MISSY LEHAND AND FDR - EXACTLY WHAT WAS THE RELATIONSHIP?
MISSY LEHAND, FDR'S PRIVATE SECRETARY, BEGINNING ABOUT 1920, WAS FOR YEARS, PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S CLOSEST CONFIDANT. BUT SHE WAS FAR MORE THAN PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT'S SECRETARY. SHE WAS FDR'S BOON COMPANION, AND YES, A SORT OF SISTER/MOTHER SUBSTITUTE. OFTEN MISSY WOULD EAT ALONE WITH THE PRESIDENT RIGHT IN THE OVAL OFFICE OR HIS OTHER WHITE HOUSE OFFICE. THEY SEEMED SO SEAMLESS.
FDR ABOUT TO BEGIN A FIRESIDE CHAT
AND MISSY LEHAND WOULD PROVIDE THE, WITHOUT HESITATION, EGO BOOSTING THAT MOST PEOPLE FIND FULFILLING. AND MISSY OFFERED BLANKET APPROVAL OF FDR. HE SOMETIMES NEEDED JUST THAT. THE FIRST LADY, ELEANOR ROOSEVELT OFTEN DID NOT PROVIDE THAT. BESIDES THAT, THE FIRST LADY WAS OFTEN IN TRAVEL HERSELF AND LEFT THE PRESIDENT ALONE. THE FIRST LADY WAS ON HER ON VENTURE INTO HISTORY. SHE WAS TO BECOME, PERHAPS, THE GREATEST AMERICAN WOMAN OF THE ENTIRE 20TH CENTURY. AT THE TIME, FEW PEOPLE THOUGHT SUCH A THING WAS GOING TO BE. BUT GREATNESS HAPPENED.
F.D.R. AND MISSY LEHAND AT WORK-OVAL OFFICE
BUT BACK TO MISSY AND FDR. IF THE PRESIDENT TRAVELED TO HYDE PARK MISSY WAS ALONG. AND ALWAYS SHE WAS IN TRAVEL WHENEVER HE HEADED TO THE LITTLE WHITE HOUSE, AS HE CALLED IT, IN WARM SPRINGS, GEORGIA. THESE TRAVELS WERE OFTEN AND ALWAYS VIA THE TRAIN, DEPARTING FROM UNION STATION IN WAHINGTON, D.C. IN FACT, MISSY LEHAND BUILT HER ENITRE LIFE AROUND THE PRESIDENT. AND ALTHOUGH A HANDSOME WOMAN IN HER OWN RIGHT SHE NEVER MARRIED. HAVING SAID THIS, THERE WERE FEW ON THE WHITE HOUSE STAFF THAT EVER SUSPECTED AN AFFAIR WAS GOING ON AT ANY TIME. BUT LOVE? YES, F.D.R. AND MISSY DID LOVE EACH OTHER. NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. IS THERE?
HISTORIAN & COLLECTOR - RALEIGH DEGEER AMYX - 2010
FOR OTHER IMPORTANT HISTORICAL FACTS, AS SHARED BY RALEIGH DEGEER AMYX, IT MAY BE HELPFUL TO SEE: HTTP://AMERICANHERITAGE1.COM AND HTTP://BLOG.AMERICANHERITAGE1.COM/BLOG/
For additional historical facts that may be of interest see: www.AmericanHeritage1.com
Raleigh DeGeer Amyx is an American historian and collector. His full biography can be read on his Wikipedia page.