thank you very much. >> you're watching american history tv, 48 hours of rogramming on american history every weekend on c-span 3. c-span s on twitter at history for information on our programs, andoming keep one the latest history news. 1944 amidst in world war ii, president franklin campaigned for the fourth and final term as president. weintraub ley discusses the wartime election and deteriorating health. his book is "final victory." this was recorded in the national portrait gallery in and its's a little under an hour. >> my book is called "final victory." it suggests there was nothing victories in his life. actually, that was not the case. state two terms as a senator from new york state. he became assistant secretary of world war i.ng he then was chosen to be the vice presidential candidate when democratic ticket in 1920 when the democrats were sure to lose. and they lost. he lost with them. ut he -- he thought that this would only energize his career. he had national visibility. and do oing to go on other things. but that was 1920. 1921, he suffered an attack lost the use of his legs. he was paralyzed from that time on. the period we're dealing years into that period of immobility on his part. public think the realized how paralyzed he was had no agility physically. a good deal of agility verbally. speaker. brilliant he was a brilliant combiner of words. the public never that he was to use the word. crippled. pictures were not taken of him in a wheelchair. him res were not taken of using braces or crutches. veryey were, the press was discrete. they didn't do such things. today the press would be a lot more discrete. they're dealing with a roosevelt they knew butught didn't really know very well. radio. speeches on there was no television yet. speeches on radio that were fireside chats. he had no fire side as he spoke. the people he spoke to listened on their radios that do side either.fire was just the make believe he had in the media at the time. gave a number of press conferences in his presidency. nearly 1,000 press conferences. he did so sitting behind his desk. people didn't realize he sat behind his desk because he couldn't stand up. accepted it for what it was. he was astute for what he said, warmhearted, humorous, and uring world war ii when there were problems about prices and hortages and so on, is he knew exactly what to say when to say it. point, he e, at one tried to stress the prices of really very ot high, just that you shouldn't buy them at the wrong times. -- he said someone visited me who was a foreman in substantial trades. can you imagine, a foreman in a factory coming to visit roosevelt at the white house. he said he came to me last said to me, "my old lady is ready to hit me over the pan."ith a dish i said what's the trouble? living.t of well, i said, what, for instance. want home and the old lady said, watch this, i went out the to buy some asparagus? got?what i've i've got five sticks, it cost me $1.25. it's an outrage. i said, when have you buying fresh asparagus in january, asparagus. he said, oh, i never thought of that. old ladyll that to the with my complements. is that the same guy who complained about the price of strawberries? said, oh, no, that was somebody else. a lot of the communication to the public was make believe. the real communication dealt matters. significant for example, we went through the our history.ion in the worst word in our history. nd he was the president po to bring both of those and we did well to get out of them as we did. new id we're long past dr. deal. that is dealing with the social net.ty we have to win with dr. win the war. this is from a press conference. winning the dr. war. except there's part of the hasn't been at established with the gi bill. in congresswas over in 1944 before the election. many of the conservatives in complained that the urge ofwould stifle the returning veterans to go to work. we didn't need it. it was socialism. out was ll it turns drafted, written by a former chairman of the republican national committee for roosevelt. it had a hard time getting through congress. gi bill passed by one vote. t's possibly the most significant legislation about social mobility in the history of this country. by one vote. nd it was written by a republican. the socialist legislation. and we have the equivalent in introduction that you heard equivalent have an now. we have what's called obama care. bama care was drafted and written by republicans for romney. carenor romney's -- romney is obama care with very few words changed. but here we are again with 1944 and the lel, ast year -- the last full year of world war ii. world war ii in 1944 was not yet settled thing. we had been invading islands in that the l pacific japanese had taken over earlier in the war. we had not yet landed in europe, d-day would not be until june 6, 1944. which i remembered because my th ding anniversary is the 10 anniversary of d-day. i don't know what that has to our marriage, but in any case, i won't forget the because of it or the day of d-day. of this unsettled war at this point was that he had to elt that continue on. the war had to be won. that had to after be won. but was there somebody else to take his place? he was not well. he knew he was not well. was.id not know how sick he but he knew he was not well. nd the cover of my book shows roosevelt quite gaunt the way he 1944.lly looked in behind me is a flattering