PRELUDE TO A TRULY INSPIRING STORY

BY STEFAN LONCE
If you read the 4 page MINIBOOK that follows, or listen to it read aloud, then I will tell you a truly inspiring story about Franklin Delano Roosevelt. You see, although FDR couldnt walk after he was paralyzed by polio, he could drive using hand controls he designed! FDR was a lawyer and a politician not an engineer yet he was ingenious enough to design hand controls that enabled him to drive without using his paralyzed feet. A blacksmith fabricated the hand controlsand they worked! I first explained how being able to drive, after he could no longer walk, empowered FDR and changed world history in my DRIVING WITH FDR 2012 COLLECTIBLE CALENDAR. The calendar features amazing black-and-white photographs, from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, of FDR driving his hand-controlled cars, or being driven in open cars. You can see a slideshow of these fascinating photos on my web site, www.DrivingWithFDR.com. I am now working on DRIVING WITH FDR, the book, which will begin on August 10, 1921, when FDR was paralyzed by polio. Struggling to overcome his physical paralysis forced FDR to be more patient, creative and empathetic. FDR learned from his mistakes, and from historys mistakes. While history never exactly repeats itself, if we dont learn from historys mistakes, then we are doomed to repeat them, asserts Dr. Christopher Breiseth, the former president of the Roosevelt Institute. We are now in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression; are we now repeating the same mistakes that FDR made? The New Deal did not end the Great Depression because FDR did not go far enough. America needed still more government spending, more government jobs, and a public health insurance system. But FDR had many opponents, and he was

Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library

nervous about deficit spending. The War finally did what FDR could not and would not, Roosevelt Institute fellow, former New York Times economics columnist and author (most recently) of Age of Greed, Jeffrey Madrick, explains. Government spending [on the War] brought about recovery [from the Depression because] it completed a necessary structural transformation, moving America from agriculture to manufacturing, Nobel Economics Prize-winner and Roosevelt Institute fellow Joseph Stiglitz wrote in the January 2012 issue of Vanity Fair magazine. To end the current Great Slump, Dr. Stiglitz wrote, the U.S. Government should spend more money, not less, but spend it wisely on education, infrastructure and technological innovation, to stimulate the economy to replace lost manufacturing jobs, just as FDRs War spending created manufacturing jobs to replace lost farming jobs. If he were alive today, what would FDR say we should do: spend more, or slash federal spending further? Read the MINIBOOK and decide for yourself. FDR was a master communicator who would have known how to explain this spending dilemma to us. FDR held two press conferences a week, and his press secretary, Steve Early, held a press conference everyday. Also, FDRs use of the radio to reach the public directly, and Early's media connections as a former reporter, got FDRs message out during the Depression and then served to bring the country together during the War, explains Linda Lotridge Levin, who chairs the University of Rhode Island Journalism Department and wrote The Making of FDR: The Story of Stephen T. Early, Americas First Modern Press Secretary. I invite you to print the pages that follow; use the 1 page Q+A 4 FDR form to respond, by mail, to this thought-provoker: If I could ask FDR one question, here is what I would ask, and what I think his answer would be. I will post the most compelling responses on my web site, and publish them, in 2012, in DRIVING WITH FDR, the book. I hope that you will print the 2 Happy 130th Birthday FDR posters I designed, which feature photos from the calendar, and join me in celebrating FDRs Birthday, on January 30, 2012, when you could read the MINIBOOK aloud it takes about 22 minutes, and its fun! and talk about FDR. It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something, FDR said on May 22, 1932. I agree. Do you?
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FDRS COURAGE AND INGENUITY INSPIRE US STILL

