Elliott opened his eyes one final time, and looked at the world with a loving smile, no doubt noting the ‘Roosevelt weather’ being enjoyed by the bustling humanity outside the window of his Scottsdale home, long jet streaks visible across an azure sky. He gently squeezed Patricia’s hand before his own softened and his ultimate breath spilled quietly over his gaped bottom lip.
James Roosevelt died 10 months later.
Elliott Roosevelt was an enigma and there remains much ambiguity over his own legacy.
More critically, Americans and broader humanity are left wondering how it was that a political family that offered and gave so much allowed their influence and potential for leadership to somehow peter away. Was it that the political enemies of Franklin and Eleanor were so rabid that they would leave no stone unturned in ensuring that there would be no continuation of the Roosevelt political dynasty. Alternatively, perhaps growing up in the glare of the increasingly voyeuristic public eye created an ambivalence in their children that left them without the desire to endure the negative aspects of a public life to achieve for the greater good, especially if they considered that their Dad sacrificed his health and ultimately his life for the greater good when Elliott, at least, was disappointed that darker forces in American politics were able to subvert much of what FDR had worked and sacrificed for; an enduring global peace. Or was it that the egalitarianism that Franklin and Eleanor’s leadership fostered made the public more sceptical, continually cajoled by the media, which hindered their children in following in their footsteps, conditions that had either dissipated or were not applied to other politically dynastic American families that followed?
Then again, did the political dynasties that followed learn from the experiences of the Roosevelts knowing that they had to have a widespread and deeply embedded political network to protect them from political blowback even when it might have been valid?
Already understanding the significance of his Dad’s death to broad humanity within a year of WWII ending, in “As He Saw It” Elliott wrote:
“Now it must be obvious that no single individual, no matter how great a world leader, can by his existence or by his death influence world history for more than a few moments of eternity. But in this case, an individual’s death meant a consequent vacuum – for those few moments – in the force for progress, for moving forward, for making sure that the war was not fought, after all, just to preserve the status quo ante. And into the vacuum, the friends of progress being out to lunch, there stepped their opposites, the foes of progress, the proponents of the world that was, the advocates of reaction.”
It is time that we acknowledge that the ‘friends of progress’ never really came back from that lunch ‘four score years ago’ and the pendulum reached an extreme with only minor resistance.
If we are to progress, then we all need to lead towards it. And while we should all expect better of our elected leaders, we would be foolish to count on it.
Politicians will follow if we Reset our own behaviours!
It is far more important and rewarding to be of value to humanity than in a market….
Chapter 5 – “It’s Not Worth Going Through All Of This Crap If You’re Not Going To Enjoy The Ride” (Previous)
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