A LETTER FROM FDRPrepared by Les Dropkin

Previously unknown letters between FDR and Margaret Stuckley – a Hyde Park neighbor and FDR’s 6th cousin - were discovered nearly fifty years after President Roosevelt’s death. This remarkable collection revealed that while they had known each other casually over the years, a unique relationship had developed between them from 1935 onwards.

“Daisy”, as she was known to friends, became the one person with whom FDR could be totally relaxed and completely open, someone in whom he could confide, someone with whom he could imagine futures that were destined never to be, someone who came to be his “closest companion” - in the words of Geoffrey Ward, a biographer of FDR’s years before the presidency and the historian who edited, annotated and published the collection.

Most of the letters are from Daisy to FDR. A relative handful of his letters to her survive. But among those that did, there is one – excerpted below - that was composed on the Potomac’s inaugural cruise while FDR was on his spring 1936 fishing vacation in the Bahamas.

A couple of weeks before FDR’s vacation trip started, Daisy, in her letter to him of March 3d had commented “… You must be looking forward to the new boat!” and suggested “…It would be an excellent opportunity to write a very complete description of a Fishing Trip to the Bahamas, in the form of a letter or diary.” He evidently liked the idea.

The first part of his letter is dated Mon., Mar 23 – at the end of a long day during which he had stopped to receive an honorary degree before going on to Fort Lauderdale where the cruise would begin that night. On the way FDR had met and had a long talk with a General Hagood. His comment to Daisy was “…He will get a new post - but he is an awful bumptious unbalanced idiot! I had never seen him before – He should never have been a general – perhaps a South Carolina Congressman – not even a Senator.”

Daisy (and we) next get a bit of instruction about nautical terminology: “ We are underway – i.e. there is way - or headway on the ship – but when a ship is at anchor she gets underweigh i.e. she weighs (or hauls up) the anchor – That’s the best explanation – I forgot to tell you last autumn – one of those thousand things I want to tell you about all the time –”

The part of the letter dated the 24th was written from the escorting destroyer on which he had left Florida. (It would not be until the next day that he would transfer to the Potomac.) He mentions that they tried some fishing – with little luck and that they tried moving to another anchorage, but that the wind was wrong. He then writes: “ – but I saw our pink lighthouse through the glasses – I do wish I could draw – perhaps someone will give me lessons.” A small drawing follows before closing the entry for this day.

On the 25th he records his reaction to the Potomac: “This A.M. we anchored at…Great Inaugua Island & found the Potomac – She came alongside & we transferred ourselves & much baggage & gear – She looks nice – successful planning & more room than the old Sequoia – She awaits your inspection next month - ”. FDR completes the sentence in an unexpected way: “very necessary because you are responsible for her name.”

The entries for the following days become shorter and are filled with details of the fishing itinerary, the nature of the fish caught, observations about people and geography, etc. But there is also more about the Potomac. On the 27th he writes: “…We had a rough sea running to Mariguana Island & the Potomac behaved well – she rolls rather fast – six seconds – & I was up on the bridge & the spray came on board – nice warm spray – soft spray – a special kind.” As Geoffrey Ward reminds us in his annotation, the language FDR uses is very deliberately chosen. Earlier, on March 1st, Daisy had written to FDR and referred to the forthcoming vacation: “…You must have that trip in the sunlight & the salty air – and perhaps there will be one small cloud of spray to splash you and remind you of your friends in the north!”

The entry for the 30th gives us a sense of how a more or less typical day would be spent: “ We have been off Little San Salvador Island – poor fishing but it has given me a chance to read all kinds of reports – I hate to have to do it – but if I don’t the accumulation on return is overwhelming - & so far I am up to date. Some day C.P. is going to see all these islands - & the ones “Down the Islands” – all the way to Trinidad – some I know & others need to be explored – in fact must be.” (C.P. means Certain Person – one way FDR and Daisy would refer to each other.)

The final part of this letter, written on Tuesday April 7 th, contains a summary of the vacation and feelings about getting back to Washington, D.C.: “…- Last day! – A good cruise & a real rest - & very nice comrades – quiet, good fun & no rows! I sometimes feel in Washington like murdering some of my official family – they want to “grab” or “bite” or ridicule -…” And he signs off: “ Aff. F.”

The correspondence between FDR and Daisy together with her diary, as edited and annotated by Geoffrey C. Ward, is set out in his book CLOSEST COMPANION: The Unknown Story of the Intimate Friendship between Franklin Roosevelt and Margaret Stuckley; published by Houghton Mifflin Co. 1995.