Fact or Fiction: FDR's private secretary Missy LeHand suffered a sudden collapse at a White House dinner. ", Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt shared a mutual respect and affection. But their public accomplishments took a personal toll. She jogged into a car where the President was waiting behind the wheel. I mean a contagious genius for living joyously. Teddy's daughter, Alice Roosevelt, would later put it that, "My father lived up to his reputation of being the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral. The exact nature of LeHands relationship with FDR is debated by historians. Mercer stayed in FDR's life until his death in 1945, and she was with him when he took his last breaths, even though she eventually married another man. One such instance was over the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. James Cox was the democratic candidate for President, and it was widely assumed he would lose to the Republican candidate Senator Warren Harding. One afternoon while I was touring Val-Kill, the cottage in Hyde Park that ER set up for herself after she had given up the house shed originally built with her friends Nancy Cook and Marion Dickerman, I asked a noted Roosevelt scholar if he knew the reason for the rupture. [1] Lucy had one sister, Violetta Carroll Mercer (18891947). Where Franklin believed that the war effort superseded civil liberties, Eleanor argued that wartime was when belief in the Bill of Rights most counted. According to UVA's Miller Center, Franklin wasn't terribly involved in their upbringing. But the demands ER made on herself could take a fearful toll on others, especially the man with whom she had linked her destiny when she was only 20 and he had just turned 23. Mercer's friendship with Franklin Roosevelt was portrayed in the well-regarded TV mini-series Eleanor and Franklin, with Mercer portrayed by actress Linda Kelsey in the 1976 telecast, based on the best-selling biography of the same name by Eleanor's personal friend Joseph P. Lash, published in 1971. What should have been their day alone ended up with the two of them practically ignored. During her childhood the family moved to Massachusetts, settling In a short period of time she became the most famous secretary in America. And every day they would gather for Childrens Hour and FDR would mix martinis or some other cocktail and they would drop the worlds woes and spend time gossiping, chatting, and generally having fun. "[17] The incident marked a turning point in her life; disillusioned with her marriage, she became active in public life, and focused increasingly on her social work rather than her role as a wife.[18][19]. She was also determined that he would do good. Roosevelt's longest supposed affair was with his secretary, Missy LeHand, which some historians believe he became romantically involved with beginning in 1921, when he was serving as governor of New York. If Lucy Mercer had been a weaker, less generous-spirited woman, FDR might not have become one of Americas greatest Presidents.) Aware of Rutherfurd's role in her parents' early marriage, Anna was at first angry that her father had put her in such a difficult position. They brought explosives and cash and had plans that included disrupting New Yorks water supply. Throughout her life, ER blamed her early inadequacy as a mother for her childrens unhappiness and took on radio engagements, writing assignments, and other endeavors to further their careers and shore up their finances. The Sad Truth About Franklin And Eleanor Roosevelt's It was up to him, if it was up to anyone, to help her reach some sort of accommodation with married life and with her peculiar new surroundings. The statement is both chivalrous, in keeping with Alsops old-school background, and idealistic, in its faith in the power of marital devotion, but the seemingly throwaway clause if it was up to anyone is the operative phrase. The affair lasted 20 years, according to some, and it was cataloged in a book written by FDR's son Elliott, who said the relationship was common knowledge. [30] When her husband later suffered a stroke, she contacted Roosevelt to arrange for him to be cared for at well-regarded Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.[31] Historian/author Doris Kearns Goodwin speculated that an entry in the White House ushers diary for August 1, 1941 included a code name for Lucy Rutherfurd, suggesting that she attended a private dinner with the president then. His team included Louis Howe, Frances Perkins, Sam Rosenman, and of course Missy. Her relationship with FDR transcended her role as his secretary. Another woman close to FDR was Princess Martha of Sweden, a royal who was forced to flee Scandinavia in 1941 after the Nazi invasion, Denial: Dorothy Schiff, a former publisher of the New York Post who is pictured in 1963, admitted to her biographer that she had an affair with Roosevelt, then later recanted, according to the biographer, Gifts from Suckley: Franklin D. Roosevelt relaxes with his Scottish terrier, Fala at Hyde Park. Though he didnt mind others uneasiness, his need to charm was so great that he hated saying no to people. He was married to Eleanor. There were supposedly several dinners in the White House's second-floor private quarters during Roosevelt's last year which were attended by Rutherfurd in a group with Anna's presence and obvious acceptance. In the years before widespread birth control for women, sex was coupled with potential pregnancy, and the one surefire prevention abstinence was rarely appreciated by young husbands with healthy sexual appetites, as Franklin was. As a young Assistant Secretary of the Navy, FDR returned home each evening to a high-minded wife who was continually reminding him that he hadnt mailed the $50 hed blithely