Description:

FDR TLS on WH Stationery Speculating on Real Estate After the Great Depression

1p (6.75" x 9”) TLS on White House stationery, dated October 27, 1938. Letter written to the Honorable John Godfrey Saxe, a NY lawyer and State Senator, signed as "Franklin D. Roosevelt". The letter is boldly signed and has been mounted to a stiff backing.

In this letter, Roosevelt remarks to Saxe during the tail end of the great depression and during the great recession, "I shall be glad to have your suggestions on real estate conditions and while, as you say, these are exceedingly busy days, I should welcome any memorandum you might care to send me on this subject."

Franklin Roosevelt had been interested in housing issues as Governor of New York, and he brought his support for housing reforms to the federal level after becoming President in 1932. In his State of the Union Message of January 6, 1937, President Roosevelt spoke of the urgent need for the new Congress to address the housing situation:

“There are far-reaching problems still with us for which democracy must find solutions if it is to consider itself successful. For example, many millions of Americans still live in habitations which not only fail to provide the physical benefits of modern civilization but breed disease and impair the health of future generations. The menace exists not only in the slum areas of the very large cities, but in many smaller cities as well. It exists on tens of thousands of farms, in varying degrees, in every part of the country.”

To FDR, adequate housing was not just a need, but a right. Just a year before this letter was written, he signed the Wagner-Steagall Housing Act into law. The new law established the United States Housing Authority (USHA) which provided $500 million in loans for low-cost housing projects across the United States. The USHA would act as a loan granting agency to state and local housing authorities to build low-cost housing in both small and large urban areas.

During the time this letter was written, the American economy had begun to recover with personal income levels nearly reaching 1919 levels in aggregate, although employment did not regain the early 1937 level until the United States entered World War II in late 1941.

Even after the great depression, housing issues in the United States remained a focus for the President. In his January 11, 1944 State of the Union address, FDR declared a “second Bill of Rights” that included “the right of every family to a decent home.”

Coincidentally, Roosevelt is the author of one of the most famous real estate quotes of the 20th century. “Real estate cannot be lost or stolen, nor can it be carried away. Purchased with common sense, paid for in full, and managed with reasonable care, it is about the safest investment in the world.”

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) 32nd president of the United States, and the only president elected to the office four times. Roosevelt led the United States through two of the greatest crises of the 20th century: the Great Depression and World War II. In doing so, he greatly expanded the powers of the federal government through a series of programs and reforms known as the New Deal, and he served as the principal architect of the successful effort to rid the world of German National Socialism and Japanese militarism.

John Godfrey Saxe II (1877-1953) Manhattan lawyer and member of the New York State Senate. He was a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention representing New York's 16th congressional district in 1915, president of the New York State Bar Association and counsel of Columbia University.

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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