President Roosevelt Dies

            On April 12, 1945 President Roosevelt was relaxing at his cottage, sometimes called “Little White House”, at Warm Springs, Georgia.  As usual, there were several papers to sign; State Department nominations, citations for the Legion of Merit, and a bill to extend the life of the Commodity Credit Corp.  

            Elizabeth Shoumatoff, a portrait painter, arrived to make sketches of the president for a new portrait.  She was also greeted by Roosevelt’s cousins Laura Delano and Margaret Suckley.    At one point Suckley looked up and noticed that the president was slumped in his chair.  She heard him mummer, “ I have a terrific headache”, before he fainted.

            The president was carried into his bedroom by his valet, and was tended for until the doctors arrived.  His gray suit was removed and replaced by pajamas to make him more comfortable.  It was soon realized that the president had suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt passed away at 3:35 p.m.   He had occupied the Presidency longer than any other man in history, twelve years, one month and eight days. 

            His wife, Eleanor, was attending a benefit for children’s clinics in Washington, D. C.   She was called to return to the White House, where Press Secretary Stephen Early told her that the president had died. 

            “I am more sorry for the people of the country and the world,” Mrs. Roosevelt said, “than I am for us.”

            Vice-President Harry S. Truman was quickly sworn in to become the 32nd president of the United States.

            A special train bore Roosevelt’s body north to Washington.  Americans gathered along the route to pay their respects.  For many, this man who had steered the country through the Great Depression and World War II was more than a president, he was their friend as well.  The coffin was placed in the East Room at the White House, where Lincoln’s body had lain almost 80 years before. 

            On the day of his burial, the skies cried as the train traveled to Hyde Park, where Roosevelt was given a military funeral. 

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