FDR’s Last Days

ALT

ALT

FDR’s last days were spent quietly at Warm Springs. The President sat for a portrait by artist Elizabeth Shoumatoff and conversed casually with his guests. On April 10 and 11, Shoumatoff’s assistant made a series of photographs of the President to assist her with her painting. They last images ever shot of him.

On April 10, FDR and Lucy Rutherfurd took a leisurely drive to Dowdell’s Knob, a rocky outcrop that offered a broad view of the surrounding countryside. Roosevelt had visited it many times during the difficult early years of his struggle with polio. It remained a favorite place to sit and reflect.

International issues still forced their way into the secluded world of the Little White House. Soviet actions in Eastern Europe threatened to divide the Allies just as victory was in sight in Europe. Seeking to maintain the alliance and ensure the success of the UN conference in San Francisco, FDR worked to smooth the waters. “I would minimize the Soviet problem as much as possible,” he wrote to Winston Churchill on the morning of April 11, “We must be firm, however, and our course thus far is correct.“ Later that dictated a speech he was to make on April 13. That evening, he dined with his Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Jr. Morgenthau was shocked by his old friend’s haggard appearance. Before he departed that night, FDR told him about his upcoming trip to the UN conference. He would appear there in his wheelchair, he told Morgenthau.

—

ALT

ALT

ALT

These five photographs, shot on April 10-11, 1945, are the last images of President Roosevelt ever taken. They reveal the dire state of his health. The photographs were made by Nicholas Robbins, an assistant to artist Elizabeth Shoumatoff. Shoumatoff came to Warm Springs in April to paint a portrait of the President. She instructed Robbins take these photos to help her complete the portrait at her studio.

The three photographs of FDR outside his Warm Springs cottage were shot on April 10. The other two shots—taken inside the cottage—were made on April 11.

See these photographs and more in our current exhibition "FDR’s Final Campaign”.