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  Roosevelt, Jr., Franklin D.
CANDIDATE DETAILS
AffiliationDemocratic  
 
NameFranklin D. Roosevelt, Jr.
Address
New York, New York , United States
EmailNone
WebsiteNone
Born August 17, 1914
DiedAugust 17, 1988 (74 years)
ContributorNot in Public Domain
Last ModifedRBH
Aug 17, 2015 04:39am
Tags Navy - ACLU - Episcopalian - Straight -
InfoFranklin Delano Roosevelt, Jr, the fifth child of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt was a lawyer and a politician. As a politician he favored continuation of many of his parents' policies and worked to secure strong federal and state support for public housing, fair employment practices and civil rights.

Known in the family as "Brother" or "Brud," he and the Roosevelts' youngest son, John, spent considerable time with ER during their childhoods in part because she was a more relaxed parent and in part because of FDR's paralysis. At the same time, his interest in politics enabled Franklin Jr. to forge a close relationship with his father.

After graduating from Groton and Harvard, Franklin Jr. studied law at the University of Virginia. He then joined FDR's 1940 reelection campaign, coordinating youth activities for the Democratic National Committee and working with various Roosevelt college clubs. He also practiced law until he went into the navy in 1941.

When the war ended, Franklin Jr. practiced both law and politics. For the most part his political positions matched ER's and he encouraged her to accept Harry Truman's offer to appoint her to the United States delegation to the United Nations.

Franklin Jr.'s own political career was a combination of appointive and elective office. He was chairman of housing activities for the American Veterans Committee (1945-47), national vice-chairman of Americans for Democratic Action, and vice-chairman of the President's Civil Rights Commission (1949). Beginning in 1949, he also served three terms in Congress representing New York's Twentieth Congressional District. His loss of the 1954 New York gubernatorial nomination to Tammany-backed candidate Averell Harriman effectively torpedoed his elective political career and led to ER's involvement in a subsequent reform movement that resulted in the demise of Tammany and its boss, Carmine DeSapio. Franklin Jr. also lost two later bids for elective office, one for New York state attorney general in 1954 and another bid for governor on the Liberal ticket in 1966

In between those two campaigns, Franklin Jr. broke with ER over the presidential candidacy of John F. Kennedy in 1960. (Previously they had disagreed when he and his brothers, James and Elliott, had supported Dwight Eisenhower for the 1948 Democratic presidential nomination. Eisenhower later declared himself a Republican.) Despite ER's opposition, Franklin Jr. campaigned for Kennedy in the crucial West Virginia primary, which Kennedy won. After Kennedy's election he named Franklin Jr. under secretary of commerce, a position he held until 1965 when President Lyndon Johnson named him head of the Equal Opportunity Commission. He remained in that position until 1966.

As his political career waned, Franklin Jr. became increasingly involved in business, importing foreign cars and working in the banking industry. He also raised cattle on his farm in Dutchess County, New York.

After ER's death in 1962, he served as chairman of the executive committee of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute and as ER's literary executor. He also worked on the development of the Roosevelt Campobello International Park.

Franklin Jr. was married five times and had five children. He died of cancer in 1988.




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EVENTS
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NEWS
Date Category Headline Article Contributor

DISCUSSION
Importance? 6.50000 Average

FAMILY
Father Franklin D. Roosevelt 1882-1945
Grandmother Sara Delano Roosevelt 1854-1941
Great-Grandfather Warren Delano Jr. 1809-1898
Grand Aunt Katherine Delano Robbins 1860-1953
1st Cousin Once Removed Warren Delano Robbins 1885-1935
Grand Aunt Katherine Delano Collier 1860-1953
1st Cousin Once Removed Katharine P. St. George 1894-1983
Sister Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Dall Boettiger Halsted 1906-1975
Brother James Roosevelt 1907-1991
Nephew James Roosevelt, Jr. 1945-
Brother Franklin Roosevelt 1909-1909
Brother Elliott Roosevelt 1910-1990
Brother John Aspinwall Roosevelt 1916-1981
Mother Eleanor Roosevelt 1884-1962
Grandfather Elliott B. Roosevelt 1860-1894
Great-Grandfather Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. 1831-1878
Grand Aunt Corinna Roosevelt Robinson 1851-1933
1st Cousin Once Removed Theodore Douglas Robinson 1883-1934
1st Cousin Once Removed Corinne R. Alsop 1886-1971
2nd Cousin John Alsop 1915-2000
Grand Uncle Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt 1858-1919
1st Cousin Once Removed Alice Roosevelt Longworth 1884-1980
2nd Cousin Paulina Longworth 1925-1957
1st Cousin Once Removed Theodore Roosevelt Jr. 1887-1944
2nd Cousin Quentin Roosevelt II 1919-1948
1st Cousin Once Removed Kermit Roosevelt 1889-1943
2nd Cousin Kermit "Kim" Roosevelt, Jr. 1916-2000
2nd Cousin Belle Roosevelt Palfrey 1920-1985
1st Cousin Once Removed Ethel Carow Roosevelt Derby 1891-1977
2nd Cousin Sarah Gannett 1920-1999
1st Cousin Once Removed Archibald "Archie" Bulloch Roosevelt 1894-1981
1st Cousin Once Removed Quentin Roosevelt 1897-1918
Uncle Gracie Hall Roosevelt 1891-1941

INFORMATION LINKS
RACES
  11/08/1966 NY Governor Lost 8.41% (-36.20%)
  09/08/1966 NY Governor - L Convention Won 82.28% (+69.29%)
  05/26/1965 EEOC Chair Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  11/02/1954 NY Attorney General Lost 47.82% (-3.40%)
  09/21/1954 NY Governor - D Convention Lost 46.86% (-6.29%)
  11/04/1952 NY District 20 Won 60.22% (+23.39%)
  07/01/1952 US President - D Primaries Lost 0.00% (-64.55%)
  11/07/1950 NY District 20 Won 62.12% (+30.42%)
  05/17/1949 NY District 20 Special Won 50.68% (+20.45%)
  04/11/1949 NY District 20 - Special D Convention Lost 8.33% (-41.67%)
ENDORSEMENTS
New York City Mayor - Nov 04, 1969 D John V. Lindsay
US President - D Primaries - Jul 01, 1960 D John F. Kennedy