Lot 322

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FDR in 1940 to Norman Thomas: "the tendency of … dictatorships is to segregate us … [before] a final attack when they get ready to make it" Superb WWII Content

A 2pp typed letter signed by 32nd U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) as "Franklin D Roosevelt" on the second page at lower right. Both pages of the letter are displayed to the right of a portrait of Roosevelt and an engraved name plate. All are attractively matted and framed behind glass. Not examined out of the frame. Expected light folds to the letter and some gentle toning to the first page, else near fine. Some scuffs to the mahogany-finished frame. The sight size of each letter pages is 7.25" x 10." The overall framed size is 32.25" x 20.75" x 1.25." Accompanied by a JSA Letter of Authenticity #219778 dated March 23, 2020.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote this letter on "The White House / Washington" letterhead from Washington, D.C. on July 31, 1940. It was addressed to Norman Thomas (1884-1968), a Socialist Party member of national prominence and a leader of the Keep America Out of War Congress. Roosevelt and Thomas disagreed over the merits of American peacetime conscription at a time when the rest of the world had already been at war for nearly a year, and when the inevitability of American involvement looked more and more apparent. President Roosevelt considered preparedness the best course of action, while Thomas--a pacifist who had objected to both World Wars--considered conscription a step towards the totalitarianism the world was fighting against.

In this remarkable document dated 18 months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt not only anticipated American entry into the war, but also the form it might take. Consider his eerily prescient sentence found in the fourth paragraph: "Frankly, I am greatly fearful for the safety of this country over a period of years, because I think that the tendency of the present victorious dictatorships is to segregate us and surround us to such an extent that we will become vulnerable to a final attack when they get ready to make it." Towards the end of the letter, President Roosevelt promised passage of legislation that would become the Burke-Wadsworth Act, also known as the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940. This Act would mobilize the American war machine over a year before the official American entry into the war.

The entirety of this outstanding letter has been transcribed below.

"My dear Norman Thomas: -

Sometimes even you, like the best of us, get things a bit twisted!

In your letter of July twenty-fourth you tell me that until recently peace-time military service would have been a revolutionary change in the American way of life and that military conscription used to be the first essential of the totalitarian state.

That was, and in a sense still is, true: but I do not think it is quite fair for you to stop the argument there. It is like telling a half truth, because you fail entirely to mention things that have happened since totalitarian states have actually gone on the warpath and have been smashing up all their neighboring nations by virtue of the power of their war machines.

I think that knowing me you will want to withdraw the grossly unfair suggestion in your second paragraph, that I am in favor of some form of conscription because of the executive power which it gives to me personally. That is unworthy of you.

You and I may perhaps disagree as to the danger to the United States -- but we can at least give each other credit for the honesty that lies behind our opinions. Frankly, I am greatly fearful for the safety of this country over a period of years, because I think that the tendency of the present victorious dictatorships is to segregate us and surround us to such an extent that we will become vulnerable to a final attack when they get ready to make it.

I have taken no part in the details of any proposed legislation. I do believe that because of the lessons of this war it is necessary for every man to fit into the defense place for which he is best suited. Some will make food crops; some will work in normal peace-time industries; some will work in war time industries; some will work in transportation; some will work in the service of supply; some will work as mechanics to keep war machines going, and others will be a part of the combat forces.

The details are being discussed, and have been discussed, off and on since 1914. There is no unfair rushing of this legislation. You for one are having an excellent chance to have your say just like a lot of other people.

Time, in my judgment, does not permit of allowing an important part of national defense to go over into a debate, partisan or otherwise, which may last two years or four years or eight years or twelve years.

Incidentally, though you are a student and thinker, I cannot help feeling that my sources of information are just as good and probably better, for the reason that they come from so many places, than yours are.

With a sincerity and honesty equal to yours, I believe that we ought this Autumn to take some kind of action which will better prepare Americans by selection and training for national defense than we have ever done before.

Always sincerely,

[signed] Franklin D Roosevelt."

President Roosevelt was correct in predicting that "some kind of action" regarding conscription would be in place by "this Autumn." Just six weeks after writing this letter, on September 16, 1940, the Burke-Wadsworth Act, also known as the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, was passed with bipartisan support in Congress. Over the course of the Act's implementation and its expiration in 1947, the Act was responsible for registering an estimated 10,000,000 American men for military service. The Act mandated peacetime registration for a military draft for the first time in American history. In its earliest form, the Act registered American males between 21-36; the draft was determined by lottery and the initial term of active service was 12 months. (Over the course of the next year and well into 1942, these parameters would change.)

Norman Thomas was a Presbyterian minister who had run unsuccessfully on the Socialist Party ticket for a number of New York political offices in the 1920s. Thomas would run as Socialist Party presidential candidate in 1928, 1932, 1936, 1940, and 1944, four of the six times against Democratic Party darling FDR. Thomas also served on the General Staff and Governing Committee of the Keep America Out of War Congress (KAOWC), a coalition of pacifist and social justice-minded organizations. Active between 1938-1942, the KAOWC rallied around six key points, among them no conscription, no war, and no industrial mobilization. Thomas frequently wrote Roosevelt, voicing opposition against many policies. President Roosevelt responded "always sincerely" to his old political opponent's criticisms.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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