You might not be old enough to remember the Addams Family, but surely you remember “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter is Dead.” Ha, so what does one have to do with the other? Jackie Coogan, born Jackie Leslie Coogan in 1914 and most famous as the kid who sued his parents, is the grandfather of one Keith Coogan, who played Christina Applegate’s little brother in the dead babysitter movie. Jackie Coogan’s brother Robert was also a child actor. No mention of him suing the parents; however, Robert’s career was not as fantastic as his brothers and probably did not entitle him to the $4-million that was stolen from Jackie.

Jackie Coogan was married to Betty Grable in 1937, but they divorced two years later. Contrary to the image, those of us remembering the Addams Family have of Mr. Coogan. He was quite the looker in the 20s and 30s. One might even label him a “catch.” It wouldn’t do to go so-far as to refer to him as sexy, but attractive he was, and they made a very handsome couple in the photos of him with Betty Grable. That’s the other thing one finds interesting while looking at biographies on Mr. Coogan’s life. He and Ms. Grable were in a photo spread of Life magazine in 1938. Whether it was time or Life, a great toll was taken on Mr. Coogan’s Life.

The photo expose accompanied a short bit on the Coogan’s law story. They explain that the stepfather was very blasé when telling the court that what a child earned belonged to the parents. Apparently, the court saw it from another angle, and things were settled, but the stepfather ran Cinderella’s mother a close race for the Scummy Stepparent award. The stepfather was one Arthur Bernstein, and the short text did not go into details about the mother or what happened to Jackie’s birth father. At present, there is no biography or auto-biography of Mr. Coogan’s life in our home, but that will be rectified with a search and a purchase within the week.

Other people of note in the 1938 edition of Life—it’s fascinating—were David Wark Griffith (D.W. Griffith of silent movie fame) and F. D. Roosevelt, president of the United States at the time of the magazine’s issue. While D. W. donated his films Orphans of the Storm, Harts of the World, and Broken Blossoms, to the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Roosevelt was eliciting a cool $5,000,000,000 from the taxpayers. His 12th Fireside Chat costs the radio industry $12,000 in lost ad revenues and his vice president, Garner, viewed the “pump-Priming” initiative as foolish.

And yet other notables such as the Sultan of Muscat and Oman, the King of England and his daughters with mention of their new swimming pool, and a scoundrel named Richard Whitney—5 time president of the New York Stock Exchange—was photographed as he entered Sing Sing to serve out his 10-year term for grand larceny. Not to worry, the Life issue also has photos of William McChesney Martin, Jr. of St. Louis, who was nominated to head the Board of Governors of the New York Stock Exchange. He was 31-years-old and a member of Yale in 1928.  The 1938 April issue of Life magazine will grab your attention, and you will want to read and view the photos from cover to cover. It’s fascinating, informative, and a walk through the “Great Generations” shoes.

Presidents of the USA in Their Younger Days

All of the American presidents at their young age

2.William Jennings Bryan ( 1860 – 1925 ): This American lawyer and politician was trounced at the 1896,1900 and 1908 Presidential elections and later became a Secretary of State in the government of Woodrow Wilson( 1913 – 15.) He was a brilliant orator, social reformer and an international advocate of peace. He was the prosecutor of the famous Dayton ( Ohio ) trial of 1925.

3.Franklin Delano Roosevelt ( 1882 – 1945 ):In 1920, he was unsuccessful in his bid to become America’s Vice President. The following year, he was stricken with infantille paralysis (polio) but was lucky to recover and re-enter public life becoming the Governor of New York in 1929. He was the first American to serve as US President for more than two terms.

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When he went into the political career, he first began to run as New York’s Assemblyman, the lowest political position anyone could possibly obtain. However, in the middle of his campaign, he was asked to halt his running, as so that he can run for Senator of the Three Counties of New York. He succeeded in his campaign, which by this time, was in 1914. Although he lost the race for State Senator, he rebounded by becoming the Assistant Secretary of the Navy. He worked with the head secretary, Daniels. He earned this position after Democratic President, Woodrow Wilson, was elected. Ironically, FDR’s position in Washington was the same exact position his cousin, Theodore Roosevelt, held before becoming President. FDR also ran for Senator of New York again so that he can retain his Democratic upper arm in New York, he lost the election to a Republican, but he also lost more than that. 

Later on in his career, he woke up and as he stood up out of his bed, his left leg buckled in, causing him to fall. He ignored this, and about two weeks later, he was paralyzed from the neck down. He was diagnosed with polio because he caught it while at a Boy Scouts Club during his campaign for Senator. He was treated, and as time progressed, he earned his upper body again. The only thing he couldn’t move was anything from the knees down. He worked his balance and strength so that he can continue running for positions in politics, without being noticed that he used wheelchairs and crutches. 