pledged to a hospital for immigrant children or that the story he told about his conversion to woman suffrage was more vivid than accurate. [11] Eleanor subsequently offered her husband a divorce. FDR's love nest in the park: How president took FIVE This was in part a matter of logistics; some of these trips were to do with Franklin's rehabilitation from polio, while Eleanor had the family to look after. She quickly became an established part of the Roosevelt household, and good friends with Eleanor. In doing so, he hoped to receive clemency and resume his life in America. When I thought about their personal flaws, I marveled at the public good to which they put them. With Elliott Roosevelt deceased, Eleanor was given away at the wedding by her uncle. [36] The two women, Mercer and Shoumatoff, immediately packed and left the cottage. These were without doubt the most difficult years of his life, and those who were with him during that period became his most trusted confidants and advisers. A soldier-historian looks at how the world has changed in the past decade and finds that America is both hostage to history and likely to be saved by it. Her descendants speak of the insouciance with which she met early hardship. Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt wed on St. Patrick's Day of 1905 in New York City in the home of Eleanor's grandmother, perHistory Today. FDR would visit her for short periods of time while he fought a global war, and the old Childrens Hour gang kept her company. She remained in the White House, and it was there she received the sad word of her husband's passing. She made other people happy. But the woman who is perhaps least remembered but most Continue reading Her office also had a door leading to the garden, allowing unannounced visitors direct access to FDR when he didnt want their names showing up on the official White House registry. I waded through the syrupy tributes in hope of a crumb of real insight. When President Roosevelt died, Grace Tully took all of her and many of Missys papers with her. At nearly the same hour, forty-three-year-old Marguerite A. [Press officer] Steve Early called me into his office and asked me to stop.. Their long distance relationship proved both exhilarating and frustrating for Missy. In 2010 when those papers finally came to the FDR Library they were known as the Grace Tully Collection, but most of them were really Missys papers. FDR fled tears. The relationships were intense, the disappointments profound, the fallings-out fierce. Home Movies Show the Private Lives of the After all the experts and advisers have rung in, one man must make the decision to cut the meager pensions of World War I veterans, to give Americans numbers to ensure their social security, to send abroad precious ships and arms that may soon be needed at home. Those were Groton idealstaught by youI try not to forget- and your words are still with me and with hundreds of other of us boys. Though it was reported several times in Eleanor's lifetime that Roosevelt had had a serious affair with an unnamed Catholic woman, this remained only a rumor for decades. Sometimes, these bled into public view. For comparison, Franklin's secretary, Missy LeHand, was with him for 110 weeks. FACT: The American press wrote openly about the amount of time FDR spent with Martha, says series creator, director, co-writer and executive producer, Alexander Eik. Schiff's biographer, Jeffrey Potter, claimed in his 1976 book, 'Men, Money and Magic: The Story of Dorothy Schiff,' that she admitted to having an affair with FDR between 1936 and 1943. Terms of Use: PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. One of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's numerous rumored affairs will be revisited in the coming weeks with the release of 'Hyde Park on Hudson,' a film depicting the American president's quasi-incestual affair with his distant cousin, Margaret 'Daisy' Suckley. In the first decade of their marriage, Eleanor was pregnant five times, four within the first four years. FDR's Indispensable Right-Hand Woman Portrayed Unfairly Again. The series creators/writers reveal whats real history and whats not. Roles of Tully and LeHand were by this time well defined and accepted. During their engagement she wrote to her future husband, Sometimes I think that a womans moods are sent her just as a mans temptations are.. During the same time period, Roosevelt was said to be involved with Dorothy Schiff, a former publisher of the New York Post. In 2017, Barbara Collins Jacques donated to the FDR While there has been speculation that FDR and Missy had an affair during this time, there is no evidence to support it, and her long and warm relationship with Eleanor and the children casts serious doubts on it. The Episode 6 scene of Roosevelt and Martha in a basement lockdown is fiction. WebWidely considered the first female presidential chief of staff, Marguerite "Missy" LeHand was the right-hand woman to Franklin Delano Roosevelt - both personally and professionally - for more than 20 years. The Quaker was Malcolm R. Lovell, a double agent who worked closely with German diplomat Hans Thomsen. Also by FDR's side when he died was Daisy Suckley, the president's sixth cousin and close confidant who is depicted in 'Hyde Park on the Hudson'. [4] In 1914, Mercer was hired by Eleanor Roosevelt to become her social secretary. [42] Roosevelt's second private secretary Grace Tully (19001984), who had also been at Warm Springs at the time of his death, did briefly mention Rutherfurd's presence in F.D.R., My Boss, her 1949 memoir, but gave no further hint of the relationship. It was a virtuoso performance. Several of them actually lived in the White House at one time or another. Getting to know FDR, ER, and Lucy Mercer was not an