r JAMES ROOSEVELT, 1907-1991 Biographical Sketch ~ames Roosevelt, eldest son and second child of Franklin and E·leanor Roosevelt, was born in New York City, December '23, 1907. His earliest schooling was in New York and Washing­ ton, D. C., where he attended the Potomac School and the Nf'ltional Cathedral School. At Groton School he rowed, play­ ed football and was a student prefect in his senior year. He graduated in 1926. At Harvard he rowed with the freshnian and junior varsity crews. He was a member of the Signet Society, the Fly Club, Institute of 1770 and Hasty Pudding, Club. He was secretary of his. freshman class and presid'ent of Phillips Brooks House for two years. He was elected permanent treasurer of the Class of 1930. After leaving Harvard, he attended Boston University Law School for less than a year. James"~oosevelt entered the insurance business with the firm of Victor De Gerard of Boston in 1930, remaining with that firm when it amalgamated with the John Paulding Meade Company which, in turn, amalgamated with OBrion, Russell and Company in 1932. His association with OBrion, Russell continued after he and John.A. Sargent founded Roosevelt and Sargent. He was president of Roosevelt and Sargent until he c re,signed, January 1, 1937, just prior to entering the Franklin Roosevelt administration. He was elected a director of Boston Metropolitan Buildings, Inc. in 1933. He served briefly as president of the National Grain Yeast Corporation from May to November 1935. James Roosevelt attended the 1924 Democratic National Convention where he served, in his words, as his father's "page and prop." He gained his first experience as a politi'cal campaigner in 1928. He and three other Harvard students stumped Massachusetts for Al Smith. James was his father's Massachusetts campaign manager in 1932. He made about two hundred campaign speeches tha,t year. Although he and ,James M. Curley were unsuccessful in their efforts to secure the Massachusetts delegation for Franklin Roosevelt, FDR easily carried Massachusetts in the November election. James Roosevelt's association with Curley ,led Time Magazine in 1933 to dub Roosevelt "czar of Massachusetts patronage." He was a delegate from Massachusetts to the Constitutional Convention for the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. In that year he was elected secretary of the Young Democratic Clubs of America. In 1936 James Roosevelt received a commission as lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps. He accompanied FDR to the c Inter-American Conference at Buenos Aires after the 1936 election as a military aide. There were rumors in 1935 that he would become a secretary to. his father. He was appointed an administrative assistant to the President, January 6, c 1937, and a secretary to the President, July 1, 1937. He became White House coordinator for eighteen federal agencies in October 1937. In 1938 he was asked to run for Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts but rejected a citizens committee's request to be a candidate. An article bY"Alva Johnston in the Saturday Evening Post, July 2, 1938 accused Roosevelt of having used the fact that he was the President's son to obtain lucrative contracts for his insurance firm that he might not otherwise have acquired. James Roosevelt answered these charges in an NBC broadcast and, in more detail, in an interview by Walter Davenport that appeared in Collier's Magazine, August 20 and 27, 1938. Copies of James Roosevelt's income tax returns, 193.2-1937 were published. In November 1938 he resigned from· his White House position. In December 1938 James Roosevelt became a vice president of Samuel Goldwyn, Inc., where his duties were mainly administrative. In late 1939 Roosevelt organized his own film production unit, Globe Productions, Inc •• In 1940 Globe Productions and the Mills Novelty Company formed the Mills-Globe Company to produce short films to be viewed in slot (Panoram) machines. Globe Productions was liquidated in 1944 while Roosevelt was on active duty with the Marine Corps. Roosevelt resigned hi's lieutenant colonelcy and applied for an appointment as a captain in the Marine Corps Reserve in September 1939. In April 1941 the President sent James on an around the world military diplomatic mission. In August 1941 he joined the staff of Coordinator of Information William J. Donovan as the officer assigned to the job of working out the exchange of information with other agencies. After the United States entered the war, James Roosevelt served with distinction in the Pacific Theater of Operations. He served in the Solomon and Gilbert Islands, the second battle of Midway and at Kiska in the Aleutian Islands. He was second in command to Evans Carlson in the Marine Raider raid on Makin Island. Roosevelt