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very, very touchy and difficult relationship to the European war, and which took somebody who was pretty unofficial, and yet pretty confidential, to do some of the things which had to be done.

Then Knox was appointed to succeed Swanson who died. When Swanson died it naturally crossed my mind as to who would be Secretary of the Navy. Roosevelt had appointed Henry Latrobe Roosevelt to be Assistant Secretary of the Navy several years earlier. When he had appointed him he said, “Claude and I think it would be a good idea to appoint Henry Latrobe Roosevelt as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Does anybody have any ideas on that?”

Everybody said, “Why? He's a good man.”

Then the President said, scratching his head with his forefinger, as he sometimes did, “You know it's a sort of a good idea to have a Roosevelt as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Theodore was Assistant Secretary of the Navy. I was Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Here's Henry Latrobe Roosevelt, a good fellow, a Democrat. We ought to have him.” Everybody laughed and it was done. This wasn't pride or vanity, but just a little superstition on the President's part. It was almost superstition with Franklin Roosevelt that