Closest Companion: The Unknown Story of the Intimate Friendship Between Franklin Roosevelt and Margaret Suckley [Hardcover]

Geoffrey C. Ward (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 12, 1995

Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt's marriage was famously difficult, and it is widely known that FDR enjoyed the company of women. But this remarkable book reveals a secret that has been carefully guarded for more than half a century: Roosevelt's closest companion during the last years of his life was his sixth cousin Margaret "Daisy" Suckley. FDR became friendly with Daisy in the 1920s and invited her to his first inauguration in 1933. The friendship deepened; then, on a September afternoon in 1935, their feelings for each other intensified dramatically. From that day until FDR's death in 1945, Daisy and the president were intimate companions. But the secret of this passionate relationship remained hidden until after Daisy's death in 1991, when her family found a battered suitcase under her bed. Stuffed inside were years of diaries and letters, including thirty-eight letters in FDR's own hand that no one had ever seen. Now Geoffrey Ward, the eminent historian and biographer, has woven th

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Margaret ("Daisy") Suckley, Franklin D. Roosevelt's distant cousin and the archivist at his Hyde Park, N.Y., library, was a frequent companion of the president at the White House, yet until now the depth of their warm friendship was not realized. When she died at 99 in 1991, friends found under her bed a suitcase stuffed with thousands of pages of her diaries, and letters to and from FDR, dating from 1933 until his death in 1945. Skillfully distilled and woven together by acclaimed Roosevelt biographer Ward, these writings detail her adoration and love of FDR and his great affection toward her in the course of a relationship that for a time spilled over into giddy flirtation. Included are 38 never-before-seen letters from Roosevelt to Suckley that provide an invaluable portait of FDR in his off-hours. A measure of the extraordinary trust he placed in Suckley is that he confided to her details of his secret meeting with Churchill off Canada's coast in August 1941 and of the impending D-Day invasion, as well as his frustrations with his job and his plans for the postwar world. Photos.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Margaret Lynch Suckley, or "Daisy" as she was fondly called by Franklin Roosevelt, was the president's closest companion during his final years. Shortly after her death at age 100 in 1991, friends discovered her secret diary, many letters she wrote to FDR, and the 38 letters he wrote to her. Suckley's papers, skillfully edited by Roosevelt biographer Ward, reveal a mutual relationship of love, trust, and discretion, unlikely to be found in today's kiss-and-tell memoirs. As a confidante and probable lover, Daisy was unconditionally trusted by Roosevelt. He even informed her of the plans for the D-Day invasion. However, much of Daisy's diaries and letters to and from FDR deal with less pressing concerns?descriptions of seasonal changes, parties, FDR's cruises, and the antics of the Scottish terrier Fala, a gift from Daisy. These entries are repetitive and often tedious. More fascinating are the anecdotes about Churchill and Roosevelt and FDR's sad decline and death in 1945. Suckley's writings show a relaxed, not often documented, side of FDR and a likable, modest woman who lived for and loved Roosevelt. Recommended for large history collections.?Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, Pa.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 16 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin; 1ST edition (April 12, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395660807
• ISBN-13: 978-0395660805
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #715,524 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #54 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( R ) > Roosevelt, Franklin D.
  • #82 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Multiculturalism

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An intimate portrait that does not sacrifice dignity, November 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Closest Companion: The Unknown Story of the Intimate Friendship Between Franklin Roosevelt and Margaret Suckley (Hardcover)

Having visited Ms. Suckley's home and the nearby Roosevelt home and library, I felt as though I were along for the ride as I read Daisy's accounts of their picnics and "tea dates" at various sites along the Hudson. In this day of "tell-all" books and seemingly unlimited voyeuristic snooping into Presidential private lives, this book was a pleasant departure from the norm. It also offered new insights into the life of a much-studied President, but one about whom there are still many unknowns. Margaret Suckley, even while preserving much of the account of her longstanding (but unknown to most contemporaries) relationship with FDR, took care to take the more private elements of their friendship to the grave.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting view of history, August 14, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Closest Companion: The Unknown Story of the Intimate Friendship Between Franklin Roosevelt and Margaret Suckley (Hardcover)

This is the story of Franklin Roosevelt's friendship with a distant cousin Daisy Suckley, based on journals long kept from the public by Daisy herself. It is fascinating for that story, but more so for the information it gives of a time in our history, when the President could leave the country and only those closest to him would know it. As Daisy relates the daily comings and goings of her life, she give us an intimate look at how Franklin Roosevelt managed to travel to secret meetings with other world leaders. She also lets us see Rosevelt's failing health and how his determination to win the war kept him going.

Geoffrey C. Ward's editing keeps the story moving. It may not be scholarly history, but it is a fascinating read for any history buff looking to understand the story behind the history.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Treasure from an Attic, August 27, 2008

By 

J. Clark "Nancy Clark" (Bergenfield, NJ, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Closest Companion: The Unknown Story of the Intimate Friendship Between Franklin Roosevelt and Margaret Suckley (Hardcover)

This book was recommended to me more than 10 years ago; I am sorry that I finally read it only within the past few weeks. Whether its excellence is owing more to Daisy Suckley and the FDR correspondence she kept hidden throughout her long (99-year) life, or to editor and compiler Geoffrey Ward (whose other Roosevelt books I am now dying to read), it should be required reading on the topic of FDR. Nothing else I have read shows us more about FDR's personal life. It is more revealing, for example, than the recent Franklin & Lucy (also worth reading, but not nearly so compelling). Roosevelt's letters to his neighbor and distant cousin Daisy are not direct transcriptions from his mind or heart---no one's are---but they may come as close as we can get. Besides this insight, we get Daisy's eyewitness account of many crucial moments in World War II and of FDR's last days. A valuable account of an extremely complicated man.