WebMissy LeHand was private secretary to Franklin D. Roosevelt (32nd US President of the United States) for over two decades. The Roosevelts' son James later described the state of the marriage after the incident as "an armed truce that endured until the day he died. The story of Chicago in the nineteenth century is the story of the making of America, Donald L. Miller says. FDR and Marshall had to build a fighting force able to take on the Nazis, against the wishes of many in Congress. On June 4th, at a party in the White House, Missy collapsed, probably from a combination of a stroke and a heart attack. FDR's affinity for the company of women was always well known and some historians dispute stories of his alleged affairs, saying his friendships never grew to After his reelection in 1930 he became the most activist governor in the country. She was dubbed FDRs Right Hand Woman and when Eleanor traveled Missy would act as the hostess for dinners and other social events. Eleanor also had to contend with her mother-in-law Sara Delano Roosevelt. WebThe Missy LeHand Archive, comprising some 1,400 pieces, is the most important grouping of original documents still in private hands from such a central figure in FDRs political and personal life. I knew her father had died of alcoholism, and her uncles had drunkenly fired hunting rifles at her from the windows of her grandmothers house. Missy arrived in Washington to much fanfare and excitement. When Franklin finally broke the news to her two years later and added that they planned to marry, Sara was aghast; besides her own wish to keep her son to herself, Franklin and Eleanor were only 22 and 20, respectively. Three Decades Ago This Magazine Launched a Durable American Trend, For 70 years, American Heritage has been the leading magazine of U.S. history, politics, and culture. Grace Tully described Missy as the Queen of the White House staff, and her authority was rarely challenged. As the years passed, she developed a resigned and cynical attitude toward intercourse with her husband. The noble woman was human. target: "#hbspt-form-1682997151000-4739201604", He left the table to answer the letter. 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. During her childhood the family moved to Massachusetts, settling He was married to Eleanor. LeHand Film Collection - FDR Presidential Library A military tribunal later found all eight men guilty. I wrote all this in the newspaper. 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. 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. Missy LeHand, FDR's closest companion for two decades, was crippled by a stroke followed by a nervous breakdown. Since a thorough medical exam a year before, he had received increasingly more intensive care and concern from a young recently recruited private physician. FDR would visit her for short periods of time while he fought a global war, and the old Childrens Hour gang kept her company. And everyone from John D. Rockefeller to W. E. B. I mean a contagious genius for living joyously. According to the real communique, Martha had told a Quaker she trusts that she wanted to return home. They provided FDR with an important escape from the pressures of the White House, and their personal bonds allowed them to speak truth, sometimes uncomfortable truths, to the Boss. The White House staff grew quickly as the work load of the First 100 Days and the ever growing volume of correspondence demanded attention. Eleanor Roosevelt's "My Day": Family [27] Historian/author Persico speculates that these letters may have been the cause of the 1927 nervous breakdown of Roosevelt's long-time unmarried first secretary Marguerite "Missy" LeHand (18981944), as LeHand was also reputedly in love with Roosevelt and no medical cause for her breakdown was found. The Virginia Quarterly Reviewdescribes her as feeling rejected by her mother Anna Hall Roosevelt, who once told her that she must be good, as she was too plain to be anything else. He provided for her in his will, but she suffered a stroke in 1941 and predeceased him. While fond of his niece, Theodoremade the wedding into a St. Patrick's Day "pit stop," according to Marc Peyser and Timothy Dwyer's book "Hissing Cousins." In March 1942 Missy returned to the White House, a shadow of her former self, and moved back into her apartment on the third floor. [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. 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. [40][41] Rutherfurd is buried, along with her husband, in Green Township, New Jersey. It takes place during the June 1939 weekend that the British king and queen visited Roosevelt at his upstate New York cottage in Hyde Park, where FDR was said to take a number of mistresses. Two weeks after the June collapse, LeHand suffered a major stroke and was never again able to speak intelligently. "Attention and admiration were the things through all my childhood which I wanted," Eleanor later remarked, "because I was made to feel that nothing about me would attract attention or bring me admiration.". Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Fact or Fiction: FDR's private secretary Missy LeHand suffered a sudden collapse at a White House dinner. Her stress was a trigger for heart problems, say the series co-writers, adding that the medication LeHand took gave her mood swings, depression and anxiety. This knowledge did not keep him from straying again. . LeHand loved the president dearly, and Franklin was very fond of her. Franklin's response was to tell his wife gently, she would say that she was upset now but would feel differently later and so excused himself from the conversation. LeHand was romantically In doing so, he hoped to receive clemency and resume his life in America. [8][9] Franklin was at that time the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and Mercer was assigned to his office. Please support this 72-year tradition of trusted historical writing and the volunteers that sustain it with a donation to American Heritage. Marguerite Alice "Missy" LeHand (September 13, 1896 July 31, 1944) was a private secretary to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) for 21 years. According to LeHand's biographer Kathryn Smith in The Gatekeeper, she eventually functioned as White House Chief of Staff, the only woman in American history to do so. [1] Missy Many cabinet secretaries, congressmen, senators and ambassadors courted favor with Missy in an attempt to gain access to the president. 