icture of roosevelt supposedly done early in 1945 at yalta. it looksflattering and like a campaign poster. it wasn't the roosevelt of reality at that point. roosevelt's collars were too shirts hung on him. he had lost 19 pounds in the previous year. his wife and his daughter anna said you really need to get a checkup. he said i get a checkup doctor who's the surgeon general of the navy, ross mcintyre. in every day es and checks me out. well, he did. he came in every day. he was an ent physician. my -- what is ent? ear, nose, and throat. >> ear, nose, and throat. he sprayed his throat. did.s what he he didn't check his blood pressure. he was a big man and to count er what he had to say. nevertheless because of the badgering of ann franklin was to bethesda naval hospital. it was a newly opened facility. he was taken there with his wheelchair. wheelchair was an old kitchen chair with wheels attached. me didn't want to be seen in a hospital-type wheelchair because he didn't want to be thought of as a cripple. the wheelchair. he was pushed along in the kitchen chair. you can see that kitchen chair the roosevelt memorial here in washington because one of the sitting in it im and you can see the wheels on the kitchen chair below. it's a portrait of roosevelt in that way. at bethesda naval hospital, they were appalled at hiss condition. a young doctor from columbia new york was the lieutenant commander of the navy was called in as a heart surgeon look him over and said roosevelt was in bad shape indeed. live out the year unless something is done. e said the only thing for high blood pressure is to prescribe digitalis. he was put on digitalis. said he has toun be cut down to one cocktail a day. martinis which he would have what he called children's hour, which was 5:00. because s hour traditionally many adults would send the children out when they their 5:00 drinks. roosevelt bargained up to a and a half. two packs, five cigarettes a day. assistant, i'm down to five a day and they're as ever.ble as he couldn't give them up. they were an addiction. somehow he survived the restriction on him that he was able to continue on. but he would have liked to have ad somebody take his place as candidate for president. he was so powerful a figure in overshadowed few people in politics that few people also pyred to that job. farley, the one-time chairman of the democratic party and postmaster general wanted roosevelt didn't feel like he was up to the job. who wanted the job was henry wallace who was but he wasn't even going to be given the task vice aining on as presidential candidates. he was considered too flaky. that's still another story. a conservative in the south who harry byrd of was virginia, the elder harry byrd. there were two harry byrds in senate. and in the democratic national 1944, tion in mid july, harry byrd actually carried states, three southern states in the convention. but when roosevelt, of course, states,all of the other the chairman of the convention, froml jackson, the senator indiana said i now would like to unanimous.is all the others changed their votes and he was unanimously as a presidential candidate for a fourth term. e had wanted, though he couldn't get anybody interested, had wanted henry kooizer to kaiser had no s.litical ambition no but knew he was a democrat or republican. who was he? you may remember if you're old enough the industrialist and ship builder who built the ships and liberty ships. when i sailed to correia in the was a few years after in world war ii, it was on a victory ship. with seven bunks high and you bottomwant to be on that rocky ocean.of the be used for ould many years after the war. no as a brilliant man but competition. roosevelt had to be the candidate. the candidate opposite him on tom epublican side was dooley, the governor of new york. he had only been governor of new years at this point. experience.ilitary no military experience. i don't think he was a boy scout. prepared to be a wartime president. popular s the most candidate. some other people wanted the job. john bricker, the governor of ohio wanted the job. the consolation prize of being the vice candidate.l robert taft, the senator from ohio wanted the job. wanted him. he didn't get it. 1940.d wanted it in and linda wilke made the nominee them. wanted it again in 1948, again in 1952. 2, he came reasonably close, but dwight eisenhower was the presidential candidate for republicans then. 20 oosevelt had a young man yeefrps younger than he was and he looked energetic to run against him. he had to find a way to get too.etic the pictures did not make him look very good. pendleton, amp california. southern california, at the time of the democratic convention in chicago. want to be in chicago at the time. in the railway car that he used across the ng country, microphones had been up so he could give a speech accepting the nomination. he did. cameramen orters and were brought in to listen to the speech live and take his port and the picture taken of look so hazard that he nearly lost the election for him. but lucky he was alive at that point. because that morning, the acceptance ave his peech a little later on, he called to his son jimmy who was a marine major then at camp pendleton. come help me, i have terrible pains. i opened the book, by the way, episode and flashback. was a what apparently seizure. but nobody knew. his doctor was in the other part train. he noefr