President ial library museum. We are glad you braved the cold to come out and we are lucky enough to have cspan here with us tonight so after the presentation if you are going to ask questions please come to the microphone can record you. How many of your members here tonight . Wow what, thats fantastic. Im so happy you are here i cant tell you how much we appreciate your support. Because of you you make programs like this possible and i feel the community has come out tonight to hear what i think will be one of the most important programs we have this year. David woolner has been involved with the roosevelt institutes and the Roosevelt Library for 25 years and really has enormous insight and a depth of understanding about the roosevelt era that i think if you read the book it really comes through. Hes also been involved with Marist College for 20 years and now involved with bart and really has spent most of the last 25 years of his life dedicated to the Roosevelt Legacy and one of the interesting things about this life and history he has done and looking at these last 100 days is that he peels away a lot of the superficial analysis we read about the roosevelt and goes to some of the more important underlying structural issues that were being dealt with at the most critical point in world history. These three men, churchill, roosevelt and stalin were determining the future of the world and he brings insight into the process in a way and dont else has before, so please welcome. David woolner. [applause]. Picu, paul. Wonderful and reduction and thank you for your generous support. Very much appreciated. I would like to extend my thanks to cliff, the sort of tireless director Public Programs here and of course the entire archival staff. They have been very patient with me over the years as i come rushing into the Research Room asking for documents at the last minute and they are always very accommodating and there are many dear friends and colleagues here this evening that deserve my thanks. Richard aldus, chris prices, my colleagues and Marist College in the roosevelt institute, trustees of the fdr library, doctor murray and his successor, david yellen. Of the entire marist history department. My friends at the Center Pacific engagement bar college, so its wonderful to see all of you and i want to again express how enormously grateful i am to each of you for your support and encouragement in seeing this project through. Its not just nice to see Richard Grinnell here. Richard gave me some and vice and help about the opening quotation from shakespeare that i used to dedicate the book to my father, so you have a copy coming. Dont worry. Speaking of my father, the book is dedicated to him and he always had a joke for every occasion and i thought i better poll and out of the hat for this its a story of two men in a park that one had just become a father and hes pushing his stroller along in the park with his baby boy in their hes very proud and he meets a colleague who says this is wonderful, so you have a new baby. Let me have a look at him and he looks down and says what a handsome young chap he is. Who knows, someday he might crop to be president and the man looked at him and said whats wrong with roosevelt. [laughter] as all of you know, of course, fdrs first 100 days are justifiably famous. It was during that brief period of over three months that Franklin Roosevelt and Congress Passed no less than 15 major pieces of legislation, a record no president has come close to matching. Fdr began this. Machinations history by declaring at the opening of his first inaugural address, this is a day of national consecration, a time in which the American People might join together, not to embrace fear, but to banish it. In addition to the first 100 days perhaps the two most periods in his office include the secondary deal in 1935 when he brought social security, unemployment insurance, the right of workers to form unions and in the summer of 1940, when he made a critical decision to support Great Britain and its struggle against germany after the fall of france when the british had left to defend themselves with the inspiring rhetoric of Winston Churchill and the valiant courage of the pilots as they are off. Theres another peer not been fdrs president ial legacy thats crucial importance, not only from the perspective as of his political legacy, but because of what it can tell us that fdr the man and here im referring to his last 100 days. Like the early 1920s when fdr first had to learn to deal with the reality of his disability come the last 100 days of fdrs life are period of great vulnerability, a time in which a tired president began to speculate more and more about what life might be like outside of the oval office, a time in which this most private individual felt the urgent need to be near those who with whom he could truly be himself and not exhibit a is he sometimes referred to his public persona. Given the unprecedented nature of his tenure in office, its easy to its all too easy to succumb to the notion this activist president possessed unlimited confidence and energy. To fall into the view so ably projected by fdr himself that there was no challenge he could not meet and that this was a man incapable of selfdoubt or fatigue. After all, fdr is the only president to lead our nation through not one, but to great crises, the Great Depression and world war ii. Hes also our only wheelchair president. Although, the extent of his disability was largely concealed from public be of you. Hes the only president to hold two press conferences a week for virtually his entire tenure in Office Meeting by the time he died in april, 1945, he