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Fala and FDR, ca. 1944 (Harry S. Truman Library and Museum)
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1944 - Fala figures in campaign
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s small Scottie dog, Fala, figured in the 1944 presidential campaign when FDR was seeking a fourth term. The issue stemmed from Republican critics spreading a claim that the president had accidentally left the dog behind after visiting the Aleutian Islands earlier in the year and sent a Navy destroyer to retrieve it. Speaking at a Teamsters Union dinner in Washington, Roosevelt said sarcastically that his dog had been libeled. “I don’t resent attacks. My family doesn’t resent attacks. But Fala does resent attacks,” he said. (Tulsa World)
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![The President’s Speech
To support President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1944 re-election campaign,Syd Hoff, Crockett Johnson, Lynd Ward, Hugo Gellert, William Gropper, and fourteen other artists illustrated this booklet, called The President’s Speech.
The text is FDR’s speech made before the Teamsters Union on September 23rd, 1944 — also known as the “Fala speech,” since it features his dog, Fala.
[Shown here] is Crockett Johnson’s page. You’ll note that he drew the famous Fala himself. (Nine Kinds of Pie / Artists for FDR)](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzaixm1y9D1qlqojoo1_500.jpg)
The President’s Speech
To support President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1944 re-election campaign,Syd Hoff, Crockett Johnson, Lynd Ward, Hugo Gellert, William Gropper, and fourteen other artists illustrated this booklet, called The President’s Speech.
The text is FDR’s speech made before the Teamsters Union on September 23rd, 1944 — also known as the “Fala speech,” since it features his dog, Fala.
[Shown here] is Crockett Johnson’s page. You’ll note that he drew the famous Fala himself. (Nine Kinds of Pie / Artists for FDR)
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That’s My Chair
“My father had been working with FDR since the time he first become governor. By 1944, he was special counsel to the president. This story took place in early September of 1944. I had just turned 13. I had returned from a summer working on a farm in a camp in Vermont. On the way bock, I spent time in a house my parents rented that summer in Hyde Park. I was returning to Washington, D.C., to go back to school. I took the president’s train with my father and the president and Fala. We were sitting in the parlor car in the bock of the train. My father and FDR were talking. Fala was sitting on the floor sulking. He wasn’t paying attention to us at all. He looked hurt. I also noticed that the president did not seem very happy. I looked at my father, and he was frantically waving at me to move off the chair where I was sitting. I moved, and all of a sudden, Fala jumped on the chair where I had been sitting. Then he was smiling and very friendly. The president smiled and was also very happy. I was sitting on the chair that was apparently reserved for Fala.” — Robert Rosenman, son of Judge Samuel Rosenman, adviser to Franklin Roosevelt, from Franklin Delano Roosevelt for Kids by Richard Panchyk
Photo: National Archives
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Wag The Dog
A 1944 Word War II cartoon shows President Franklin D. Roosevelt explaining the gyrations of Scottish terrier Fala to Gen. Charles de Gaulle. FDR considered De Gaulle’s claim as the leader of France, at a time when the majority of its land was under German control, to be overstated and akin to the tail wagging the dog. — The Washington Post via the White House Historical Association
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Speaking of cookies
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Eleanor Roosevelt gives a treat to Fala as he performs for Prime Minister MacKenzie King during the Second Quebec Conference. September 1944: From the FDR Presidential Library and Museum
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My little dog, Fala
September 23, 1944: FDR gives a campaign speech to the Teamsters Union denouncing Republican attacks that he had sent a U.S. Navy destroyer to retrieve his dog Fala after leaving him behind on the Aleutian Islands. (In Roosevelt History)
See Also: Listening To His Master’s Voice