unalloyed pleasure. Eleanor Roosevelt was not with him on the trip. It included Eleanor Roosevelt, Joe Kennedy, Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, and 1,200 others. But she did. Fala was a gift from Margaret Suckley and FDR took the dog with him everywhere, Gifts: Roosevelt left his secretary, Missy LeHand, half of his $3 million estate, Til' death do us part: A handful of Roosevelt's alleged mistresses were with him when he died, 17:41 25 Nov 2012, updated 13:35 18 Sep 2014, Marguerite 'Missy' LaHand was FDR's secretary for more than 20 years, Legendary life revealed: Stunning behind the scenes pictures show Elizabeth Taylor as child star, blushing bride and Hollywood icon, 'I hit her in the face with the spare ribs': Frank Sinatra's loyal valet tells how he carried out singer's dirty work and broke up with lovers for the star, Franklin D. Roosevelt allegedly carried on affairs with at least five women, Lucy Mercer was Eleanor Roosevelt's social secretary, Margaret 'Daisy' Suckley was Roosevelt's sixth cousin and close confidant, Princess Martha of Sweden was forced to flee Scandinavia in 1941, Dorothy Schiff was a former publisher of the New York Post. In her book The Gatekeeper,Kathryn Smith describes Missys role this way: Missy was the Swiss Army Knife of the White House. Franklin allowed Eleanor to build a personal cottage, Val-Kill, on the family's Hyde Park estate, where she could host whomever she liked or be left alone. UVA's Miller Center speculated that Sara Delano Roosevelt would likely have disapproved of any possible match for her son. [21] Franklin Roosevelt learned of the marriage by overhearing news of it at a party. In A First Class Temperament, Geoffrey C. Ward recounts a telling conversation between the young FDR and his wife. Copyright 1949-2023 American Heritage Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved. After Missy LeHand suffered a stroke in 1941, Grace became FDR's primary personal secretary. Eleanor Roosevelt's "My Day": Family Since a thorough medical exam a year before, he had received increasingly more intensive care and concern from a young recently recruited private physician. Admirers compared her voice to velvet and swore her smile was radiant. Du Bois supported it. He made no attempt to conceal his feelings about Missy.'. [43], The MercerRoosevelt affair became wider public knowledge in 1966 when revealed in The Time Between the Wars, a memoir by Jonathan W. Daniels (19021981), a Roosevelt aide from 1943 to 1945. But all three were grand enough to accommodate flaws. She was, to begin with, a researchers nightmare. Unlike a formerly unpublished letter from which I finally got permission to quote, it wasnt even classified. Missys very capable protg Grace Tully took over the administrative responsibilities, but her personal relationship with FDR was not the same as Missys. As a result, practically everyone left the presidential presence convinced his own argument had won the day. Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage. She spent long periods of time at the White House with him during the war years and they often visited his cottage in Hyde Park. LeHand, Marguerite, 1896-1944 - Library of Congress She was 47 years old. And while she clearly had her favorites, she was widely respected for her fairness and devotion to the presidents needs. It was during their years in Albany that Missy first came to the attention of the roving pack of reporters who covered FDR. And there were scores of others. And what was the future First Lady who would champion female equality doing opposing woman suffrage? It is perhaps not surprising, then, that she wasn't privy to the courtship between Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, begun in 1902. In an era when it was very difficult for women to rise to the highest levels of government, she was truly FDRs Right Hand Woman. Hopefully The Gatekeeper will finally put to rest the sexist gossip that Missy gained her power because she was FDRs mistress. It was with the help of these accomplished attorneys, social workers, journalists, and activists that she found her voice and defined her causes. In the 1950s and 1960s she was the fearless, indefatigable, right-minded woman every girl who knew there was more to life than cheerleading wanted to emulate. Yet a strong partnership in political matters, shared membership in the storied Roosevelt dynasty, and six children did not make Franklin and Eleanor's a happy marriage. Most historians date Lucy Mercers first visit to the White House, under her Secret Service code name of Mrs. Johnson, to August 1941. But while the two shared a broadly liberal vision of the United States, they had areas of strong political disagreement. She once bought out an entire farm stand so the woman running it could close for the day. By the time of his final campaign in 1944, many noted his gaunt appearance and declining faculties, according to UVA's Miller Center. