Lot 218

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Description:

FDR Long and Interesting Early Letter, Ex-Forbes


FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, Typed Letter Signed, to Clayton L. Wheeler, February 2, 1915, Washington, D.C. 2 pp., 7? x 9.25?, on “THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE NAVY. / WASHINGTON.” stationery. Expected folds; bold, dark signature; very good.


Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt writes to his former fellow state senator about federal patronage in Delaware County, New York, and how it might benefit him politically. It is a remarkably frank letter about the power of local patronage jobs to create political obligations among supporters.



Excerpts
“Here is a fine young job for an energetic young man. The enclosed sheet gives a list of offices in Delaware County which pay less than $180 a year and are, therefore, not under the civil service. The procedure in these cases is to post a notice in the post office asking applicants to write to the Department. Then an inspector is sent out who looks over the applicants and recommends who he thinks is the best one to be appointed. This procedure has been carried out in all these offices and these people are the only applicants.”

“You will notice in the case of Fraser, the inspector made a report that the only applicant was not as efficient as could be desired, and perhaps some one more efficient can be found there to apply. Politically, something may be done with these offices by either speaking yourself or having your local committeeman tell these people that you are pushing the matter with the Post Office Department to get their applications through, thus putting them under some slight obligations, which may later turn out to your advantage.”

“This letter is, of course, strictly confidential, and the information in regard to Fraser is also confidential.”

Historical Background
While serving in the New York State Senate in 1911 and 1912, Franklin D. Roosevelt supported the presidential aspirations of Woodrow Wilson in 1912. In return, Wilson appointed Roosevelt as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in March 1913. Roosevelt held the position until the Democratic Party nominated him as its vice-presidential candidate in 1920, when he resigned.

During his tenure as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Roosevelt sought the seat of retiring U.S. Senator Elihu Root of New York in 1914, but he lost in the Democratic primary to a Tammany-backed candidate, who in turn lost the general election to the Republican candidate The campaign taught Roosevelt a valuable political lesson—federal patronage alone, without support from the White House, could not defeat a strong local organization. Roosevelt thereafter sough an accommodation with the Tammany Hall machine.


Clayton L. Wheeler (1876-1950) was born in Delaware County, New York, and became a partner in his father’s wholesale hardware and plumbing business. He served in the New York State Assembly in 1911 and 1912 and in the New York State Senate in 1913 and 1914. While in the State Senate, he worked with Senator Franklin D. Roosevelt to oppose the Democrats of the Tammany Hall political machine in New York City. In 1915, President Woodrow Wilson appointed Wheeler as U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of New York, a position he held until resigning in 1921.

Ex. The Forbes Collection. Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990), American owner-publisher of Forbes magazine, and consummate collector, amassed one of the most substantial and broad collections of such breadth and depth that it filled a half-dozen residences, and sat on three continents. Many of his manuscripts were sold in multi-million dollar sales by Christie's in the early 2000s. The Forbes name is considered to be the apex of provenance when attached to an item like the one above. We are honored to have been chosen by the family to sell at auction the substantial balance of the collection.


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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June 24, 2020 10:30 AM EDT
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