James Roosevelt

James Roosevelt married four times and fathered seven children. Betsey Maria Cushing, Romelle Theresa Schneider, Irene Owens, and Mary Winskill were his wives. Suffering from Parkinson’s disease, he died of stroke at 83.

James Roosevelt, the second child of six children born to Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), the 32nd president of the United States, and his wife Eleanor, received his early education from schools in Washington, D.C.

Like his father, he attended the Groton School, an elite boarding school in Massachusetts. There, he excelled in rowing and football, and became a prefect in his senior year. He graduated from Groton in 1926.

Following in his father’s footsteps, he attended Harvard University. He was also member of the Signet Society, Hasty Pudding Club, and the Fly Club. He passed out of Harvard University in 1930.

James Roosevelt began to study law at the Boston University School of Law, but gave it up when his co-owned insurance agency, Roosevelt & Sargent Inc., became successful, and he became its president.

He assisted his father at the Democratic National Convention in 1924. After passing out of Harvard, he led FDR’s Massachusetts primary campaign and acquired the reputation of being his deputy.

He became close to Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. who aided him in many controversial businesses including liquor importing, while he ensured Kennedy’s appointment as Ambassador to the U.K.

In the 1936 elections, in a controversial move, he received a direct commission to the Marine Corps. As a military aide, he escorted his father, the President, to the Inter-American Conference at Buenos Aires.

In 1937, he was officially appointed Secretary to the President, and coordinator for eighteen federal agencies. He resigned from his posts over allegations of misuse of official position to his insurance company’s advantage.

As a Congressman between 1955 and 1965, James Roosevelt denounced McCarthyism. Thousands of innocent Americans were accused of being communist sympathizers and subjected to forceful investigations by government agencies.

As a House of Representatives member, he called for the elimination of the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1960, as the committee could "embarrass our nation… and tarnish the good name of this House”.