told him. jim, you lie me down -- lay me down on the floor. james lay him down on the floor. he said after a while, i'm beginning to feel better, help me up. he was helped up and assisted to convertible that had been in the car, one of the railway cars to travel to the pendleton area where the maneuvers are going to take marines to practice the invasion of japan. those -- he was at maneuvers. he looked okay then. of course, nobody saw him except at a distance. speech was rather ragged in accepting the nomination that didn't sound very good. e needed to show some effort, so he travelled to hawaii on the cruiser baltimore from california. visited pearl harbor. he visited other bases in hawaii. all of this in an open convertible. mcarthur and admiral nimitz there and they war.ssed the future of the he deliberately travelled to conventionaln in a wheelchair so he could see the troops and they could see him. been ted troops who had disabled to see that he was a overcome such disability. and it was a rare occasion that anything like that. that was no pictures taken. he went from hawaii to alaska. visited the alucean islands. the two islands captured by the evacuated by een the japanese. at that point. dogs were und two left behind by the japanese. dogs became a very strange element in the campaign that. because word got around when roosevelt returned to the alaska, rea from travelling about 14,000 miles. this is a very sick man, travelling 14,000 miles going the small boats in the taken showingures him doing this, the problem that he not only made naval base h at the that sounded bad. he was exhausted by the trip to allucians. e had left behind his own scotty dog at one of the islands and it took millions of dollars off to find to go poor falla and rescue falla. by a at was used republican congressman to raise having abused or the defense forces for his study dog. that wasn't true. and it turned out not to be terrific it gave him a campaign issue. the result was that the first gave when he e trip, wasrom his long washington,group in d.c., i believe it was the teamster's union annual convention. and he said them toward the end of the speech, he by -- the speech writers, the way, told him don't put this in. that's not a good idea. ad lib it.l, i'll and he. did he was a very good ad libber. he said, of course, i don't resent attacks and my family attacks.resent but falla does resent them. eing a scotty, as soon as hep earned that the republican congress had concocted a story that i left him behind when the islands and sent the destroyer back to find him, cost $2 million or $3 scot n or $8 million, his soul was furious. he has not been the same dog sense. reporters said, roosevelt's back. this is the old roosevelt. he determined to take not to take that speech, he didn't repeat that. determined to take his campaign vigorously to some of the big cities. first of new york, all. he went again in his train, the convertible was with him. the took the packard out of train. he was lifted into it. -- of course unseen by the public. miles travelled for 51 through all of the burroughs of in york in staten island pouring rain and bitter cold, fedora to the y thousands and the people were amazed to the remarkable stamina. stamina, call it an adrenaline rush, of course, but he did it. to do it in philadelphia, the same thing, again, in pouring rain, crossing camden and er to then also campaigning there. and then the boss of chicago, democratic boss, mayor kelly, said you've got to come to chicago. you've got to show the midwest that you're vigorous and able to be president for another four years. and so he got on the train, to chicago.ent weather was the even worse. it was now to the end of october. soldier field which not yet -- which was not yet the the chicago bears. as it is now. it seated over 100,000 people. at least 100,000 more outside. a cold wind blew in from lake michigan. the temperature was nearly 0. in to soldier field, up on the platform that is the car platform where there were microphones. spoke from his car to the crowd outside and in. at his were amazed vigor. and he went on to point out that that was very important to keep safety net, the social net pen and available for the return veterans that it was very amenities o have the hey needed, not just the freedom he mentioned earlier. but the economic freedoms and public was again amazed at vitality., his that still wasn't enough because by the re rumors spread other side, outs always spread about "ins" that he was a dying man. prove se, they couldn't it. but he then went to boston and boston red of the sox, he spoke again outdoors. who introducedle him was orrson wells who was major star. "america the sang beautiful." frank sinatra at that time was had a y a hero, but he son whom he named franklin roosevelt sinatra. one doesn't realize that because as he became ra wealthier changed his party designation. sinatra result, frank jr. came along, that is he changed his e son name to his father and became frank sinatra jr. so we forget that earlier history. roosevelt returned to hyde park, home, just before the election feeling that he had done well. and he did. helped by the soldier vote. i have the whole chapter on the on the soldier vote. how did they vote? were they restricted in any way voting. we have problems now in the current curre season because restrict the vote of people that might not vote your way. voting for