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. AsTIMEreports,Eleanor was quick to ask for calm and understanding after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Missys very capable protg Grace Tully took over the administrative responsibilities, but her personal relationship with FDR was not the same as Missys. Grace performed dictation and typing, managed the President's mail, and served as primary files manager for the White House. 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. [33] In June 1944, Roosevelt requested of his daughter Anna, who was then managing some White House social functions and acting as hostess, that she help him arrange to meet Rutherfurd without Eleanor's knowledge. "[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]. WebThe Roosevelts were the ultimate power couple during the first half of the 20th century. 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. Rutherfurd is portrayed by Maria Dizzia. ER relied upon the kindness and sustenance of her friends, especially her women friends. Mercer left Washington after the affair and became the governess for the children of Winthrop Rutherfurd (18621944), a wealthy New York socialite. The least disputed of Roosevelt's supposed affairs, however, was with Lucy Mercer, his wife's social secretary when he was assistant secretary of the Navy in 1916. To license content, please contact licenses [at] americanheritage.com. It was then that their relationship became more unconventional. 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. That there was genuine affection between Franklin and Mercer is evident, however, as is the devastation the affair brought to Eleanor. Kathryn Smiths new book goes a long way to correcting the error of omission that history has made regarding Missy LeHand. FDR fled tears. Funding for MASTERPIECE is provided by Viking and Raymond James, with additional support from public television viewers and contributors to The Masterpiece Trust, created to help ensure the series' future. Later, his two doctors - called in soon after the event - said he had suffered a fatal cerebral hemorrhage. At nearly the same hour, forty-three-year-old Marguerite A. James Cox was the democratic candidate for President, and it was widely assumed he would lose to the Republican candidate Senator Warren Harding. When Germany unleashed its blitzkreig in 1939, the U.S.Army was only the 17th largest in the world. [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. Debate over America's involvement in World War II came to a head in July 1941 as the Senate argued over a draft extension bill. Home Movies Show the Private Lives of the 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. By Hayley Peterson Born in 1882, he was the only child of James Roosevelt and Sara Delano. The loneliness of leadership is a truism. She remained in the White House, and it was there she received the sad word of her husband's passing. In 1940 he wrote his former headmaster, Endicott Peabody, More than forty years ago you said, in a sermon in the Old Chapel, something about not losing boyhood ideals in later life. The year 1924 also introduced FDR to Warm Spring Georgia, where he would focus his efforts on findingan effective cure for polio and provide a world class rehabilitation clinic for its victims. After the election, Eleanor asked Missy to come to her home in Hyde Park and help finish up the correspondence. There was more heartbreak waiting for Eleanor when she arrived in Warm Springs. Please, I begged, when she spent a night on the doorstep because she didnt want to disturb the servants or, she told her young husband when he returned at dawn from the dance shed left him to enjoy, to ruin his glorious time by going back to ask him for the key. Then there was Mrs. Nesbitt. Even Earl Miller, the slippery, selfaggrandizing New York State trooper who started as her bodyguard, was unstinting in his devotion. 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. [36] The two women, Mercer and Shoumatoff, immediately packed and left the cottage. She advocated unsuccessfully against the internment policy; when it went through, she kept up a pragmatic front in public speeches and mitigated and challenged interment where she could in private. Missy suffered a terrible stroke in 1941 and left the White House, so her assistant Grace Tully took over for her. 00:00. Yet after more than 10 years of marriage to a wife whom he would always respect and revere, he broke the rules of God and man and fell in love with another woman. Four years ago, when reports of presidential misbehavior convulsed the country, I found myself wanting to tell the story of three people who comported themselves with dignity and grace in the face of imminent heartbreak and of an era that allowed them to. Unlike a chronology of events I later unearthed, the note was not a new discovery. Revealed: All 76 bank branches that are shutting its doors this month in blow to the High Street Met Gala 2023 live: Rihanna finally arrives! But there is no question that the time they spent on board the Larooco laid the foundation for a deep bond between them that lasted until Missys death. FDR And His Women - AMERICAN HERITAGE Anna Roosevelt, Franklin and Eleanor's only daughter, played hostess at these dinners, and other members of the Roosevelt and Delano families were aware of the clandestine rendezvous. She told a friend she had burned FDRs letters, though I do not believe that for a moment. Getting to know FDR, ER, and Lucy Mercer was not an unalloyed pleasure. Sara Roosevelt's attentions helped give her son a happy childhood, but she remained protective of him well into adulthood, a tendency that would later mar his marriage to Eleanor. Harvey Shapiro, himself one of our most distinguished poets, examines a powerful and undervalued legacy. Broken Circle: The Isolation of Franklin D. Roosevelt Per the Washington Post, Eleanor burned the love letters she uncovered from Mercer to Franklin. Everybody wants something, ER replied. Franklin Delano Roosevelt famously did his very best to control his public image. With Elliott Roosevelt deceased, Eleanor was given away at the wedding by her uncle. But whitewashing the weaknesses of the great is a disservice to them as well as history. 