"Uncle Ted"

Franklin did not merely admire his distant cousin, Theodore Roosevelt. He deliberately emulated him. He wore pince-nez glasses because TR did and during his early years on the campaign trail even liked to use TR's favorite adjective, "Bully!", to express his pleasure at the way things were going.

Although Theodore was a Republican - and then a Progressive - and Franklin chose to run as a Democrat, the older Roosevelt always encouraged the younger one, who was married to his favorite niece. For his part, FDR set out early to follow as precisely as he could "Uncle Ted's" climb to the White House, office by office: state legislator, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Governor of New York, and then the Presidency.