An Untold Story: The Roosevelts of Hyde Park by Elliott Roosevelt and James Brough (1973)

An Untold Story:  The Roosevelts of Hyde Park
by Elliott Roosevelt and James Brough
Publisher:  G. P. Putnam's Sons
Copyright:  1973
Book Club Edition

Since the passing of my parents, I have read a steady flow of appraisals of their lives.  Some of these books were conscientiously researched by able historians.  Other books have been written by haters or lovers of one or the other.  From all this writing I have experienced a feeling that a kind of cardboard, one-dimensional image was emerging that did not tell the full story of the development of these two human beings.

Both my parents evolved, through terrible, wrenching, soul-searching experiences, into very strong individuals, dedicated ideals that they thoroughly believed in.  They both influenced each other's lives, but one did not make the other.

Also, as is invariably true, neither one could have achieved the success that each did, without the strong outside aid of a few individuals.  Nowhere, not even in their own writings, does the vital role of Sara Delano Roosevelt or that of Louis McHenry Howe come through, with the impact it should, in the shaping of their careers.

My parents developed as two separate, distinct persons with entirely different ambitions and desires.  Their personalities differed widely.  One was warm, loving, outgoing, and generous to a fault.  The other tried desperately to be similar, but because of earlier influences, the expression of these qualities was much less evident.  They manifested themselves on occasion, but a wall of reserve made it difficult.

My parents were two of the most gallant, brave, lonely, and brilliant humans that came to the fore in this country.  But they were human; they had their faults; they made their mistakes; they bled just as you and I.

Some people may feel that I have revealed too much of the inner lives and complications that beset the paths of these two.  I feel that the truth is better told plainly than alluded to in veiled sentences.  After all, their actions helped make them strong and achieve their positions in history.

As their son, I am proud and grateful to be their offspring.  I have written this contribution to the saga of their lives, knowing that they would agree that history should know the true trials and tribulations to which they were submitted.  With that knowledge, I humbly hope that what I have written will help to mke people realize, in future years, that these two who lived as husband and wife, through forty storm-filled years, each to achieve immortality in the history of the human race were intensely human individuals.

Condition:  Used.  Hardcover.  Dust cover is discolored and shows shelf wear, creases and scuffing.  Pages are tanned from age.  Previous owner's "Library Of" stamp is on the front endpaper.  Binding is in differing stages of splitting badly throughout the book.

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