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. According to the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, Franklin and Eleanor were acquainted as children but came to romance and courtship as young adults in 1902. Could any husband, or any other human being, have healed ERs wounds? According to Joseph Alsop, a Roosevelt cousin and political columnist, ER had a downright ghastly childhood and youth, while FDR had an immensely happy childhood and a youth altogether comfortable and if anything overprotected. His team included Louis Howe, Frances Perkins, Sam Rosenman, and of course Missy. When the stock market crashed in October 1929, Governor Roosevelt immediately took action. Furthermore, Eleanor's discovery of the relationship and subsequent discussion of divorce with Franklin's mother are portrayed in the fourth episode of the Showtime series "The First Lady." 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. 17:41 25 Nov 2012, updated 13:35 18 Sep 2014. Though he didnt mind others uneasiness, his need to charm was so great that he hated saying no to people. In "Roosevelt in Retrospect," John Gunther claimsthat Franklin was often unaware when Eleanor was in the White House, and that he did not see the New York apartments his wife maintained until late in 1944. The blog of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. Only a sliding door separated 49 East 65th Street (Franklin and Eleanor's residence) from Sara's next door. [3] The pair separated shortly after Lucy's birth, and Carroll became an alcoholic. WebMore About a Remarkable Donation. Roles of Tully and LeHand were by this time well defined and accepted. 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. However, she ultimately relented and set up a meeting in Georgetown. UVA's Miller Center speculated that Sara Delano Roosevelt would likely have disapproved of any possible match for her son. Marguerite LeHand, Personal Secretary to President If Lucy Mercer had been a weaker, less generous-spirited woman, FDR might not have become one of Americas greatest Presidents.) I was more intrigued than ever. In a review for the Washington Post, Stacy Schiff details the first lady's long-term relationship with reporter Lorena Hickok. And biographer Hazel Rowley has speculated (via Roll Call) that Mercer's devout Catholic faith may have prevented a physical relationship. As Lucy realizes in my book, if you cannot accept imperfections, you cannot loveor, I would add, write history, biography, or fiction. She spent time in Warm Springs getting FDRs new cottage ready for him. FDR's affinity for the company of women was always well known and some historians dispute stories of his alleged affairs, saying his friendships never grew to become romances. One of many women: Franklin D. Roosevelt was said to have carried on a 20-year affair with his secretary, Marguerite 'Missy' LeHand. In her book The Gatekeeper,Kathryn Smith describes Missys role this way: Missy was the Swiss Army Knife of the White House. 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. FDR expressed a longing for white asparagus. See also "Miss LeHand: FDR's Influential and Largely Forgotten Assistant". WebBesides children and grandchildren, several other longtime aides and friends also lived in the White House during the Roosevelt years. Whatever his reasons, Franklin chose to reconcile with his wife and promise to stop seeing Mercer. [2] Though they were both from wealthy, well-connected families, Mercer's parents lost their fortune through the Financial Panic of 1893 and subsequent great recession/depression which curtailed their lavish spending. In this quiet domestic scene as the two had just been smiling at each other, Roosevelt suddenly placed his hand up on his forehead and temple, saying "I have a terrific headache," then slumped over losing consciousness. But this was FDRs first shot at national political office and he went at it with his trademark gusto. After two decades of cruising the Florida waters and sharing a Warm Springs cottage with FDR, sitting by his side as he sorted his stamps when she knew he needed silence, and arranging impromptu dinners and late-night poker games when she sensed hed like company, Missy, who was only 43, had suffered a stroke the night beforebrought on, some said, by her effort to keep up with FDR. He started the first unemployment program and fought a corruption scandal with the mayor of New York. Missy lived in the Governors Mansion with the Roosevelts, and was part of the family in every way. Now closed to the public as part of the enlarged White House security zone, the Square has witnessed many historic moments over the last two centuries. I naturally fell for him. The home is now a tourist attraction, Lifelong 'friend:' Lucy Mercer, pictured in the 1930s, stayed in FDR's life until his death in 1945, and she was with him when he took his last breaths, Box office: One of FDR's numerous rumored affairs will be revisited with the Dec. 7 release of 'Hyde Park on Hudson,' a film depicting his quasi-incestual affair with his distant cousin, Margaret 'Daisy' Suckley, Another affair? Both parents were dead by the time Eleanor was 10, leaving her and her brothers in the care of their strict grandmother. The next four years in Albany provided FDR with a powerful platform to re-establish his national profile. A new PBS documentary based on a book he wrote shows why. 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 princess called Roosevelt by the nickname 'Dear Godfather,' and friends said they were very flirtatious towards one another. The remained with her until her death, and in 2010 they finally arrived at the FDR Library as the Grace Tully Collection.