A
MINIBOOKTM BY

STEFAN LONCE

Ninety years ago, on August 10, 1921, a date which will live in world history, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was suddenly attacked by the polio virus. Polio paralyzed FDR from the waist down. From August 11, 1921, until he died on April 12, 1945, FDR could walk only if he wore cumbersome metal leg braces and held onto someones arm, while using a cane. I know a lot about FDR because I grew up in Buchanan, NY, a Hudson River town 35 miles south of Hyde Park, where FDR was born on January 30, 1882. I went on many school trips to the FDR Library & Winston Churchill meets FDR, aided in walking by his Museum in Hyde Park, which the 32nd President of the son, Elliott, at the Atlantic Conference. United States designed himself! Thats how I knew that FDR could drive, even after he was paralyzed by polio when he was in Campobello, New Brunswick. I had seen FDRs 1936 Ford convertible, with hand controls for the accelerator, brakes and clutch, at the FDR Library. The car also has a 1930s gadget that dispensed lit cigarettes, which FDR chain smoked, using a holder clenched jauntily between his teeth. However, it wasnt until I started working on a book about vanity license plates entitled LCNS2ROM LICENSE TO ROAM, that I learned FDR had vanity PL8S on his handcontrolled cars in Warm Springs, Georgia, where he founded a polio clinic. I also learned that FDR designed the hand controls! Being able to drive again, even though he couldnt walk, gave FDR hope, and confidence. For FDR, every day from August 10, 1921, until April 12, 1945, was a physical struggle.

