Posted for President’s Day, Monday, February 19, 2018.
Photo via the Library of Congress.
This just isn’t fair.
He had lit the fires of American production. The generals were building the army. The man who and overcome polio and restored faith during the Depression believed he would win this war, too. Late one night after the true extent of the damage at Pearl Harbor had become clear, Sam Rosenman [an FDR advise and speechwriter] stopped by the White House following a presidential broadcast and discovered Roosevelt in his study with his stamp collection. “There was no excitement here now, no hectic atmosphere of false rumors; there was no fear---not even disquietude,” Rosenman recalled. Over ginger ale (for Rosenman) and beer (for FDR), the speechwriter was impressed by the President’s equanimity. “There was concern, yes, deep concern, but it was a calm concern. He was worried, deeply worried; but there was no trace of panic. His face was resolute, even grim. But it was confident and composed.”
---from "Franklin and Winston" by Jon Meacham.
That's my president.
Posted by: Falstaff | Wednesday, February 21, 2018 at 12:46 PM