had held a stunning 998 meetings with the press. Yet for all this theres a good deal of mystery that surrounds franklin d roosevelt, like Winston Churchills off quoted phrase about russia the president in many respects remains quote a riddle wrapped in a mystery wrapped in on a name out. You really can find his innermost thoughts was family, friends and advisor, refused to take notes during meetings and insisted there was of his cabinet and other senior officials do the same. The outstanding biographer of roosevelts life Geoffrey Moore speculated fdrs reminiscence to show emotion reveal his inner feelings stems from a practice he and his mother adopted to deal with the weak heart of his father who was 54 years old when fdr was born. As his father became more and more of an implement mother and son conspired to always remain cheerful to avoid stress or public shows of emotion so as not to upset the delicate constitution of the aging james roosevelt. Fdr carried this effervescent tendency into adulthood with the result of the cheerful exuberance was often used either consciously or unconsciously as a mask to hide what he was really thinking or feeling. Emotional this has advantages with being president of the United States, but also has its disadvantages and can lead to a feeling of isolation and worse still, loneliness even for a person surrounded by a large family and dozens of assistance. Theres no question by the end of the 1943 the big man as Time Magazine called him was beginning to feel somewhat isolated and alone and by the end of 1944, the twin burdens of the presidency coupled with the sense of isolation had almost become too much. Fdr in short was exhausted and with this exhaustion came a narrowing of the sense of what was important both to him personally and to the nation and the world. Its is this fact that makes fdrs last 100 days of his life and presidency so instructive. Here we see a president and leader shorn of the usual distractions of office, a man whose sense of duty and responsibility for the fate of the American People and the world for heavily upon him. The man who despite his duty desire to return to his beloved home or retire to his beloved home on the hudson river chose instead to run for a fourth term in office so he might be able to finish the work he started 12 long years before. This brings us to the start of our story. Lets me note here that for the purposes of this discussion today and i use that word purposefully because im hoping there will be questions at the end and we can open it up for discussion, but for the purposes of this talk i plan to focus on the three main goals that fdr was desperate to try to hook, should the final months life. First, winning the war against the axis, second establishing United Nations and third, bringing about an end to american isolationism. It is fitting that this story in the story of fdrs last 100 days begins here on the grounds of his beloved estate in hyde park. As noted in the book, few president s are more rooted in a sense of place than Franklin Roosevelt. Knowing the beauty of the Hudson River Valley i think we can all understand why he returned to this place again and again seeking solace in the timeless quality of rural life in the sense of Community Among the many friends and neighbors who made up the small village he called home. Having won an unprecedented fourth term in office in november, 1944, fdr decided he liked to spend christmas at springwood, which for those of you that are unaware of the name of the family home located about a few hundred yards from where im standing. As you see from this slide, springwood is exceptionally beautiful in the winter blanketed under fresh layer of snow and my family will testify that im obsessed with winter. I happen to like it. This is a scene that would have greeted fdr as he arrived on Christmas Eve day nearly three quarters of a century ago. As we can well imagine the sense of peace and serenity that he would have felt as he gathered his family about him for the holidays. Com. On the other side of the atlantic things were quite different. There a surprise to german counteroffensive had thrown the allies back more than 60 miles on a broad front in the regions of belgium in northeastern france. The fighting that ensued in what became known as the battle of the bulge turned out to be some of the fiercest of the Second World War. Hitler sudden move came as a shock to the allies took only a few months before as the angloamerican armies swept across northerns france in august many hoped the war would be over my christmas, but then came the failure of the operation Market Garden in september, the socalled bridge too far end of this coupled with the tightening of german resistance as the allies near the german boarder followed by hitler sutton counteroffensive in december brought about the dire realization that the war in europe was far from over. As we can see here. German village, german assault on allies and sending reinforcements desperately to get to the region. Adding to the anxiety caused by these events was the growing concern among the American Public about soviet behavior in poland, but also british behavior in greece. We are all familiar with the charges leveled against Joseph Stalin concerning poland and other parts of Eastern Europe and less well known is that extent which the American Public was also upset about british intervention and behavior in greece. In the fall, 1944, after the nazis had left when it became clear the communist anti assistance by the way who were allies of the british during the war that the communist anti resistance increase my gain the upper hand. The british sent