We have in part provided limited information on how the Roosevelt legacy was formed, you can see it here. Tuesday, October 4, 2011 More Roosevelt History!
On Thursday, October 6, 2011 in The Roosevelt Family Graft! We in part shined light on Roosevelt’s oldest son’s penchant for graft. That is available here.
There can be no doubt that Roosevelt was aware of what was happening. We are told that “Dudley Field Malone, Assistant Secretary of State under Wilson, called on Roosevelt to investigate his son’s insurance business.” And “The President’s answer was that he would do nothing to prevent his son earning a living.” (Page 239 – “The Roosevelt Myth”)
As we look further we find that the graft was not limited to Roosevelt’s oldest son. According to Mr. Flynn we find “…Elliott was quite the darkest.” Elliott, being the other son.
We find that one of President Roosevelt’s first “…acts in foreign affairs was to recognize Soviet Russia.” Then, “Three months later – February 28, 1934 – Elliott went into a deal with Anthony Fokker to sell the Soviet government 50 military planes for a price which would leave a commission of half a million dollars for Elliott and the same for Fokker, who told a Senate committee the price was excessive but that Elliott had enough influence with the Export-Import bank and the Russian Purchasing Commission in this country to swing the deal at this price. Elliott was only 23 at the time.” (page 241)
This was just the beginning. We are told that “The next year he moved into radio. A Texas business man owned five stations. He gave Elliott a job as vice-president at $30,000 a year. Elliott sold four of the stations to William Randolph Hearst. But Mr. Hearst was persona non grata with the New Deal, [President Roosevelt] and of course the Federal communications Commission was not going to allow him to get these stations. In May, 1936, Elliott Roosevelt arrived at the White House from Texas and promptly applied to the Federal Communications Commission to have these four stations transferred to Mr. Hearst. One commission member objected but the two Democratic members were for instant approval without a hearing. The objecting member didn’t like the idea of the President’s on appearing before the commission which his father had appointed. Then in a month or two the summer arrived and the objecting member left on this vacation. As soon as he was out of town and on only an hour’s notice the remaining two called a snap meeting and approved the transfer. A member of the President’s family called from the White House to urge the transfer ‘because it meant so much to Elliott.’ It did indeed. He got a large sum for each of the stations transferred and was engaged as vice-president of the operating company at a large salary.” (Page 242)
This is not all of Elliott Roosevelt’s graft by a long shot. We find that “The Chicago Tribune estimated that Elliott’s earnings from 1933 to 1944 inclusive amounted to $1,175,000 or roughly $100,000 a year and practically every dollar was made on the strength of his White House connection.” (Page 244)
According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census unemployment for that year was 16.8 percent.
When we ask how could this happen we have to look at the kind of man President Roosevelt was. Reasonable people who are properly informed may conclude he was a man with out morals, honor or convictions.
It should be remembered that during the 30s and 40s the southern states were solid democratic and the northeast were swing states. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” was mainly focused on staying in power.
Burton W. Folsom, Jr points out the following in his book “New Deal or Raw Deal”. (Page 87)
Mr. Folsom points out that “An example of this shift of WPA [Works Progress Administration] funds from poorer to richer states is in the wages paid from North to South. The WPA hourly pay scale for skilled workers ranged from 31 cents an hour in Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia to $2.25 an hour in New Jersey. New Jersey, unlike those southern states, was a swing state, and Mayor Frank Hague of Jersey City had been the key for Roosevelt narrowly carrying the state in 1932. As president, therefore, Roosevelt allowed all WPA jobs in New Jersey to be cleared through Hague. According to Lyle Dorsett, who has studied the Hague machine in detail, ‘Concrete evidence shows that from the outset of the New Deal, Frank Hague was in complete control of all patronage in the state.’ And Roosevelt poured patronage into New Jersey in the form of massive public works. (Hague owned a construction company), which included almost 100,000 WPA jobs annually during the 1930s and the highest rate of pay in the nation for these skilled jobs. One minor drawback to the high pay was that WPA workers in New Jersey had to ‘tithe’ 3 percent of their salaries to the Democrat Party at election time. One WPA director in New Jersey – a corrupt but candid man – answered his office phone, ‘Democratic headquarters!’”
When we look at this and consider that Roosevelt used the office to enrich himself in spite of his wealth we can began to understand the corruption and graft of his family.
If we look in “The Roosevelt Myth”, we find the story of his pilfering “dye proofs”, “stamps” and “imperforate sheets” etc. using “his Postmaster-General” Jim Farley for personnal gain. His stamp collection after his death “sold for $275,000.” You can see that here, on pages 274-275.
This is a far cry from what Roosevelt said “When he dismissed Sheriff Farley…” when he was Governor of New York State. His words at that time were “What of a public official who allows a member of his family to obtain favors or benefits through his political connections?” (Page 244)
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Have a nice day.
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