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Sailor in the White House: The Seafaring Life of FDR

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This is a book I could not "put down" once I started reading it. My problem is I get into the index which takes me every where in the book. However, when I finally got it all together I found it to be both historic and above all informative. I grew up in the Roosevelt era and this book has given me an entirely new insight of his time.
Thank you Mr.Cross.

This was an excellent view of another side of FDR that as a sailor of the same waters, I found exceptionally interesting.

Not only was the book extremely well written but it was full of glimpses of this president which added a new perspective to my knowledge of his presidency.

It is a wonderful experience to stumble across a biographical work about a man about whom so much has been written and yet find an entirely new and different view of the person's life.

Bravo!!!

Franklin D. Roosevelt loved the sea, sailing and all things nautical. He was America's greatest seafaring president, spending more time sailing, fishing and swimming than any president in our nations's history. And this book tells very interesting minute of it.

In Robert F. Cross' terrific new book, "Sailor in the White House: the Seafaring Life of FDR," the author offers a rare, behind-the-scenes look at Roosevelt's time on the sea. What makes this book such a treat, is that many of the stories are told through the voices of those who actually sailed with the president, and who shared their tales with the author for the first time.

Through interviews with Secret Service agents, Roosevelt staff and family members, and contemporaries of the president, Cross exposes a whole new dimension of FDR's life, a dimension which-until this book-has never been explored in the countless biographies of the 32nd president; but it is a dimension which is key to understanding FDR's character and governing style.

The author logs just about every minute FDR spent on the water, and lists all the vessels he was aboard during his entire lifetime-an extraordinary record for anyone, but particularly for one whose legs were paralyzed from polio. From canoes to lifeboats, schooners to destroyers, and battleships to submarienes, Roosevelt never passed up an opportunity to be on the water. The author meticulously records each vessel, noting the type of craft and the years Roosevelt was aboard. No such list existed until now.

The never-before-told stories, including one in which FDR's life was threatened when a fire broke out aboard his schooner, and rare photographs shared with the author are laid out for us within the overall framework of two world wars and the Great Depression. A never-before-published photograph shows FDR seated in a wheelchair; this is only the third such photo known to exist in the more than 35,000 photographs of the president in the FDR library. And Cross has found it!

As we tag along with Roosevelt on New York State's Barge Canal, the atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the Caribbean, and witness his many antics and adventures, the author skillfully keeps the reader current on world and national affairs, allowing us to see behind the newspaper and newsreel footage, while weaving in the unfolding and perilous world
history.

The tales of FDR hiding from his Secret Service guards are amusing, providing a glimpse of a fearless president who valued his privacy and went to great lengths to protect it. FDR never permitted secret Service agents to travel aboard his small vessels; they had to travel behind on destroyers and Coast Guard cutters. He played "cat and mouse" with the agents, who really had their hands full protecting FDR. The author's interviews with FDR's Secret Service agents are priceless.

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., calls this book "delightful." It is that to be sure-but, it is much, much more. "Sailor in the White House" provides a new and valuable insight into the make-up and character of the only American president ever elected to four terms. FDR never passed up an opportunity to be on the water, a place where he felt most at home. A place which helped him to relax and gain perspective as he tackled the most difficult problems ever filled by an American President. I recommend this book highly.

Martin Davis, Ph.D.

I just finished reading "Sailor in the White House." Now, I finally understand what strongly influenced FDR throughout his entire government career. In his fresh and probing new biography, author Robert Cross opens up a whole new dimension in the life of our 32nd president.

FDR used his expert sailing skills and instincts to guide America through the Great Depression and on to victory in World War II. He was always ready to compromise, change tack or revise his plans based on the changing political landscape...just as he did when he sailed the world's oceans. What an ingenious way to look at President Roosevelt! I thank the author for sharing his important insights with all of us. Great job!