Driving his own car was the ultimate freedom for FDR. Unable to get out of bed without assistance, driving was one of the few moving things he could accomplish by himself, and be completely independent, Lynn Bassanese, the Acting Director of the FDR Library, explains. Driving the specially equipped cars was liberating for FDR, says Dr. Christopher Breiseth, the former president of the Roosevelt Institute, which preserves the legacy and values of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Driving provided [FDR with] freedom, relaxation and mobility, and a welcome change of scene for an often harassed man otherwise reliant on a wheelchair, Geoff Ward wrote in Closest Companion. Driving, while simultaneously smoking, talking, and operating the hand controls, relaxed FDR, but it upset some of his passengers. Britains King George VI and Queen Elizabeth came to Hyde Park for the famous Hot Dog Picnic on June 11, 1939, and went DRIVING WITH FDR. There were several times when I thought we could go right off the road and tumble down the hills. It was frightening, but quite exhilarating, the Queen told Conrad Black, who wrote Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom. Everyone knew that war was coming. The Royals knew that, without Americas help, Britain could not defeat Nazi Germany. FDR sent the British the FDR drives the Royals in Hyde Park. weapons and supplies they needed because he understood the menace that Hitler posed to everyone. Because he spoke and read German fluently, FDR wasnt dependent on watered-down English translations that softened the hateful Nazi venom Hitler spewed. Hitler was contemptuous of FDR, whom he dismissed as a cripple. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill also understood, before almost anyone else, the menace that Hitler posed. Churchill became FDRs GR8 friend and WW2 ally. Of course, Churchill went DRIVING WITH FDR in Hyde Park. Churchill was impressed with Roosevelts driving but was a bit uneasy when the president would roar up to the grass verges of the precipices over the Hudson. The prime minister offered a silent prayer: I hoped, Churchill recalled, the mechanical devices and brakes would show no defects, Jon Meacham wrote in Franklin and Winston. Frances Perkins, whom FDR appointed as Secretary of Labor the first female Cabinet officer also went DRIVING WITH FDR. The President took great
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pleasure in taking a visitor around in his car. He loved the The Roosevelts found opportunity in adversity. Polio road to the [Hudson] river, down a steep embankment proved a blessing in disguise for FDR because it gave through beautiful woodland, Perkins wrote. him strength and courage he had not had before, ER said. Together, Perkins and Roosevelt masterminded the He needed that strength and courage when he was Social Security Act, the New Deals most important and inaugurated as President, on March 4, 1933. One-quarter enduring legislative legacy. I will be forever grateful to of the work force was unemployed. One-quarter of the Secretary Perkins and President Roosevelt, because the banks had failed. Social Security survivors benefits that my mother, my 5 Panicked Americans were withdrawing their money brothers, and I received after my fathers death made it from the banks because there was no deposit insurance. On August 14, 1935, FDR signed the Social Security Act into law. Frances Perkins is standing behind FDR. Many Americans lost their life savings. possible for my mother to preserve our family. FDR and his family his remarkable wife, Eleanor, their children Anna, The only thing we have to fear is fear itself, President Roosevelt James, FDR Jr., Elliott and John, and FDRs domineering but devoted mothfamously said in his first inaugural address. The er, Sara Delano Roosevelt loved driving and dining alfresco. The Roosevelts next day, FDR temporarily closed the banks. On would climb into FDRs Ford Phaeton, put the top down and drive around, March 9th, he signed the Emergency Banking Act, stopping to talk with people they met along the way, and to picnic. which authorized the U.S. Government to inspect Franklin and Eleanor, who were fifth cousins, were very different. FDR the banks books, permanently close the insolvent was secure and gregarious; ER was insecure and shy. FDR loved gossip and banks, and help the surviving banks reopen. small talk; ER was all business. FDR loved cocktails; ER abhorred liquor (her On March 12th, FDR broadcast his first father was an alcoholic). radio Fireside Chat, speaking conversationally as if FDR and ER were alike, in certain ways, however. They both were tall he were chatting with an old friend. I can assure Inauguration Day, March 4, 1933 (he was 6 2; she was 510); they both loved to dance, ride horses, swim, you that it is safer to keep your money in a and read. They both loved animals, especially FDRs dog, Fala. FDR was also reopened bank than under the mattress, he calmly told his listeners. It an avid angler, a phenomenal philatelist, and a superb sailor. worked! When the banks reopened, deposits exceeded withdrawals, because Neither FDR, nor ER, cared much about what they wore or what they Americans trusted President Roosevelt! ate. The Roosevelt White House cuisine was notoriously inedible; guests FDR gave only 31 Fireside Chats during his 12 years as President. learned to eat before they arrived. The conversation, however, was always Almost everyone listened to FDRs Fireside Chats; he made Americans feel scintillating. FDR was a GR8 story-teller and actor; he was confident once again, Chris Breiseth explains. The New Deal put Americans back to work. On April 5, 1933, FDR a talented mimic, who was naturally funny; FDR was created the Civilian Conservation Corps, which brought together two of fun! Roosevelts most deeply held values: work and conservation, wrote Jonathan Although they lived in an age of rampant racism, Alter in The Defining Moment. By July 1st, anti-Semitism, and sexism, FDR and ER were remarkably unprejudiced. They saw people for who they were, not almost 275,000 recently unemployed what they were. men were working for the CCC, planting No one can make you feel inferior without your trees and restoring the degraded American consent, ER said. environment. FDR at his Birthday Toga Party on Whoever seeks to set one religion against another January 30, 1934 flanked A huge public works program built seeks to destroy all religions, FDR, who was a profoundly by ER and daughter Anna. new highways, bridges, airports, parks, religious and spiritual Episcopalian, said. When a young reporter asked schools, and government buildings President Roosevelt what his philosophy was, he replied, Philosophy? I am (including 5 post offices FDR designed)! FDR visiting a Civilian Conservation Corps a Christian and a Democrat, thats all. camp on August 12, 1933. Continued On Next Page
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FDR persuaded Americans to hope again, but the Depression continued; prices and wages continued to drop. No one knew how to stop deflation, so FDR got Congress to pass the National Industrial Recovery Act, which tried to limit competition in business, and the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which paid farmers not to grow food or livestock. Both laws tried to raise prices and wages, but the Supreme Court ruled them unconstitutional (on May 27, 1935, and on January 6, 1936, respectively). FDR feared that the Court would invalidate other New Deal laws, especially the Social Security Act. On November 3, 1936, FDR was re-elected in a 46-state landslide. On February 5, 1937, he announced a plan to expand the Supreme Court by naming a new justice for every justice who was over 70.5 years old, up to 6 new justices. FDR disingenuously claimed that the 9 old men who were the Supreme Court justices couldnt keep up with their dockets. Had he paid more attention when he was a student at Columbia Law School, the President would have realized that his Court Packing Plan was unworkable. Conservative Democrats teamed up with Republicans to kill the Plan, creating an alliance that would defeat most new New Deal legislation. Then, on April 12, 1937, the Supreme Court upheld the National Labor Relations Act, which allowed workers to unionize. FDR withdrew his Plan. In 1938, President Roosevelt tried to purge recalcitrant Democratic Senators and Representatives. With one exception, however, the incumbents all won their primaries. Politically, FDR appeared weak; physically, he was frustrated, tired, and tense. To escape the tension in Washington, FDR would go to Warm Springs or Hyde Park, where he could drive. By the way, FDRs license PL8 on his 1936 Ford in Hyde Park says 3 (in NY, the Governors PL8 says 1 and the Lieutenant Governors PL8 says 2). When Hyde Park-ers, or the police, saw the dark blue Ford with that plate, they knew whose car it was. FDR wanted people to recognize him by his license PL8. The tension in the White House got much worse in 1939. Nazi Germany invaded Poland on September 1st, starting WW2. Most Americans virulently opposed getting involved. FDR believed, in direct contrast to the opinion of his military chiefsthat if the U.S. did everything in its power to help, the Allies would somehow survive untilAmerica could get itself intothe war, Doris