the commander in chief so they were vote about the absentee ballots. sailor, andsoldier, marines voted. it was a tremendous number. all were able to vote -- kinds of means were used for communicating with them and getting the absentee ballots back. on, i became the elections fficer, the officer for my outfit in korea, in the korean was nd i found out what done for absentee ballots. the back ofntersign the envelope after they sealed t with my name, rank, and serial number so they were considered legitimate. soldiers did much the same way and in the pacific and in world war ii. i wanted to put in something about the soldier vote. there's a whole chapter on it. a number of people help me veterans about how they voted. veteran, especially sailors, said i voted for roosevelt because he was a navy man. first, zled me at because, a navy man? yes, he was assistant secretary navy during world war i. he was a navy man. ha ee eed very much to join th and fight. go on but woodrow wilson wouldn't let him. he said we need you here at home. so he went over to the end of troops to inspect the and see what he could. fighting er was in a situation. he was a navy man and the sailors voted for him. voted the other way. way.hey voted the other they said, that's the way my family voted. they really didn't know much either candidate. and roosevelt was the overwhelming favorite because they knew who he was. the e chapter deals with soldier vote. another chapter. check my time. i think we're okay. with an hapter deals election season was. unpatriotic.was it roosevelt or his government, at had imprisoned the secretary in the communist party. in 1942, he pardoned him because a gesture to russia, to joe stalin. we might not want him as an ally. ut we needed him and he was there. this was a gesture to stallen. he result was that the republicans attacked roosevelt and said that the person who was roosevelt's side if he's re-elected is earl browder. this is nonsensical. but nevertheless, it was declared and the people accepted this. he other problem was that roosevelt was unpatriotic because he had failed us at paefrl harbor. he knew what had gone on and let pearl harbor happen. conspiracy theories are very common. we love conspiracies. we read about them all the time and listen and watch -- the -- the idea was president and his dvisors knew that the japanese military code had been broken didre pearl harbor and they nothing about it. true.s not we had broken the diplomatic we before pearl harbor and knew a week or 10 days before japanese or that the were going to break it with us. that likely meant conflict. general marshall and admiral i'm sorry, and admiral laehy sent out messages to all of the major posts in the from the canal zone to manila. that this is a warning looks like the japanese may attack. alert 24/7. this was sent on november 27. the pearl harbor was december 7. the -- no one was on the alert. admiral kimmel and general short who when are in harge of pearl harbor were planning to play golf at 8:00 on saturday -- on sunday morning. at 8:00, five minutes before 8:00, the japanese attacked. they didn't play golf. but they also were not on the alert. was al mcarthur in manila asleep in his bed. it when he wasve told about the attack. pearl harbor, they couldn't have done it. have gotten it that far. of course within hours, manila of attacked in the beginning the invasion of luizan had occurred. diplomatic code that was broken. we didn't break the military pearl harbor.er but it did result in our victory at midway. did know japanese movements at big way at that time. tom duey heless, wanted to attack roosevelt for aving known about the military events and what was the president going to do? he felt helpless. he wasn't going to do a thing. intervened hall without rose veelts knowing and ot a message to duey from an envoy, physically sending omeone from the intelligence staff saying that you're all wrong, and if you break the news broken the now military code, this will be of great advantage to the germans the japanese. ambassador of japan and berlin is sending messages constantly to tokyo about what is learning from hitler, about movements of the germans sending it in the codes that we have broken. but they don't know that they have broken it. this. nonplussed by he said i i don't believe you. he spoke with the advisors and said it's too dangerous. it.better stop so there was never any effort to having oosevelt for pearl harbor or having known the codes that were the result of pearl harbor's attack. things in e a lot of ere that we learn perhaps for the first time. one thing i find fascinating and unbelievable, but it exists in the dewey campaign scrapbooks in the rochester library. they kept all of the letters to the editor, clippings of all that cartoon, everything was valuable to me to have those in their scrapbooks. curious prediction about the election came in a letter to the editor. bertrand was the name of the designer. bertrand. he wrote that his friend john dahl richle predicted that the be, quote, ould re-elected by the smallest lurality given him in his work campaigns. that is the smallest popular to the other side. it's still a big vote. also claimed that a new as yet unforeseen circumstance will cause japan germany to come to the knees literally within six months. months, but n't six it wasn't much beyond that. john dalrymple was in a position died at age 26 in 1910. 