Two original photographs of President Franklin D. Roosevelt taken in Washington, D.C. after his electoral victories in November 1940 and 1944, with a 1949 presentation letter from the photographer to the recipient, a vice-president of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Collector's Association.
Arlington, Virginia: Privately printed, under copyright, by Sid Tager, 1940 & 1944. Photograph. These are two original photographs of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt taken in the aftermath of his November 1940 and November 1944 re-election victories, which returned him to the White House for unprecedented third and fourth terms during the Second World War. Notably, these photographs come with original provenance, 1949 gifts to the recipient from the original photographer.
That autograph letter, signed by the photographer and dated “March 3, 1949” reads in part: “In a recent newspaper article I saw your name mentioned as a vice-president of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Collector’s Association. I took the enclosed two pictures in Nov. 1940 and Nov. 1944, the two days our late President returned to Washington after his great victories. I had both photographs copyrighted… You may keep the two that are enclosed. Sincerely, S. R. Tager”
Each gelatin silver print on glossy photo paper measures 8 x 10 inches. Each is embossed at the lower right with the photographer’s copyright “© S. R. TAGER” and each lower right verso features an ink-stamped “PHOTO BY | SID TAGER | 1706 SO. QUINCY ST. | CH 3016 | ARLINGTON, VA”. Adjacent to his ink stamp, the photographer wrote, respectively, “Taken Nov. 1940.” and “Taken Nov. 1944.” The 1940 image, captured from the passenger side of FDR’s vehicle, shows him seated in the right rear passenger seat of an open car looking up and out in the general direction of the camera, smiling. An accompanying police motorcycle is in the foreground, a Secret Service agent on each running board with three further visible on the adjacent car visible in the background, just behind FDR’s vehicle. Nearly the entirety of FDR’s vehicle is visible, up to and including the front tire. The second, November 1944, image is a closer capture. FDR is seated in an open top car, centered in the image, smiling, waving his right hand, seeming to look directly at the camera. To his left is seated newly-elected Vice President Harry S. Truman – who would succeed FDR only five months later – also looking at the camera. Looking over the top of the door is FDR’s famous Scottish Terrier, Fala, visible from his muzzle up, A Secret Service agent is visible standing behind and to the right of FDR on the vehicle’s running board.
Both images are in excellent condition, bright and clear, the images crisp, the paper showing only some crinkling to the edges. Superficial scuffs and blemishes are few, trivial, and visible only under raking light. Both photos are housed, along with the accompanying presentation letter, within removable, archival mylar sleeves housed within a rigid, crimson cloth folder.
FDR’s electoral victories in November 1940 and November 1944 were uncharted territory for his country. Every president since George Washington had observed the example he set and sought no more than two terms. In November 1940 and November 1945, FDR was elected to his third and fourth – the only U.S. president before or since to do so.
Of course, these unprecedented elections were only some among the many unprecedented, momentous, consequential, and transformative events of his presidency. “Even those critical of his achievements recognize their magnitude” (ANB). America’s only crippled president and the only president ever elected to four terms in office was the indispensable leader of his country during its greatest economic crisis and its greatest foreign war. By any reasonable assessment, Roosevelt fundamentally reshaped social, political, and geopolitical expectations and realities not just of his nation, but of large parts of the world. FDR, as he became widely known, served as thirty-second president of the United States for twelve years, from 1933-1945, dying in office on 12 April 1945, only months after the beginning of his fourth term and less than a month before VE Day. Item #008374
Price: $2,000.00