Kearns Goodwin wrote in No Ordinary Time, the definitive account of FDR and ER during WW2. Selling weapons to the British and the French also created jobs for Americans. From 1933 to 1936, the economy had grown. But FDR hated budget deficits, so, in early 1937, he cut spending, unwittingly precipitating the Roosevelt Recession. He had to reverse course and increase spending again. The New Deal left a lasting legislative legacy, including laws establishing the federal minimum wage, the 40 hour workweek, and unemployment insurance. Other laws created bank deposit insurance, and required accurate financial disclosures by issuers of stocks and bonds. President Roosevelt ended Prohibition, which made many people very happy, but made FDR (who loved Martinis) happier still: alcoholic beverage taxes are very lucrative for the federal and state governments. The New Deal didnt end the Depression, however; WW2 did. On November 5, 1940, FDR was re-elected to a 3rd term. On December 7, 1941, headlines screamed, JAPS BOMB HAWAII! FDR was distraught by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, but he stayed calm, as always. He radiated confidence the next day, when he told Congress, The American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. Roosevelt used simple words, concrete examples and everyday analogies to make his points, Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote. For example, on December 17, 1940 FDR announced Lend-Lease, the plan he had devised after England couldnt pay for the weapons and supplies we were sending, without which they would have lost the War. FDR told reporters, Suppose my neighbors home catches on fireIf he can take my garden hoseI may help to put out his fire. If it goes through the fire all right, intact, without any damage to it, he gives it back to me and thanks me very much for the use of it. Congress passed Lend-Lease! To win the War, America had to become the great arsenal of democracy, as FDR put it. Americans had to produce far more planes, ships, tanks, guns, etc. than our enemies did. That meant FDR had to make peace with the many American businessmen who loathed him and his New Deal, so they would make all the planes, ships, tanks, guns, etc. that we needed to win the War. Roosevelt never understood thebusiness community, nor could he make out why it didnt like him, Frances Perkins wrote. However, during WW2, FDR learned to work with businessmen they were almost all men, then to produce what the Allies the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Soviet Union needed to win the War.
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FDR was a masterful Commander-in-Chief who chose his generals wisely and didnt try to micromanage them. He appointed General George Marshall as Army Chief-of-Staff. He promoted General Dwight Eisenhower three times until, as Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, Eisenhower masterminded the D-Day Normandy Landings on June 6, 1944, which liberated Western Europe from Nazi tyranny. FDR & General Dwight D. Eisenhower FDR should have been far bolder in 1942 and 1943 after the U.S. government began learning about Hitlers death camps, Michael Beschloss wrote in The Conquerors. President Roosevelt should have admitted more Jewish refugees, but should he have bombed Auschwitz and the other Nazi death camps? Mainstream Jewish opinion was against the whole idea of bombing Auschwitz. The very thought of the Allied forces deliberately killing Jews to open the gates of Auschwitz so the survivors could run where? was abhorrent then as it is now, Ambassador William vanden Heuvel, the former chair of the Roosevelt Institute, wrote. FDR had said that the best way to save the Jews of Europe was to win the War. During WW2, FDR would escape from Washington and go to Warm Springs or Hyde Park, where he could relax and where he could drive. When Churchill went DRIVING WITH FDR at Hyde Park, they would decide what to do next about the war, which the PM thought was a very efficient way to hold a meeting. What hasnt been recognized until now, however, is how important being able to drive, after he could no longer walk, was to FDR, and to world history. Heres what I mean. If FDR had not been able to drive, then he would not have run for Governor of New York in 1928. FDR had not wanted to run that year; he was still working on his walking in Warm Springs. But the NY Democrats drafted him, so he ran. To dispel Republican attacks that he was a cripple, FDR campaigned vigorously; photographs of FDR driving helped prove his virility and helped him narrowly win the election. Being able to drive, using hand controls he designed, also gave FDR confidence that he could overcome his disability, which undoubtedly helped him decide to run in 1928. If FDR had not been elected Governor in 1928, he would not have been elected President in 1932, and he would not have been able to arm America and aid the Allies in 1940 and 1941. Hitler would have won the War. I wish I could tell you more about FDR and the Warbut Im running

