Description:

Franklin D. Roosevelt
[Washington, D.C.], November 24, 1941
Franklin D. Roosevelt TLS on WH Stationery Re: Investments: "I am enough of a Dutchman to suggest that I leave this amount intact… [and] get a few additional dollars"
TLS

A 1p typed letter signed by sitting 32nd U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) as "Franklin D Roosevelt" at center. November 24, 1941. [Washington, D.C.] Typed in blue ink on mint-green watermarked bifold stationery with embossed "The White House / Washington" letterhead. Roosevelt has corrected a typographical error on line 10 by penning a "t." Hand-stamp docketed by the recipient's office at upper right. Expected wear including flattened transmittal folds, with some scuffs on the outer leaf. The inner pages and outer leaf are blank. Else near fine. 7" x 8.875."

President Roosevelt wrote this letter to Arthur J. Morris, President of the Fulton Trust Company of New York City, regarding the investment of unspecified funds and taxes related to an estate, almost certainly that belonging to his widowed mother Sara Delano. Sara had died two and a half months earlier, on September 7, 1941, at the age of 86.

Roosevelt wrote in part:

"Thanks for the pass-book. I am returning the signature cards herewith. I think it enough for the Trust Company to send statements to my account once every three months.

By the way, do you good people give interest on six month's [sic] time deposits? If so, I am enough of a Dutchman to suggest that I leave this amount intact on that basis and get a few additional dollars. I imagine the estate taxes will not be paid for about that length of time…"

In the letter, Roosevelt rather ironically cites his Dutch heritage as an explanation for his decision to continue investing. Roosevelt was of Dutch descent on his father's side: the family progenitor, Claes van Rosenvelt, had immigrated from the Dutch Republic to New Amsterdam sometime between the late 1630s and late 1640s. Roosevelt's maternal line was technically of Dutch extraction also, because the Delano patriarch Philippe de Lannoy immigrated from French-speaking Flanders, in what was then the Spanish Netherlands, in the early 1620s. In referencing his "Dutchness," Roosevelt must have been aware of all its connotations; slang expressions like "Dutch treat" or "going Dutch" had been in circulation since at least the 19th century. To Roosevelt, though, being of Dutch heritage manifested itself in a more positive way: it was prudent practicality, not abstemiousness.

The Fulton Trust Company had been established as a firm specializing in personal banking and trust management by a small group of bankers and businessmen in 1890. Since the 1920s, the fiduciary had more than quadrupled its original capital and surplus, ensuring that its investors received handsome dividends. Arthur J. Morris had served as President of the Fulton Trust Company since 1934, when he had succeeded Edmund P. Rogers, its President since 1925. The Rogers connection could explain Roosevelt's choice to invest his mother's estate with the Fulton Trust Company, for, Rogers had been FDR's childhood friend in Hyde Park.

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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  • Dimensions: 7" x 8.875"
  • Medium: TLS

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