Then in 1928, he ran for Governor of New York. He won the election by a landslide, the people felt they knew everything about him, except the fact that he never fully recovered from his polio. In 1930, he ran to be re-elected as Governor. In the process, he was almost thrown off his seat, because the Republicans knew that his re-elections meant his nomination for Presidency in 1932. He won. However, the Depression struck at this time. Millions of people were unemployed and hundreds of businesses were bankrupt. The government didn’t see the Depression as a lasting threat to the economy, everyone except FDR.

FDR set up the first unemployed insurance in American history. He was the only state that was mildly affected by the economic crisis. In 1932, he was asked to run for his nomination. He won the election for nomination by a landslide, but only after a few hours of being deadlocked with the other candidates. He even came to win the Presidential Elections by a landslide. 

During his first term as President, he put the economy’s head on straight by making a New Deal plan that would reform the country. In literally 100 days, FDR managed to fix the economy, making most of the banks in America re-open. Afterwards, he made several government organizations that would employ most of the people that lost their jobs during the Depression. Out of 4 million unemployed Americans, more than 2 million were given jobs at the PWA or WPA. His first term was a complete success and he was easily re-elected in 1936 for a second term. During this term. FDR made 3 big mistakes that nearly ruined his re-election. 1. He secretly tried to make a Court Bill which would lessen the power of the Court. 2. He cut back on federal spending, ironically right before another economic crisis hit. 3. He intervened with House elections by making speeches on who he would want to win. Afterwards, when hope seemed lost, Hitler rose to power and captured Austria for Germany. Despite the possibility of war, all the countries ignored Germany’s conquest. When Germany declared war on Poland, the wheels finally started to turn.  

FDR, in the meantime, was making plans to defend America in case of Japanese and German attacks. He ordered a massive order of enlistments and 10,000 warplanes. He also brought in Jewish refugees and kept them there for as long as desired. Also, as an extra note, no one knows really why Germany killed Jews. Germany did this because a Jewish man decided to make a statement about Germany’s invasion of Austria by assassinating one of their prime ministers. Germany, in response, captured, looted, and killed Jewish places and people and robbed them of $400 million in order to repay the assassination.

FDR, in 1940, was re-elected again for a third term. He refused to take the post at first, but he accepted when the war in Europe erupted. He won by a close count and was President of the United States of America for another 4 years, again.

At America, Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japanese dive bombers and sky bombers. They attacked on December 7, 1941 and by surprise too, which was a famous military strategy made by them. They killed thousands of off guard American soldiers and the battleship, Arizona, was sunk with many of people on board whom all died. When reports got in to Washington that the Japs attacked at about 7 AM, FDR was at first relieved that the Americans were entering the war due to force, but, as the kill list expanded, he grew angry. He made a comment about the Air Force, which was the largest in the world: “They bombed our planes on the ground!” FDR shouted, “On the God damn ground!” He declared war that day to Congress, which agreed to war 388-1. The Japanese were easily silenced when a large portion of their navy was destroyed at the Battle of Middle Land. Capturing the position meant crippling either Army, and the Americans came out on top. The Japanese would never invade America again, but would still try to conquer Asia.

Afterwards, American troops landed in North Africa to commence Operation OVERLORD. This plan was to attack the soft spots of the German Empire by invading Italy and Normany. FDR, Churchill, and the Russian Ruler were known as the Big Three. Anyhow, they invaded Italy successfully, but Germany managed to easily regain it. Normany was the last option. A Cross-Channel attack was necessary. 

FDR’s fourth term was coming up, this time he wanted it in order to prepare OVERLORD properly. He won easily, but a year later he began to lose his heart. He worked so much that his heart enlarged and he needed a lot of rest. He did so, but he was always low on energy. On April 12, 1945, FDR died. His last words was: “I have a terrible pain in my head.” Vice President Truman took his place, and America landed in Normany for D-Day. Later on, the Americans and British successfully ended the reign of Germany, and then Russia and America stopped Japanese expansion.

FDR was a man that never let anything stop him. There was “nothing to fear but fear itself.” His most significant and patriotic gesture to America was when he wanted to make a statement that fighting the impossible German Army was possible. Before the conference, he stood up, without a crutch, without help, by himself with his polio and said, “Don’t tell me it can’t be done!” “He lifted himself from his wheelchair, to lift his nation from it’s knees.”

This is the conclusion to the tribute to the well-known FDR. It was the way he did it, it was the way America did it, and nothing can bring this nation down into a wheelchair or crutch and make us think other wise. God Bless America!

