Curtis B. Dall Franklin Delano ROOSEVELT My Exploited Father-in-Law 1968 AAARGH 2004 ON INTERNET DALL : FDR, my exploited father-in-law A Reprint of the 1970 Revised Edition First Printing, December, 1982 Second Printing, ApriL 1983 INSTITUTE FOR HISTORICAL REVIEW P.O. Box 1306 Torrance, California 90505 In FDR: My Exploited Father-in-Law, Col. Curtis B. Dall writes from close personal experience concerning the famous four-time President, his family, political associates, and some of the momentous events which still strongly influence world history. A native of New York City, Col. Dall attended Mercersburg Academy and Princeton University. He was an ensign in naval aviation during World War 1, and served overseas. His wide investment experience began on Wall Street in 1920. He rose to become syndicate manager of Lehman Brothers, and later was named a partner in the firm now known as Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith. He also founded and initially headed the natural gas complex now called Tenneco, and engaged in exploration for oil and natural gas in Texas. During World War II he served in the Air Force, and now holds the rank of colonel in the Retired Air Force Reserve. His overall military service covers 13V2 years. In 1948 Col. Dall became active in national politics in Texas as a conservative. From 19W to 1964 he was national chairman of the Constitution Party of the U.S. Today Col. Dall is Chairman Emeritus of Liberty Lobby in Washington D.C. It is often called the people's lobby, being the largest independent political action group in this country. He has always been in frequent demand as a speaker on patriotic and political issues throughout the nation, and has often appeared on radio and television programs. He resides in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife Katherine. INSTITUTE FOR HISTORICAL REVIEW ISBN: 0-939484-03-X 5 FDR: My Exploited Father-in-Law © 1968 by Curtis B. Dall This 1982 paperback edition published with permission of the author by: Institute for Historical Review P.O. Box 1306 Torrance, CA 90505 ISBN: 0-93948-03-X Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 68-2835 All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in connection with a review. Manufactured in the United States of America Cover photo courtesy of the New York Times: The Roosevelt family at the Executive Mansion, Albany, NY, for Christmas holidays, 1929. Left to right, front row: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr. and his brother John. Behind seated: Mrs. Curtis B. Dall, Anna Eleanor Dall, Mrs. Roosevelt, Governor Roosevelt, Mrs. D.D. Forbes (the Governor's aunt), and Mrs. James Roosevelt (the Governor's Mother). Standing: Curtis B. Dall and James Roosevelt. -- 2 -- DALL : FDR, my exploited father-in-law 6 DEDICATION Dedicated to young Americans-May you benefit from observing how certain shadowy forces contrive to ruthlessly advance their own financial and ideological objectives at your expense. They select, then groom, and ultimately control many of our highest government officials. They plan the wars and through "foreign policy" arrange to set the stage for incidents to initiate hostilities. They overwork the word "Peace" to mislead you and create a plausible smoke screen in order to conceal their real operations. You can recognize who "they" are. Hence, I say, young Americans, be alerted-be more effective than my unsuspecting and bemused generation.. Sally-forth, defend and preserve for yourself and those who follow you our great heritage of freedom and liberty. -The Author ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Mrs. Katharine L. Dall, Washington, D.C. - Special Miss Olga Butterworth, Wallingford, Pa. Willis A. Carto, Los Angeles, Calif. G. Ernest Dale, Philadelphia, Pa. Bernard R . DeRemer, Washington, D.C. Norman Dodd, New York, N.Y. Ex-Gov. George H. Earle, Philadelphia, Pa. Benjamin H. Freedman, New York, N.Y. Stockton Gaines, Montrose, Pa. Russell Hardy, Sr., Washington, D.C. Rev. T. Robert Ingram, Houston, Tex. Mrs. Rebecca Smith Lee, Lexington, Ky. Franz Ralston, Philadelphia, Pa. Isaac Requa, Jackson Heights, N.Y. John Sheridan, Philadelphia, Pa. Eduard W. Shober, Philadelphia, Pa. W. B. Vennard, Houston, Tex. Willis G. Wilmot, New Orleans, La. -- 3 -- DALL : FDR, my exploited father-in-law CONTENTS Introduction .......................................................... i I Hyde Park-Meeting Franklin Roosevelt’s Family ..................................................... 11 II Franklin D. Roosevelt, I .............................. 21 III Wall Street Years, I .................................... 25 IV Summer on the Warburg Estate ..................... 29 V Tarrytowm Neighbors ................................. 31 VI Franklin D. Roosevelt , II ........................... 37 VII Eleanor Roosevelt, I (From a Small Pasture) 41 VIII Eleanor Roosevelt (After Albany) ..................... 52 IX The Chicago Convention and Senator Huey Long .................................. 60 X 'Professor' Felix Frankfurter ............................ 65 XI 'Mr. Baruch' Calls ......................................... 