Our latest “Document of the Week” was chosen by our Academic Liaison Manager, Dr Catherine Bateson. It is a letter from President Franklin D. Roosevelt to Arthur C. Murray, written on 5 April 1937.
Ever since his time as an Assistant Military Attaché to the British Embassy in Washington, DC., British diplomat Arthur C. Murray kept up a long correspondence exchange with his good friend, Franklin D. Roosevelt; the pair were in regular communication with each other even when the latter took up presidential residence at the White House. This week’s chosen image comes from one of several letters between FDR and Murray in 1937, and is indicative of their tone, style of friendship, and easy ability to go from political and global matters to more personal concerns and shared interests. Writing to Murray, Roosevelt begins with a veiled comment on the grip of Nazi political power in “present-day Germany”. In half-serious jest, he warns Murray and his wife that, on an upcoming trip to the region, they should travel carefully, as the Nazi Party “will probably assume that you are in the Intelligence Service and watch both of you day and night!” This passing comment on the rise of state-control within Nazi Germany reflects America’s close monitoring of affairs—even two years before the outbreak of the Second World War.
The rest of the letter is more light-hearted, while also touching on grand affairs: Roosevelt writes of the upcoming coronation of King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth. “I fear London will be a very hectic place in which to live for a few weeks”, Roosevelt remarks as preparations were underway in the month running up to the event on 12 May. The president also appeals to Murray’s hospitality to look after “two of our very great friends [who] are going to the Coronation” – distant cousins of FDR and First Lady Eleanor. “I hope very much that you will be good enough to see them”, the president wrote, and indeed Murray and his wife Faith did just that. A subsequent letter in the collection, dated 28 May and sent to the White House, notes that “after three weeks of ‘Coronating’”, the Murrays were heading home to the peace of Argyll, Scotland. They would soon be joined by FDR’s relatives, whom they “like[d] both so much” in London and were “delighted” to host them once again.
These personable missives thus provided an insight into the nature of being a presidential pen-pal, while also showing a genuine special relationship either side of the Atlantic, as sweeping global events loomed.
Where to find this document
This piece comes from our primary source collection British Diplomacy with America and Ireland: an Ambassador's Letters, 1909–1962. The collection contains a range of letters, telegrams, and reports to and from politician, diplomat, and career-international affairs leader Arthur Cecil Murray. They relate to his time in North America, Ireland, and role in various British diplomatic and domestic political affairs during the first half of the twentieth century. Murray kept up familiar correspondence with leading figures of the day during periods of war and peace, revealing a deep political interest in foreign affairs, international political relations, and close friendships, including with President Roosevelt. Visit the collection page to learn more.