Nov 6-Hyde Park, New York

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born in Hyde Park in 1882. Except for his years in the White House he lived here for most of his life. The tour includes the home where he was born and raised, and the presidential library that he had built (and used as an office) while he was President. Its a pretty good museum of the life of our only 4 term president--the depression and WWII. Here's an interesting, but not very important fact: Eleanor was orphaned at 10 years old, so her Uncle Teddy gave her away when she married FDR. Back at Hoover's library we read a lot about the depression--and the fact that Hoover was blamed for most of it, somewhat unjustly. Well, on the other end, FDR was responsible for ending the depression and leading the Allies to victory in WWII. If Hoover gets a bad rap in a quick gloss-over of the facts, Roosevelt gets lots of extra credit for his role in instilling confidence and getting the country moving again. "Happy days are here again...", Little Orphan Annie and all that! I was most intrigued by FDR and Eleanor. Together they were an amazing team, and after his death Eleanor was appointed to the new United Nations (by Truman) and, as advocate for the common man and woman's rights, made her one of the most beloved people of the time. No wonder Gran was so enamored with her. Gran had lots of Eleanor's books and used to tell me about Eleanor when I lived with her in the apartment. We went through the Val Kill cottage that she and FDR built away from the main houses of Hyde Park. Eleanor was supposed to live there after she retired--but she was an incredibly busy lady traveling the world.