my

life

with

F.D.R.

the road to the

WHITE HO US I

by ANNA ROOSEVELT

PART 4.

One of the things I remember best
about Father was his ability to
laugh at himself. The man who
laughs at himself and causes you to
laugh with him, not at him, will
always have a close bond with people
in all walks of life. This bit of phi-
losophy applies particularly to the
man who arrives at a position in life
where he is influential and powerful,
either in business or in government.

Father could tell very graphically
of incidents when the laugh was on
him. One such incident occurred
during one of his campaign trips for
Governor of New York. He had been
motoring all day long, and the sun
was almost setting. All day he had
been waving to passersby who had
waved to him. He began to get a
little sleepy and found himself doz-
ing off from time to time, then wak-
ing with a start when he heard a
voice, or when someone with him

said, “Somebody is waving at you,
He was awakened suddenly frot
one of his cat naps by a noise th<
was different. Without trying t
identify it, he waved his hand an
smiled in the direction of the noise-
only to find that he was waving n<
at a prospective voter but at a cov
alone in a field, and that the nob
was a loud Moo!

This was typical of many stori
Father told that taught me an in
portant lesson: Without a sense <
humor, a human being loses 1
warmth and a bond with his fello
men that no other trait can replac
And they taught me that eve
though a person gets to be a chi
executive of something, he mu
never lose a sense of personal h
mility.

Mother says that Father was sh]|
about making speeches when thew
were first married, and that she red