Just Two Weeks After Declaring His Candidacy for the Presidency, Roosevelt Uses Naval Warfare to Analogize The Fire His Campaign Has Drawn From All Sides

He compares the qualities of a good editor and publisher to those necessary for a naval commander: “A determination to run the show”

In 1930, FDR was elected to a second term as New York governor by a margin of more than 700,000 votes. The nation was then in the shadow of the Great Depression, and by 1931 Roosevelt was taking significant, innovative measures to try and combat it in New York. This not only increased his popularity in his own state but earned him national attention. His strong base in the then-most populous state made him an obvious candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, but Roosevelt was coy and denied being one all through 1931. Then, with the North Dakota primary looming immediate ahead, he decided that the time was right. On January 22, 1932, he announced his candidacy for President.

FDR’s was an outsider’s candidacy.  Al Smith loyalists controlled a lot of the national party apparatus, and the party’s last three presidential candidates – James Cox of Ohio, the Wall Street lawyer John W. Davis and Al Smith – in addition to House Speaker John Garner and Senate minority leader Joe Robinson, were on record supporting the stand-aside economic policies of the Hoover administration.  Roosevelt’s strength was his advocacy of doing something about the Depression, and he predicted that his message would triumph and that the Democratic Party voters would back him when the time came.

From the moment of his entry, the monied and established interests saw the threat that an FDR candidacy would mean to the status quo.  These interests were both Republican and Democrat; FDR was attacked by the supporters of President Hoover and Al Smith alike, though he felt particularly mistreated by a right-leaning press.

Commander George C. Sweet was a U.S. Navy officer significant in promoting the early use of aircraft by the Navy. In September 1908, then-Lieutenant Sweet, serving as a Naval observer, reported favorably on the Wright Brothers airplane demonstration at Fort Meyer, near Washington, D.C. In 1909 Sweet was taken up with the Wright Brothers first Army flyer, becoming the first Navy officer to travel in an airplane. Sweet was then assigned to the Navy’s school for airplane instruction, and was thereafter a Navy engineer in Washington, specializing in steam engines. In early 1919 Sweet was named assistant to the Naval Attache at the American embassy in Paris, a particularly plum posting as the peace conference to end World War I was being carried on in Versailles.

He and Roosevelt met back then and became personal and political confidants.

Roosevelt was a careful man, aware that his statements must be made guardedly to avoid giving aid and opportunity to his political enemies. His public correspondence was generally drafted by aides, and was measured, serious, deliberate and discreet. However, the private FDR was outgoing, humorous and frank, the life of the party, and when he corresponded with those he could trust, this side could show through. Sweet was such a man.  We recently obtained this letter directly from the Sweet descendants.

Typed letter signed, to Commander Sweet, on his gubernatorial letterhead, February 18, 1932, saying he is relishing being in action despite the attacks on him, and giving his opinion on the standards necessary for a good editor and publisher, using an analogy to the naval military structure that both he and Sweet would appreciate. He chooses to emphasize independence and common sense, qualities he appreciated.

“Dear George: Many thanks for that might nice note.  Perhaps you are right about a newspaper man but the real essentials are: a) Common sense; b) A determination to run the show instead of letting it be run by the Chief of Operations or the Chief of the Bureau of Navigation; and c) A fine sense of publicity.

“As you may guess, I am having a perfectly good time because I am in action, with hostile destroyers firing aft and amid-ships. Always sincerely, FDR.”

In March, the campaign would formally commence with the primary seasons.  In July, FDR would receive the nomination in a close battle.

This historic letter appears to be unpublished, as we can find no mention of it. It remained in the hands of the Sweet descendants until now, and has never before been offered for sale.