end of his life. He felt that individual action by Britain or the United States, with regards to the Russians, would weaken the Allied cause, and cause long-term misunderstandings. He also wanted Stalin to understand a western solidarity. Churchill’s meeting with Stalin on October 8, 1944, reflected compromises without the President’s consent. It was Churchill who was making concession in Eastern Europe to protect British interests in the Mediterranean and the Balkans. It was Churchill who eventually appeased the Russians with regards to the future of Poland, and the fate of the “London Poles.” Roosevelt refused to be bound by whatever was agreed to between Churchill and Stalin. Therefore, his health never impaired his judgment regarding continued Allied solidarity or Russian territorial hegemony. As to Churchill’s meeting with Stalin, he never told FDR specifically what had occurred. He cabled FDR on the 11^th of October, and stated,”We have found an extraordinary atmosphere of good will here.” Those were Churchill’s words not FDR or Alger Hiss speaking creating policy for the United States.

The author’s seem to intimate that FDR was completely worn down by his NYC campaign effort, where he traveled around the city in a cold rain for many hours. Obviously this effort would have worn down any one, especially a man suffering from an enlarged heart, hypertension and arteriosclerosis. But what they conveniently forgot to mention was that FDR spoke that evening to 2000 members of the Foreign Policy Association in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. He made a rousing campaign address referring to the differentiation between the sensible Republicans, who had supported his effort to re-arm and prepare the country for war, and the majority of know-nothing Republicans who had opposed all of his efforts. He especially mentioned his Republican secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, who was in the audience. It was a forceful, impressive and successful speech, which puts a lie to the author’s assertion that FDR could not read a page accurately because of a tumor blocking his left side vision.

A few days later he went to Shibe Park in Philadelphia and also drove around the city for over two hours. At Shibe Park, in front of a standing-room crowd, he spoke forcefully about how every battleship in Admiral Halsey’s titanic 3^rd Fleet was authorized between 1933 and 1938. He also mentioned that all but 2 of Halsey’s cruisers were also authorized between 1933 and 1940. He added that less than three months before the German attack on Poland, Republican members of Congress voted 144 to 8 in favor of cutting FDR’s appropriation for the Army Air Corps (US Air Force). This so-called sickly, non-attentive, out of touch leader went onto Chicago the next day, and spoke in front of 100,000 partisan supporters at Soldier’s Field.

The relevant facts about Yalta would or could not have been any different, regardless of their speculation on FDR’s health. Even though Churchill’s doctor, Lord Moran, understood and observed FDR’s health profile quite well, there is not one iota of evidence that FDR was not aware of the realities we faced with the Soviet Union. The author’s inference that Alger Hiss (page 168) had something to do with so-called concessions to the Soviet Union is specious. The case of Alger Hiss has never been conclusive and when it came to foreign policy, vis-à-vis the war, there is no evidence that Hiss was leaning towards or aiding the Russians.

Their quote by translator Charles Bohlen, is also ridiculous. FDR was dealing with the reality of the conditions on the ground, and the need for help regarding the Pacific War. American Intelligence agencies estimated (probably incorrectly) that there were 2 million Japanese troops in Manchuria available for defense of the home islands. The Kwantung Army’s numbers were way over-estimated. However, as the war situation began to deteriorate, and without the knowledge of Allied analysts, for the Imperial Japanese Army on all fronts, the huge, well-trained and well-equipped Kwangtung Army, could no longer be held in strategic reserve. Many of its front line units were systematically stripped of their best units and equipment, which were sent south against the forces of the United States in the Pacific Islands or the Philippines. Other units were sent south into China for Operation Ichi-Go. Therefore dependence on the Soviet Union’s intervention in the war with Japan seemed quite necessary from the western perspective. According to the Yalta agreement, 90 days after the conference, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan.

In reality the Soviet Union fulfilled all of its treaty obligations up until the end, and with regards to Yalta, little was gained by the Soviet Union, and they conceded that they failed to get any substantive advantages above what they had already achieved.

Key points of the meeting are as follows:

• There was an agreement that the priority would be the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. After the war, Germany would be split into four occupied zones.
• Stalin agreed that France might have a fourth occupation zone in Germany and Austria but it would have to be formed out of the American and British zones.
• Germany would undergo demilitarization and denazification.
• German reparations were partly to be in the form of forced labor. (see also Forced labor of Germans in the Soviet Union). The forced labor was to be used to repair damage Germany inflicted on its victims.
• Creation of a reparation council which would be located in Russia.
• The status of Poland was discussed. It was agreed to reorganize the communist Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland that had been installed by the Soviet Union “on a broader democratic basis.”
• The Polish eastern border would follow the Curzon Line, and Poland would receive territorial compensation in the West from Germany.
• Churchill alone pushed for free elections in Poland.^[7] The British leader pointed out that UK “could never be content with any solution that did not leave Poland a free and independent state“. Stalin pledged to permit free elections in Poland, but eventually never honored his promise.
• Citizens of the Soviet Union and of Yugoslavia were to be handed over to their respective countries, regardless of their consent.
• Roosevelt obtained a commitment by Stalin to participate in the United Nations.
• Stalin requested that all of the 16 Soviet Socialist Republics would be granted United Nations membership. This was taken into consideration, but 14 republics were denied.
• Stalin agreed to enter the fight against the Empire of Japan within 90 days after the defeat of Germany.
• Nazi war criminals were to be hunted down and brought to justice.
• A “Committee on Dismemberment of Germany” was to be set up. Its purpose was to decide whether Germany was to be divided into six nations. Some examples of partition plans are shown below:

Of course this is not an argument against whether FDR was ailing, whether he knew what his long and short turn prognosis was, or what ultimately caused his death. He certainly had lost weight, he certainly had problems with his circulatory system, and he certainly was suffering from the affects of stress. His active schedule, with his obvious limitations caused by his lower body paralysis, affected his overall health. All of that is undeniable. Could he have suffered over the last few years of his life from various Transcendental Ischemic Attacks, or TIAs, which affected his speech? I am sure no one will ever really know. The knowledge of TIAs and their affect on the brain was still way off in the future. Did FDR and his doctors keep his medical history private, and possibly secret? I am sure he and they did. Did he do it to protect himself from his political enemies? That is certainly possible. One cannot remove from one’s thinking that FDR was a highly secretive man, who trusted few people, and had a long career marked by a high level of discretion. In fact, his White House filing system was divided into three sets of files, and all of his personal documents were divided so that not one secretary or filing clerk could read the whole document. The authors’ seem to want to convince us that FDR was completely in control of his health, that he knew of his fatal condition, that he misled America and his supporters, and that he was unable to perform his job in the last two years of his life. They go from being medical researchers and detectives, to historical critics. I believe their conclusions are unsubstantiated and colored by their pre-conceived political perspective. Up until the very end, there is no doubt that FDR was tired, worn down, and ailing, but any thought that his leadership or mind was affected is, from my perspective, political slander.