1910. in a predicted this seance. now, is that a contribution to history? nevertheless, it is so curious i felt i had to put it in. dalrymple predicted the vote very closely. roosevelt did win. he received 432 electoral votes 99.dewey's that is a big difference, but it doesn't reflect the electoral closer thanas a lot that. evertheless, roosevelt won and dewey took a long time until he conceded the election. roosevelt heard from him in the early hours of the morning, not he conceded to roosevelt, but he conceded that he hasn't won on radio. that by one of his secretaries and roosevelt aid, i still think he's a son of a pitch. hat was probably his last statement about tom dewey. on as inaugurated again inauguration small ceremony. he was not in good shape. days -- i'm sorry, 83 later, he died. april 12, 1945. harry truman became president. there.stop if you have questions, i'll be glad to answer them. i've taken a lot of your time. i thank you for being here. [ applause ] >> questions? yes? over the to see you bright lights. but can you come closer? the whole concept about the public not knolling about roosevelt, for example, in field, if you can drive your packer up on a platform, do the speech st from your car. but you also mention dinner for in town.ters he did how was that handled if he was small all group, in a room? did people realize what the disability was or how was that done? >> there was a bank of microphones set up that he could speak from the seat in the convertible. other occasions, he stood sleight of and by hand, they learned how do this, y sleight of hand, his assistants got him up and standing on his braces and back way.again that and people didn't realize that braces.standing on heavy but by the time of yalta, the february, in january, 1945, he couldn't wear the anymore. they were too heavy, too uncomfortable. he had lost too much weight. hen he came back and reported to congress, he apologized to the congressmen and said you down xcuse me for sitting because the weight of the braces is too much for me now. was the first time he had ever confessed that in public. people must have known at that he would not make it four-year term in his fourth term. any other? yes. >> how much does the book truman,the selection of the replacement? >> ooichls. > how much does the book go into the decision to select truman? and was that something that fdr very involved in? question of how truman became nominated. he turned out to be a great plus campaign trail. he was very feisty and didn't have prepared remarks. he was good at speaking off of the cuff. but truman was a compromised candidate. because a compromise none of the conservative south democratic and it's the same conservative south but they changed party of them would ne have accepted wallace. burns other hand, james who was another person that roosevelt thought of as a vice resident would not have been accepted by the north. he liberal north didn't want burns. he was a south carolinian. he was a racist, a bigot. he had changed his religion. catholic to marry. the urban catholics in the north them.not have accepted so burns was out too. who was there left? they wanted that somebody who would fall between they put it. somebody who was the middle of the roader, who had a lot of turned out to be harry truman. job.id not want the he felt that he was going to go into something over his head. his wife didn't want the job taken away from her that she was holding as the secretary in truman's afs. she'd lose her job. she had to lose her job anyway. and truman did not meet often the you aring the campaign. couple of times. that's about it. they did not discuss the future. hey did not discuss truman's becoming president. but truman told one of his as they left the white house on one occasion, i had a ightmare that i -- that the president had died and i had become president. nightmare. he felt was g that ambition. he succeeded. >> i want to thank everyone for coming and i encourage you all additional u have questions and if you would like to take a look at the book, we have copies over here that mr. weintraub will be signing. me one more time for thanking stanley weintraub for us here tonight. >> the c-span cities tour takes book tv and american history tv road. travelling to u.s. cities to learn about their history and literary life. weekend, we partner with charter communications for wisconsin. madison, >> bob lafala is probably the figure ortant political in wisconsin history and one of the most important in the the 20th century in the united states.

Related Keywords

New York , United States , Japan , Tokyo , Germany , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , Alaska , Bethesda , Ohio , Boston , Massachusetts , Pearl Harbor , California , Indiana , Virginia , Wisconsin , Russia , Washington , District Of Columbia , Rochester Library , Staten Island , Manila , Philippines , Yalta , Tul Skaya Oblast , Hyde Park , Camp Pendleton , South Korea , Berlin , Chicago , Illinois , Hawaii , America , Chosen , Germans , Japanese , American , Joe Stalin , Robert Taft , Jim Farley , Frank Sinatra , Dwight Eisenhower , Romney , Stanley Weintraub , Samuel Jackson , Woodrow Wilson , Tom Dooley , Franklin Roosevelt Sinatra , Harry Byrd , Earl Browder , Harry Truman , Tom Dewey , Ross Mcintyre , Henry Wallace , John Dahl , Ann Franklin , Linda Wilke , John Dalrymple , Frank Sinatra Jr , John Bricker , Franklin Roosevelt ,