For Presidents Day, we look back on our favorites of the 47 and remember what they accomplished. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was known to frequent Marion during the summers. Even while in office, he would visit the town for pleasantries and (well-known and believed in the area) even some form of treatment for his battle with polio, kept hidden from the public. Franklin and his wife Eleanor seemed to love the town. His favorite past times were swimming, due to its alleviation of many of his disease’s symptoms, and sailing. He could often be seen from the shore partaking in both.
Being President of the United States is a difficult position and brings with it its own baggage of stress. For FDR, that is coupled with the chronic deterioration of his body to polio and WWII. Roosevelt was first diagnosed with polio in 1921 at the age of 39. He had just left his position of Assistant Secretary of the Navy and would become Governor of New York 8 years later, and President 12 years later.
FDR’s schooner, the Amberjack II, would often accompany him to Marion. When sailing, Coast Guard and Secret Service boats would accompany him. He was known to “evade” these vessels for fun and sport. In one instance, according to the US Naval Institute, Roosevelt sailed into encroaching fog, leaving his escort searching for him for a few hours.
Three months after being sworn in as President in the summer of 1933, Roosevelt captained the 45-foot twin-masted Amberjack II from Marion. On a 10-day, 400-mile voyage, he, and his presidential escort, set sail from the town and headed for one of his summer homes, this one on Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada. The US Navy Institute also says: “The trip marked the first time Secret Service agents and Navy commanders experienced sailing with—or tailing behind—the new President, a sport that became commonplace during Roosevelt’s 12 years in the White House. Presidential guards traded in their suits and ties for oilskins and life jackets as they did their best to keep up with America’s new sailor-President.”
Not long into the vacation, the stormy seas may have led FDR to make a surprise stop in Nantucket. Here, nearly the whole town arrived to welcome the president. Many even rowed out to get a close-up look. Though he did choose to take a stop on the island, Roosevelt stated he “did not intend to set foot on dry land for two weeks.”
This would not be the only of his presidential sea-excursions. Even with the slow deterioration of his health and the ramping stress of his job, Roosevelt longed for the sea and, though we can’t know for sure, seemed to love Marion. We at least know he had a lot of fun I the town.
By Sam Bishop