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Eleanor felt inferior to Lucy who was pretty and vivacious. Eleanor had buck teeth, no chin to speak of, and slumped over. Lucy had perfect posture and a soft mellow voice while Eleanor’s keened. Eleanor felt that she could not compete with Lucy. After she found the affair had commenced again Eleanor couldn’t eat and vomited when she did. The acids brought up damaged her gums and loosened her teeth which caused them to protrude even further.

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Historian Joseph E. Perisco writes that he can document with letters written to Lucy by FDR between 1925 and 1928 how early FDR broke his promise to Eleanor. He says,”the contact between FDR and Lucy was almost unbroken for decades. Lucy was with him at Warm Springs when FDR was stricken with polio. She visited him many, many times at the White House under the name of “Mrs. Paul Johnson” FDR arranged accidental meetings while driving through the country side as he often did. And she was almost always with him at the Little White House in Warm Springs Georgia.

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While Eleanor is often portrayed as a pitiful rejected figure of a woman she overcame her shyness and went confidently to speak of discrimination, racial injustice, and for those unfortunate voices who could not speak for themselves. She became a powerful voice for all the world’s rejected and dispossessed. Perisco writes,”Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s dilemma was essentially that he was married not simply to a wife, but a stateswoman-she might be a scold, and a nag, but he could never shut her out completely because he knew she brought him back to his true bearings. But a woman so furiously rushing about to right the world’s wrongs, who would shout a warning , and opinion, a criticism over her shoulder while rushing from the White House to storm the next barricade, could not provide the solace FDR hungered for.”

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The interesting thing is that in spite of all the conflict and Lucy Mercer, FDR and Eleanor had a stable marriage and were true friends. He asked her opinion and she freely gave it. They believed in each other. It’s hard not to feel sorry for Eleanor but she grew from the experience and her spirit became strong enough to overcome her shyness and rejection. Historian Doris Goodwin said,” I have often thought ,”Thank God for Lucy Mercer because it freed Eleanor and allowed her to find who she was.”

http://www.socyberty.com/People/Charles-and-Emma-Darwin-The-Marriage-of-Science-and-Religion.554789

January 1, 1945, it was thought of as just a typical Monday, beginning a new year. Unaware, the citizens of the world were in for an eventful 365 days. The year of 1945 was not just any ordinary year. Whether it was Liberation of Auchwitz by Soviet Forces, the dropping of the Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki or something as simple as the Detroit Tigers beating the Chicago Cubs in the World Series, things happened in 1945. It’s that simple. In my opinion the most impacting event in 1945 would be Truman approving to drop the atomic bombs on Japan. I think that this event really changed the way other countries viewed the United States in the past and present.

Serving four terms in office, which is still exclusive to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, FDR served a very efficient presidency and unfortunately it had come to an end, due to death. FDR is responsible for helping our nation overcome some of its toughest struggles. By creating the “New Deal” our country was able to prevail through the Great Depression and establish the United Nations, which still keeps our nations intact today. Having some big shoes to fill, it was now time for someone to replace Roosevelt.

The thirty-third presidency had now taken effect. Native to Lamar, Missouri, Harry S. Truman confidently took over FDR’s presidency. Truman was well aware of the role he was about to assume. The Americans having no idea what to expect, had some changes on the way.

Truman began his presidency with the conclusion of World War II, which had ended smoothly and to according to plan. Now that the war was in the past, it was now time to better the country for the future. He knew what the country would need to better itself and planned to take every step possible. Truman titled his first year of presidency the “Year of Decisions”.

“The Buck Stops Here”, the quote that was printed on a wooden sign that sat on Truman’s desk in the White House. This saying has a very important meaning, especially to a president or person of high authority. This quote means that a decision must be made at this point and it cannot be passed on to anyone else. Truman had a great attitude towards his job and wasn’t afraid of making decisions, bettering the United States was Truman’s goal.

Harry S. Truman proved that he wasn’t afraid to make challenging decisions throughout his presidency but especially on the 6^th and 9^th days of August 1945. With Truman’s approval, The United States dropped two atomic bombs, one named “Little Boy” and the other “Fat Man” on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There were many reasons for this attack on Japan, but the main goal of the United States was to end the Pacific War. The Pacific War had ended which also resulted in the official ending of World War II.

Making the choice to drop the atomic bombs on Japan was a great decision in my opinion. I think doing this changed the enemies’ viewpoints of our country. Truman proved that we were serious and that our capabilities were threatening. This instilled a fear of the Red, White and Blue. Many allies were gained due to this fear, which strengthened our country for the present and future.