Earth to Sarah Palin!
You think your family has been scrutinized the most, think again!
The children of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt were esciverated (sp) by the Republican press back in the 1930's and 40's.
During FDR's presidency his daughter Anna and sons James and Elliott all got divorced, Elliott twice. During this time divorce was rare and was considered scandalous. In total the five Roosevelt kids had 19 marriages.
FDR's other sons Franklin Jr. and John did not get divorced during his presidency (they got their turn after their father died) but they were involved in a few incidents that generated a lot of publicity. Franklin Jr. got into a fight with photographer at a wrestling match he attended with his girlfriend (later his wife). John was accused of public drunkensess and dumping a bottle of champagne on the mayor of Cannes, France while attending a festival there. Also John chased down another photographer who was trying to take a picture of Franklin Jr going through a fraternity hazing, he was wearing a dress at the time so a pic of him would be embarrassing. Franklin Jr. also racked up a number of speeding tickets and was sued by a woman he had an accident with.
James was appointed by his father to be his personal secretary, and people screamed nepotism. James was accused of using his position at the White House for personal profit, it got to the point that he had to produce his income tax returns to prove the press wrong. Elliott was also accused of using his family name for personal profit too.
The worst scrutiny for the boys came during the war. All four of them enlisted, didn't even wait for the draft, all served bravely, were decorated on merit, Franklin Jr. won the Purple Heart for the battle of Casablanca, James the Silver Star and Navy Cross, John the Silver Star, and Elliott the Distinguished Frying Cross, and he flew over 300 combat missions during World War 2 and witnessed the death of Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Yet the press and public accused the President of trying to see them safely during the war and awarding them rankings they did not deserve, when in fact he actually had citations held back for fear of the press.
Never mind the fact that the Roosevelt family (Theodore's family too) did more patriotic things for this country you claim to love, all the press wanted to do was dwell on the negatives, like Elliott's quick ascent to Captain, which became an issue in the 1940 election. Papa I want to be a Captain too, and I didn't raise my boy to be a Private were posted on Wendell Wilkie buttons. Or the "Blaze incident" where a private dumped two enlisted airman to make room for Elliott's Mastiff Blaze on a plane without Elliott's knowledge or consent. Or the fact that James's train was running late to Chicago and he had the conductor there hold his connecting train for him as the inconvienience of the other passengers. That incident was unexcusable.
FDR's wife Eleanor was villified by the likes of journalist Westbrook Pegler for getting involved in her husbands administration, just like Todd was accused of. All she did was go out to the tenement houses and coal mines to talk to people. She also visited the wounded troops and stood for anti-lynching laws. She wrote a newspaper column which she was accused of profting from, where in fact she donated her salary to charity. Eleanor was the Hillary Clinton of her time.
So Sarah the next time you want to bitch about Bristol being written up in the Enquirer, think of FDR's kids and your kids publicity pales in comparison to theirs. In other words SHUT THE FUCK UP!
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