On 10/19/17, Hunter hosted this program.
Roosevelt House hosted a very special talk by Ambassador William J. vanden Heuvel exploring the ways in which two extraordinary figures from the World War I era —William “Wild Bill” Donovan and Roger Baldwin — defined, respectively, the military valor required of U.S. forces in Europe and the concurrent struggle over civil liberties that took place at home. Donovan became the most highly decorated hero in American military history and went on to create the OSS (forerunner of the CIA). Baldwin, jailed during the Great War as a conscientious objector, and inspired by his ordeal, founded the American Civil Liberties Union and won the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which was entrusted to the ACLU at ceremonies at Roosevelt House.
Ambassador vanden Heuvel, a member of the Roosevelt House Advisory Board, is a distinguished diplomat, attorney, and government official who was a young colleague and close friend of both General Donovan and Roger Baldwin. General Donovan died at age 76 in 1959. Roger Baldwin died at age 97 in 1981.
The talk marks the opening of a new Roosevelt House exhibit, “World War I and the Roosevelts: Franklin and Eleanor, Family and Friends,” commemorating the 100th anniversary of U.S. entry into World War I. As Assistant Secretary of the Navy, FDR was on the front lines of policy and operations during the war. Eleanor Roosevelt became a Red Cross volunteer, inspiring others and acquiring important organizational skills. The war also drew in many other members of the Roosevelt family.
The exhibit includes extraordinary wartime posters, photographs, and artifacts that tell their story, and depict the ways in which the war shaped the American future.The exhibition is made possible through the generous support of The Stepanski Family Charitiable Trust and The Susan and Elihu Rose Foundation.
Watch the program below.
