I first met FDR, the acronym, probably in 1936 when I was 12. I remember a short conversation with my mom. She was a legal secretary and mother of four. Helluva gal, barely five feet tall. It seems I was asking about how come we had a house to live in. That’s when I began picking up acronyms fast. That’s when I first remember hearing “FDR”. Seems our president FDR had created something called “FHA” so working people like us could buy homes with something called a “mortgage.” Then I asked about the mortgage. How much was it? When do we pay it back and other childish fundamentals.
My mom told me the mortgage was for — as I remember it — 10 or 12 thousand dollars. Seems we had 20 years to pay it back. I think I told her “Mom, we’ll never get all that money paid back.”
End of “me and FDR” in 1936 story, but the beginning of a lifelong love affair with him and, especially, his wife Eleanor.