out of space. Suffice it to say that FDRs courage and ingenuity inspire me. When I need to think creatively, I often ask myself, WHAT WOULD FDR DO? I agree with Chris Breiseth, who says, We live in a world that Franklin Roosevelt largely made. Chris is the editor, with Kirstin Downey, of A Promise to All Generations: Stories & Essays about Social Security & Frances Perkins, which includes my essay, Social Security Preserved My Family. FDRs vanity plates were a form of self-expression for him. You get a vanity plate to send a message, Chris explains. Chris Breiseth, proudly displays Like FDR, Chris is vanitized: his NY his vanity PL8 at the FDR Library. vanity PL8 says, FDR 1932. To make this calendar more fun, and to encourage you to study the photographs carefully, I hid a simplified image of Chriss PL8 in each photo. See how long it takes you to find it. People who see Chriss vanity PL8 often stop to chat with him about Social Security, or the New Deal, or the War, or Eleanor, or Fala. After all, Chris vanitized so that people who see his PL8 would stop to chat with him about FDR. FDR would have liked that.

Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library

FDR 1932

DRIVING WITH FDR 2012 COLLECTIBLE CALENDAR

AUTHOR AND DESIGNER: STEFAN J. LONCE EDITOR: MH FRYBURG
Visit my web site: www.DrivingWithFDR.com

Here are some GR8 places to visit and their websites:

FDR Presidential Library (Hyde Park, NY): www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu Roosevelt Institute (Hyde Park, NY): www.RooseveltInstitute.org Little White House (Warm Springs, GA): www.gastateparks.org/LittleWhiteHouse Roosevelt Campobello International Park (ME/NB): www.fdr.net Frances Perkins Center (Newcastle, ME): www.FrancesPerkinsCenter.org Eisenhower Presidential Library (Abilene, KS): www.eisenhower.archives.gov FIRST INTERNET EDITION 12-23-2011 2011 LCNS2ROM, INC. FOR PERSONAL/EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE.

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MH Fryburg

FROM: (Please Print) Name: Address: City: E-mail:

We will not disclose your contact information.

State:

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Dear Stefan, If I could ask FDR one question, here is what I would ask, and what I think his answer would be:

Q:

A:

Please fill out your address information above, as well as your question and answer to the left, put it in an envelope and...

Mail To: Stefan J. Lonce PO Box 1 Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520

Sincerely,

HAPPY 130 BIRTHDAY

TH

FDR
DESIGN BY STEFAN LONCE

JAN. 30, 2012

www.DrivingWithFDR.com

2011 LCNS2ROM, INC. FOR PERSONAL/EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE. Photo: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, Hyde Park, NY www.FDRLIBRARY.MARIST.edu

DRIVING WITH FDR 2012

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