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. She traveled with them and paid their bills, acted as hostess when Eleanor was away, provided advice on personnel, personal and political matters, and kept the White House secretarial staff operating at a remarkably high level of effectiveness under constant stress. They insisted every man she met fell in love with her. Missy LeHand, FDR's closest companion for two decades, was crippled by a stroke followed by a nervous breakdown. The story of Chicago in the nineteenth century is the story of the making of America, Donald L. Miller says. The two were from separate branches of the Roosevelt clan, fifth cousins once removed. FDR relished rich foods and fine wines. But these long separations also occurred after Eleanor discovered Franklin's affair in 1918, an event that significantly loosened her marital ties to her husband. Most historians ascribe FDRs metamorphosis from callow politician to visionary statesman to his contracting polio in the summer of 1921, but some contemporaries, such as Joseph Alsop and his mother, Corinne, who was ERs first cousin, thought that loving, and losing, Lucy Mercer was the fire that began to forge his strength and patience even before his illness. [15] He and Eleanor remained married, and he pledged never to see Mercer again. In 1941 she re-entered the paralyzed Presidents life bearing an additional gift. Per NPR's review of the book "Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage," she engineered a cruise with herself, Franklin, and Franklin's best friend that winter, a move that left Eleanor worried. By Paul M. Sparrow, Director, FDR Library. Although her official title as personal secretary was relatively humble, her power and influence were unparalleled. White House cuisine became so notorious that Martha Gellhorn surprised her future husband Ernest Hemingway by wolfing down several sandwiches in preparation for dinner there. The blog of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. She was a devoted and successful mother to five stepchildren and one biological daughter, all of whom adored her. She admitted later in life that "It did not come naturally to me to understand little children or to enjoy them." Later, his two doctors - called in soon after the event - said he had suffered a fatal cerebral hemorrhage. My love affair with her husband, which came later, was more personal and had to do as much with my adolescent yearnings as the great mans achievements. [22] The Rutherfurds had one child, Barbara Mercer Rutherfurd (June 14, 1922November 6, 2005),[23][24] who married Robert Winthrop "Bobby" Knowles, Jr. in 1946. LeHand dropped unconscious at the end of a late dinner with White House staff. A complete collection of their correspondence can be found here:The Grace Tully Collection Finding Aid. Yet when I came across it, I heard the subversive rasp of a key turning in a lock. Now in his fifties, Rutherfurd was considered one of society's most eligible widowers. At this stage in their marriage, the Roosevelts were also maintaining distance in their private lives. When his terrifying mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt, bullied his young wife, he refused to take sides. He knew what he owed to her; he knew how much he needed her." Widely considered the firstand onlyfemale presidential chief of staff, Marguerite Missy LeHand was the right-hand woman to Franklin Delano Rooseveltboth personally and professionallyfor more than twenty years. "[10], In 1918, Franklin went on a trip to Europe to inspect naval facilities for the war. Throughout his life, Franklin Roosevelt was surrounded by remarkable women. As I came to know Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd, I began to shed my predilections and prejudices and admire the strength of her convictions, the delicacy of her principles, and the size of her heart. For example, FDR's principal strategist and trusted adviser, Louis Howe, lived in the White House from 1933 until his death in 1936 as did FDR's secretary Missy LeHand who stayed until she suffered a stroke in 1941. WebMissy LeHand expresses her feelings to Martha. Unlike a chronology of events I later unearthed, the note was not a new discovery. After 65 years, the archives of FDRs personal secretary are now open to the public, The world-shaping relationship between these two giants got off to a rocky start. This photo is from Jan. 20, 1936, Love nest: FDR took many of his close female friends whom he was rumored to be involved with romantically to his Hyde Park home in upsate New York. She showed no hesitation in using the sliding door to come and go as she pleased. FDR Moreover, when it comes to historical cover-ups, many FDR and ER partisans would like to bury Lucy Mercer along with the inconvenient prejudices of their youth. Goodwin writes in No Ordinary Time that it was disturbing for Missy to be replaced by another woman.. FDR's Secretary of Labor the first female Cabinet member also helpedcreatethe minimum wage, 40-hour work week, and first tough child labor laws. It won't rain on our parade! She was there when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Miss LeHand: FDR's Influential and Largely Forgotten Assistant, Missy LeHand: FDR's Influential but Largely Forgotten Assistant. FDR and Marshall had to build a fighting force able to take on the Nazis, against the wishes of many in Congress. Partially paralyzed and barely able to speak she was confined to the hospital in D.C. She was later moved to Warm Springs, Georgia, to help in her recovery. Many cabinet secretaries, congressmen, senators and ambassadors courted favor with Missy in an attempt to gain access to the president. Biographer Hazel Rowley wrote (via Roll Call) that Franklin Roosevelt remained in his marriage after his affair with Lucy Mercer was discovered because he "still loved Eleanor. Their correspondence is filled with romantic expressions and longing, though whether they had a physical relationship isn't known for sure; at least in regards to her marriage, Eleanor maintained that shared connection and common interest trumped lusty urges. He died on April 12, 1945 at the Little White House in Warms Spring, Georgia; the funeral took place on April 15 in Washington D.C. After a major White House renovation in 1934 Missy was moved into a prime office with a view of the rose garden, and a door that opened directly into the new and improved Oval Office. Mercer left Washington after the affair and became the governess for the children of Winthrop Rutherfurd (18621944), a wealthy New York socialite.

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