Here is a book that I looked forward to with great enthusiasm because of the blend of subjects I hold dear: one of my favorite presidents, his love for sea and ships, sailing, traveling, collecting and an overall fondness for the culture of the sea. The results were however very disappointing as I found the book disjointed, lacking in syntax, unbearably repetitious, trite, containing what seemed to be numerous editorial errors, and containing silly quotations and statements which may have been used out of context from the original sources.

To the book's credit it follows a chronology, is heavily annotated, has a thorough bibliography and contains a catalog of most of the boats and ships FDR either sailed or sailed on that is not available elsewhere to my knowledge. It also contains a good selection of photos and his personal FDR sailboat logo seldom seen elsewhere.

There are annoying factual or editorial errors throughout the book that should be corrected. For example the Fasnet Race is not a 3000 mile transatlantic race (page 7) but a 600 mile race in the British Isles; the Aquitania is not a sistership to the Mauretania (FDR's favorite liner) and Lusitania (page 29); The Nourmahal never "served" in the James River fleet she was laid up there during the post war, there is no "serving" in mothball fleets; the Panama Canal is 50 miles long not 8 miles long (page 82); the film Double Indemnity was not even produced until eight years after FDR was supposidly watching it aboard the yacht Potomac (page 91); the film actor was Basil Rathbone not Rathborn; and reference to Frances Perkins as "he", to mention just a few.

The book contains a number of silly sounding or seemingly impossible refrences that may have been taken out of context. Here are a few examples: "FDR's whale hunting ancestors would have been proud of their descendant if he had succeeded [killing a whale with a rifle]"; "FDR....explored the harbor bottom sixty feet down for about a half hour" [in a submarine]; "Roosevelt, knowing those waters extremely well, took control of the vessel." His Grandson Curtis Roosevelt correctly states that FDR was an un-licensed pilot and that the C.O. was still responsible. [The USS Flusser with Capt. Bull Halsey in command]; "the sleek yacht skimmed what was described as glassy waters for five hours" (where was the wind?); "German submarines had been actively shooting down bombers and other planes crossing the Atlantic...Roosevelt was going into an active war zone full of Nazi spies, all of whom would be hailed as heroes if they assassinated the comander-in-chief."; "Apparently, the commander of the squadron [US Navy] had confused local time with Greenwich Mean Time..." And "Praying for fog," seems highly unlikely while sailing around the Bay of Fundy. These are just a few of the nautical gaffs showing a lack of nautical expertise in the writing but not necessarily by FDR.

The cliches are endless and annoying, many found numerous times in the text. The words "icy waters", "twin-masted" (it is two-masted), "small" schooner, "tiny" yawl, "giant" destroyers, "monumental" tides, and "shoal-ridden seas", "treacherous" New England waters, "Skipper" Roosevelt, "anchored" (where moored or docked should be used); "strong shoulders and arms" and finally "ship-swallowing seas" are trite and un-nautical sounding.

I found the description of the arcane sport of ice boating or hard water sailing, Nantucket's Wharf Rat Club, meetings with Winston Churchill, references to Port Everglades, and the ridiculous King of Saudi Arabia some of the more interesting parts, however I wonder about the endless fishing from the sides of US Navy ships, particularly in the cold Aleutian Islands.

Noticeably missing from the book, and one of the reasons I bought it in the first place, was reference to his collecting. Having recently viewed the museum exhibit entitled "FDR and The Sea," I was expecting to learn details of his ship model collection and more about the prints and paintings so important to him. Also his famous White House ship naming sessions that often took place during the afternoon cocktail hour with friends and colleagues participating. Also absent was reference to the popular nautical collector clocks produced in his honor during the era featuring FDR "Steering the ship of state" or "At the wheel for a New Deal." Nor does the author mention that FDR was the president who first declared May 22 of every year National Maritime Day, a tradition that has continued to the present day but is largely overlooked.

Finally Admiral Emory S. Land is quoted thus: "Franklin Delano Roosevelt knew more about ships and the men who sailed them...than any other man who ever held high office." That may be the case with FDR but is regrettably not with this book.