Continuing Newstalgia's look at Conventions past, here is the Keynote address by Mrs. Franklin Roosevelt at the 1956 Democratic Convention. Adlai Stevenson was once again the Standard Bearer and it was this convention that the name of Sen. John F. Kennedy was first foisted into the spotlight as potential Presidential material, by being considered a vice-Presidential running mate for Stevenson. Kennedy declined and the VP slot went to Estes Kefauver, whose Crime Committee hearings made him a household name to millions of voters.

Here is Eleanor Roosevelt's complete address from that convention.

While the War was slowly turning in favor of the Allies, The groundwork for setting up The United Nations had been established. On June 7 of 1943, President Roosevelt addressed the very first United Nations Conference on Food and Agriculture and discussed what role the allies would play in the Post-War world and the crucial importance of Food production.

Here is that address, complete as given on June 7, 1943.

Since 1938 was a Mid-Term election year, President Roosevelt embarked on a 28 day tour of the U.S., bringing his message of the accomplishments of his second term and a few words about The New Deal and the Recovery taking place in the country. The NRA had undergone a challenge in the Supreme Court and many of the programs initiated during FDR's first term were in jeopardy. So in an effort to bolster support and to campaign for incumbents, FDR did a series of whistle-stop appearances.

This one, on July 7, 1938 was from an appearance in Covington, Kentucky and was broadcast nationwide to a capacity audience.

Here is the complete address.

Not one to shrink from public life after the death of FDR, Eleanor Roosevelt became, as longtime friend Adlai Stevenson put it, "a citizen of the world". Championing the cause of Human Rights and making it part of the United Nations Charter, Mrs. Roosevelt was instrumental in numerous humanitarian causes and aid throughout the world, particularly in the Post-War period and the emergence of independent nations.

In 1950 NBC asked her to host a series of informal get-togethers between Mrs. Roosevelt and various World leaders on a variety of subjects. The program was called "Today With Mrs. Roosevelt".

This episode features an interview between Mrs. Roosevelt and Pakistani Prime Minister Ali Khan over the emerging independence of Pakistan and India and the recent conflicts that erupted over the Kashmir region.

It's an area that's been of great interest over the last ten years (Afghanistan being a border country) and the political atmosphere in Pakistan has been fluctuating wildly ever since the late 1940's, as have the tensions between Pakistan and neighboring India.

It's early Television and sounds a little primitive by today's standards - but it's a historic glimpse into the Post-World War 2 period. The one that hasn't quite ironed itself out yet.

With the campaign season just warming up, I will be spotlighting historic campaign addresses from previous Presidential elections, featuring ALL parties, but starting t his series off with a bang.

FDR addresses a crowd estimated at over 60,000 in Pittsburgh on October 1, 1936 - the last full month of campaigning.

He talks about the accomplishments of his administration during the first four years, looks ahead to the next and talks about the current state of the economy, the state of employment and the state of poverty in America.

And in answer to his critics regarding a balanced budget, he offers this:

FDR: "To balance our budget in 1933 or 1934 or 1935 would have been a crime against the American people. To do so we should either have had to make a capital levy that would have been confiscatory, or we should have had to set our face against human suffering with callous indifference. When Americans suffered, we refused to pass by on the other side. Humanity came first.

No one lightly lays a burden on the income of a Nation. But this vicious tightening circle of our declining national income simply had to be broken. The bankers and the industrialists of the Nation cried aloud that private business was powerless to break it. They turned, as they had a right to turn, to the Government. We accepted the final responsibility of Government, after all else had failed, to spend money when no one else had money left to spend.

I adopted, therefore, the other alternative. I cast aside a do nothing or a wait-and-see policy.

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