forces into the country to establish a conservative regime. There were protests. This is the scene on december 3, 1944, of a protest movement in athens which british soldiers fired upon killing some civilians. Their work rests and members of the climbing this party. So, the American Public was not just focused on poland and what might happen in Eastern Europe with respect to the russians, they were very concerned about the british behavior in Eastern Europe particularly greece as well. Then, equally unsettling at the time was this unexpected revelation that the Atlantic Charter was a document that was supposed to spell out the work aims of the United States, which included a clause about the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they would live had in fact it never been assigned by Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. Many people said it was just a press release. Heres a headline from the chicago tribune, late december 1944. American people fooled. A lot of concern and confusion about what does this mean, whats happening in the war . Are we going to go back to imperialism in this sort of behavior . Taken together all these factors combined to create this great deal of uncertainty about when the war in europe might end, that the behavior of the soviet and british allies, about the ability for Roosevelt Administration to secure the principles articulated in the atlantic charger charter was the war was over. One result of these anxieties is the sharp contrasts in congress that was when into office in 1933 when we had the 100 days with frantic activity versus the congress that was voted in and sworn in at the start of fdrs fourth term. They were sworn in january 3, 1945. This congress was at the opposite. There wasnt much activity with no push for legislation and in light of the many problems that seem to plague the allies, there was no push for new legislation in the congress. On the contrary, most members of the house and senate concluded it would be better to wait till they received the president s 1945 state of the Union Message before they set themselves to the task at hand and this is an important time. There was a general sense that the 79th Congress Convening at this moment might the quote one of the most fateful assemblies in the nation in the history of the nation as reported by the new york times, but again because they were unsettled and waiting for leadership they decided to hold back and wait for the president s message. Not knowing, of course, the man with whom most of the book to provide leadership during this critical period would fall victim to a massive cerebral hemorrhage exactly 100 days after the speakers gavel brought the congress into session and i should note by the way that the phrase 100 days is universally thought of as referring to the president ial term. It is not. It refers to the first 100 days of congress, so i can argue my book is accurate because it was really quite remarkable stunning to me when i learned it because the id. 100 days came to me before i realized it was exactly 100 days that he died. So, now i have tried to set the scene here. What i will do now is go on this Little Journey together. We will start by looking at fdrs 1945 state of the Union Message. Dont worry. Wont be boring. And i think so you understand that theres a lot of questions out there about whats going on with the allies, where we are heading about whats going to happen when will the war and and all kinds of other issues i could talk about with a manpower shortage. Its a difficult moments. Anticipating going to be with churchill and roosevelt to put things right so to speak and is so well aware of the unsettled nature of both the congress and the public, fdr would use his state of the Union Message in 1945 as kind of almost like a prologue to the address that comes in march. Key began by reminding people to listen to this line and think about going on and by reminding the American People that quote the nearer we come to think pushing our enemies the more we inevitably become conscious of the differences among the victors. He also argued that it was vitally important quote not to let those differences divide us and blind as to our more important common and continuing interest in winning the war and building the peace. Indeed, he went on in our dissolution after the last war, he said, we preferred International Anarchy to International Cooperation with nations that did not see and think exactly as we did. We gave up the hope of gradually achieving a better piece because we had not the courage to fulfill our responsibilities in admittedly imperfect world. We must not let that happen again or we shall have to follow the same tragic road again, the road to a third world war. Interesting phrase because i have written that phrase doesnt sometimes over the years and when i wrote it for this book actually thought to myself that this might be possible. It makes you think. As for the Atlantic Charter he admitted that the principles of the charter do not quote provides rules of the easy application to reach everyone of this wartorn tangled situation, but its a good and useful thing , essential thing to principles towards which we can aim. This notion of principle is important to roosevelt and we will talk more about that later, so he saw the Atlantic Charter is kind of a aspirational document which is important to realize. As to the recent criticism of the press about what was going on in greece poland fdr admitted he shared the publics concern, but again quoting we must not permit he said the many specific and immediate problems of adjustment connected with the liberation of europe to delay the