The Roosevelts

We will be watching Ken Burns, "Intimate History" of THE ROOSEVELTS again tonight on PBS. This will be the 4th in the series of 7 episodes. We have thoroughly enjoyed the first three. With only an elementary knowledge of Theodore, the early episodes increased my knowledge of him considerably. I am much more familiar with Franklin and Eleanor. One of my earliest memories are of hearing my Mother and Dad talking at the kitchen table about the possibilities of another Civil War if President Hoover was re-elected. A few years ago, I wrote a 30 page paper on, "Memories of My Presidents"-"Their Times, our Times, Their Election & Their Inauguration". We moved to the Vrana Family Farm in the early spring of '32 before RDR was elected that fall as President. My folks had great admiration for President Roosevelt and you could hear a "pin drop" in our house when he gave his "fireside chats". He and his programs were major factors in my "growing up" and helping our family through the drought and depression years of the '30's. I could walk to the spot today where I stood when I heard of his death. His appreciation of our Nation's Natural Resources  and his involvement with Hugh Hammond Bennett, led to the establishment of the USDA Soil Conservation Service where I spent my 32-year federal career. We have had the opportunity to visit Hyde Park on 2 occasions as well as the Little White House at Warm Springs, Georgia, where he died. We also visited the Roosevelt Library at Hyde Park where the hand written draft of his message to the Nation following the Japaneses attack on Pearl Harbor, was displayed. He had crossed out the word "forever" and inserted "infamy" and said "December 7, 1941 a day that will live in infamy".