71 XII Inauguration Day-March 4, 1933 ...................... 75 XIII Dinner with Henry ......................................... 79 XIV The C.F.R. Advisors Advise U. S. Gold for Foreigners Only My White House Valedictory Address ................ 89 XV Sara Delano Roosevelt (Magna Cum Laude) 96 XVI Louis McH. Howe ............................................ 106 XVII 'The Panic—Joe Kennedy Sold Short 'Tenvessee Gas' Makes Good .............................. 112 XVIII The 'Penny Tree' ................................................. 130 XX Twenty Years Later (Commander Earle Could Have Stopped It) 146 XXI My Visit with Admiral Kimmel ......................... 159 XXII The 'United Nations'— Its True Origin, Roots and Branches .................... 169 XXIII Conservatives, Liberals and Brick-Bats. 183 -- 4 -- DALL : FDR, my exploited father-in-law I=(8) Introduction Observe a twenty-five cent coin. You see either the obverse or the reverse side. Both sides of the coin, however, are important. Creating an image, however, for a specific purpose makes no pretense at presenting both sides of a picture, merely one side. The impact from the image is aimed at the uninformed and the unsuspecting, which certainly included me for a long period of time. Image-making aims to deliberately mislead, coaxing its victims along predetermined paths, often into dangerous and expensive areas. It is my hope that the reader of this book will endeavor to behold two sides of our ideological and political picture affecting important events, and find them informative. One side is visible, one side hidden. People are often fitted with circumstance to combine and produce results for better or for worse. Much is recorded in this book about Franklin D. Roosevelt, his wife, his mother, members of his family, and their entourage. Other well-known world figures are discussed, many of whom I beheld at close range. A number of my observations may surprise some readers. I did not have to research. I was there, as a rule, not just a holder of a seat up frond Hence, certain areas of this book will appear to be at variance with some other books. Back in May of 1933, I wrote an article for a New York magazine called "Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue." It described how I felt the new Democratic Administration, headed by my father-in-law, regarded Wall Street." I had been working for some time in Wall Street, the visible fountainhead of our financial structure in this country. I knew it fairly well. However, not wishing to write an article too critical of the Administration, I showed it to a close friend of mine, Basil O'Connor, the President’s former law partner, inviting his comments about it. i (9) "Doc", as he was known to me, read it, and looking out the window somewhat thoughtfully said, "Curt, the article is certainly quite interesting, but if you plan to sell it to a magazine, please sell it to me." That observation, with no reflection upon my budding literary talents, clearly indicated that he regarded it as far too critical of the new Administration, particularly coming from me, a relative of the Chief Executive and an informed source. Startled, I said, "Okay, Doc, if that's your reaction, 'Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue' will never be published." And, it wasn't. I tore it up. -- 5 -- DALL : FDR, my exploited father-in-law That conversation took place in Doc's office at 120 Broadway, New York, thirty-three years ago, a span of time. In the interim, numerous important events have occurred, some holding a deep meaning for us all. Numerous leading figures referred to herein have passed on into the Great Beyond. In retrospect we should bear in mind-"What is Past is Prologue"—Prologue for today! The American people are not reared and trained to become international-minded schemers. As a result, we have become the ready victims of those who have been reared and steeped in that type of training. In addition, as a people, we are too inclined to hedonism, deeply absorbed in a program of pleasure. Toward that end, we are being encouraged and daily "moulded" by our foreign-influenced press, radio, and TV programs. We are encouraged to become absorbed in the trivial, for obvious reasons, by dedicated world-planners. Many of us are prone to feel that our political status, even our freedom and our liberty in the U.S.A. are secure. But, along with that great amateur internationalist, Woodrow Wilson, we took our perilous seat in 1913 on his nefarious political toboggan, and we are now nearing the bottom of that disastrous run. Then came another disastrous toboggan run with FDR and his successors. Where do we go from here? Let us not fool ourselves. The wealth, freedom and liberty of the American people are being stolen and steadily nibbled away. Today, as easy suckers, we are buying many over-priced, political "benefits," all paid for, of course, with our own hard-earned money! We have also been goaded into trying to run the affairs of other nations which yields a fine profit for the world money powers who are in-the-know on credits and markets.