When Franklin D. Roosevelt was five years old, his father took him to the White House to meet President Cleveland. The President said to the little boy, "Franklin, pray God He never let you become President of the United States."
There seemed to be no need to worry about the possibility. Young Franklin was having too good a time growing up on the big farm at Hyde Park, N.Y., riding horse-back, training his red setter pup, iceboating on the Hudson in winter, and sailing on Passamaquoddy Bay in summer.
But after he was through Harvard, and World War I broke out, it was his job, as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, to strengthen the Navy and mobilize it for war. This he did so successfully that from then on, until polio struck in 1921, young Roosevelt's political career became increasingly important. Yet it was actually after his dreadful illness that the real man emerged and went on to greatness.
Told with skill and sympathy by a personal friend of many years, the life story of the man who guided America through some of her darkest hours and brought hope to thousands of crippled children will thrill and inspire young readers.
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