"FOR MY PARTNER D. BASIL O'CONNOR": THE PUBLIC PAPERS OF FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED TO FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT TO HIS NEW YORK CITY LAW PARTNER, POLIO ACTIVIST AND RED CROSS EXECUTIVE BASIL O'CONNOR, WHO HELPED FOUND THE WARM SPRINGS FOUNDATION AND THE MARCH OF DIMES, IN A SPECIAL FULL MOROCCO BINDING GILT-STAMPED WITH "D. BASIL O'CONNOR"

(ROOSEVELT, Franklin D.). Public Papers of Franklin D. Roosevelt Forty-Eighth Governor of the State of New York 1929. Albany: J.B. Lyon, 1930. Two volumes. Octavo, contemporary full red morocco, marbled endpapers. Housed in a custom cloth clamshell box. $12,500.

First editions of Roosevelt's collected public papers from his time as governor, inscribed in Volume I by Roosevelt to his law partner in New York City, who went on to become a polio advocate, an executive at the American Red Cross, and co-founder of both the Warm Springs Foundation and March of Dimes: "For my partner D. Basil O'Connor with the affectionate regards of Franklin D. Roosevelt 1931," in a special full morocco presentation binding stamped with Basil O'Connor's name.

These two volumes comprise Roosevelt's official papers from his time as governor, including speeches, appointments, proclamations, vetoes, and more. Following a successful and energetic campaign in which Roosevelt tried to dispel rumors of an incomplete recovery from polio, "Roosevelt's four years as governor coincided with the first three and a half years of the Great Depression. More quickly than most other political leaders, he concluded that the economy would not recover on its own and "that there is a duty on the part of government to do something about this." Roosevelt pushed for a series of modest reforms that included measures to develop public electric power, lower utilities rates, and reduce the tax burden on New York farmers. Later he also created a state agency to provide relief to the unemployed and began calling for national unemployment insurance and other government programs to assist the jobless. He was careful not to seem reckless or radical. He criticized President Hoover for failing to balance the budget and denounced excessive government intervention in the economy. From the moment of his landslide reelection as governor of New York in 1930, Roosevelt was the obvious front-runner for the 1932 Democratic presidential nomination" (ANB). Halter T-482. This is one of an unknown (but very limited) number of copies Roosevelt had specially bound for presentation to his family and closest friends. The inscribee, Basil "Doc" O'Connor (1892-1972), was a lawyer by training and worked as his partner at a New York City law firm during the early years of their acquaintance. In co-operation with FDR he started two foundations (the Warm Springs Foundation and the March of Dimes) for the rehabilitation of polio patients and the research on polio prevention and treatment. From 1944 to 1949, he was Chairman and President of the American Red Cross and from 1945 to 1950 he was Chairman of the League of Red Cross Societies.

Interior generally fine, expert repairs to joints and spine ends, mild toning to spines. An extremely good inscribed copy.