10Springwood
Hyde Park, New York, USA
October 1916
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt had been somewhat perturbed by the tenor of his cousin’s message. Although they were distant cousins, Franklin always affectionately called him “Uncle Teddy.” During the phone call that he had received several days before, the former president seemed very subdued and almost secretive in his request to come up to Hyde Park for a private meeting. He specifically requested that this be a private meeting between the two of them. Because Franklin’s family currently resided in Washington, that wouldn’t be a problem. Still, this mysterious behaviour seemed so unlike his perpetually exuberant cousin.
Theodore Roosevelt arrived at Springwood, the Hyde Park estate, exactly on time and Frankli
