10 IN McADOO'S STEPS FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, 1928-1932 In November 1928 Jesse Grantham, an attorney in Fort Lau- derdale, Florida, saw only one hope for his divided and defeated party. The Democrats had just suffered their third landslide defeat in as many elections, and even the South had shown that its loyalty to the party was not unshakable. Only by achieving unity could the party hope to win pub- lic confidence. "You are a real, civilized man, forceful, intelligent, liberal, diplomatic, serene and calm," Grantham wrote Franklin Roosevelt; "of all the outstanding men of the party, you are the one man who possesses the necessary qualities to restore harmony in our ranks." 1 Grantham's opinion has since become historical orthodoxy. Historians of the party and biographers of FDR have all portrayed him as the great -205- |