later trained his own Raider unit. He was a colonel when released from active duty in August 1945. He was awarded the Navy Cross and Silver Star. He continued in the Marine Corps becoming a brigadier general USMC Reserve, retired. After the war Roosevelt returned to the insurance business rejoining Roosevelt and Sargent as an executive vice president and established an office in Los Angeles. In 1946 he became chairman of. the board of Roosevelt and Haines, successor to Roosevelt and Sargent. He later became ( president of Roosevelt and Company, Inc .. He became a ~ .1 director of the American Medical Center at Denver, Colorado. c He was vice-president of the Eleanor Roosevelt Cancer Foundation. In January 1946 Roosevelt became national director for pOlitical organization with Jo Davidson's Independent Citizens Committee of the Arts, Sciences and Professions. He gave up this position in July when he became chairman of the California State Democratic Central Committee. He served as chairman from July 21, 1946 to August 8, 1948. In July 1946, he also began a series of five day a week radio broadcasts" of political commentary. Roosevelt was prominent in the movement to draft Dwight Eisenhower as the Democratic candidate for President in 1948. After Truman's nomination, Roosevelt yielded the state chairmanship but remained a Democratic National Committeeman until 1952. Roosevelt ran for Governor of California in 1950. He lost to the incumbent, Earl Warren. In 1954 Roosevelt was elected to the Eighty Fourth Congress from the twenty-sixth California Congressional District succeeding Sam Yorty who became mayor of Los Angeles. He wa~ defeated by Yorty in the April 1965 primary for mayor of Loi Angeles. Roosevelt served in Congress until September 1965. He resigned to accept appointment by President Johnson as the United States representative to the United c Nations Economic and Social Council. He resigned in December 1966 to become an executive of Investors Overseas Service. James Roosevelt was the author with Sidney Shalett of Affectionately, FDR, published in 1959. He was the author with Bill Libby of By Parents, A Differing View (1976). He was also the author with Sam Toperoffof a novel, A Family' Ma~ (1979). He edited The Liberal Papers, published in 1962. James Roosevelt died at his home in Newport Beach, California, August 13, 1991. DESCRIPTION OF SERIES Container Series c 1-72 Secretary to President, 1937-1938. 72 Con­ tainers This series consists of correspondence', memoranda and printed materials rel~ting to James Rooseveit's service as one of his father's White House assistants. He was responsible for coordinating the activities of thE) Agricultural Adjulltment Administra­ tion, Civil Service Commission,. Civilian Conservation Corps, Farm Credit Administra­ tion, Federal Housing Administration, Feder­ al power Commission, federal Reserve Commis­ sion, Federal Reserve Board, Federal Trade Commission, Home Owners Loan corporation, Interstate Commerce Commission, National Bituminous Coal Commission, National Labor Relations Board, National Youth Administra­ tion, Reclamation Service, Securities and Ex.­ change Commission, Social Security. Board, u.S. Maritime Commission, Works Progress Ad­ ministration. 73 School Family and Personal Papers, 1918-1928. -1 Container This series consists of school papers and family correspondence. 73-75 Eleanor Roosevelt, 1934-1963. 3 Containers. This series consists of correspondence with and about his mother and tributes to .her . after her death. Although much importcmt correspondence between James Roosevelt and his mother is in this series, there is addi­ tional material to, from and about her in other series, particularly, General Corres­ pondence, 1931-1944, 1945-1964, and Alpha­ betical File, 1954-1966. 75-77 u.S. Marine Corps, 1936-1964. 3 Containers. This series consists of letters, memoranda, orders, clippings and other printed materials concerning James Roosevelt's service in the U.S.M.C. Reserve, the Marine Raiders Associa­ tion, his wartime service in the Marine Raid­ ers and Evans Carlson. c DESCRIPTION OF SERIES c Container Series 78-148 General Correspondence, 1931-1944. 71 Con­ tainers. This series consists of letters, memoran­ randa,invi tations, clippings and other" printed material concerning family, business, personal and political activities, including not only his part in his father's president­ ial campaigns and administration but also his involvement with Massachusetts politics and the Young Democrats. There are files on his parents. Related material on his busi­ ness interests is in Business Correspondence, 1932-1944. 149-184 General Correspondence, 1945-1964. 136 Con­ ; tainers. This series consists of letters, memoranda and printed material concerning his business, personal and public