Transcript of Video Interview
April 1, 2014
April 1, 2014
As you know, Roosevelt was the president during the 1930s and 40s, and it was the time of the Great Depression. Could you tell us a little bit about what your life was like during the Great Depression? Where you were? What you were doing at the time?
I was 17. My grandfather had an orchard and I was staying with him West of the city in the Yakima portion.
Do you remember what the Great Depression was like?
Well money was hard to get…but anyways we got through it and survived. And other people weren’t quite as fortune, especially the middle states people, the Dust Bowl area. But our land was all irrigated so we didn’t have any dust and could grow crops.
What did you think of Roosevelt as a leader during the Great Depression?
Well the president created the Civilian Conservation Corps and recruited young people to do civil service and put them out in the woods to make trails and shelters and parks and developed a lot of new parks, even in the state of Washington, the park down near Mt. Rainier is a Great Depression park made by the CCC boys. Very helpful for the young people. Place to go and something to do. Very remarkable. I read about them in the newspapers.
Did you ever hear any criticism about Roosevelt or have any reason for thinking he was a bad leader or didn’t do as well as he could have?
I think he did a very good job. Of course all presidents are criticized, but he did a wonderful job. He wasn’t at top notch health either. He had a hard life to live and he did very very good.
And after he was made president they had what they called the March of Dimes and all the dimes were collected in states and went to the eradication of polio. And actually they have a vaccine for it now. So there shouldn’t be any more polio.
Roosevelt is widely known as the first president to have used the radio to communicate with the people through his weekly fireside chats. Do you remember them? Did you ever listen to them?
Well there wasn’t really much radio in them days. Out West we had a listen to a station that come Chicago. There weren’t too many broadcasting stations around. It was all published in newspapers and that’s where we got all the good and bad.
A lot of people consider him to be one of America’s favorite presidents. Do you consider him to be one of your favorite presidents?
Well I think you can classify him as The One in modern times. I mean we had a lot of good presidents at the beginning of the Revolution and so forth. But this was a different era. And he was good. Remarkably.
I was 17. My grandfather had an orchard and I was staying with him West of the city in the Yakima portion.
Do you remember what the Great Depression was like?
Well money was hard to get…but anyways we got through it and survived. And other people weren’t quite as fortune, especially the middle states people, the Dust Bowl area. But our land was all irrigated so we didn’t have any dust and could grow crops.
What did you think of Roosevelt as a leader during the Great Depression?
Well the president created the Civilian Conservation Corps and recruited young people to do civil service and put them out in the woods to make trails and shelters and parks and developed a lot of new parks, even in the state of Washington, the park down near Mt. Rainier is a Great Depression park made by the CCC boys. Very helpful for the young people. Place to go and something to do. Very remarkable. I read about them in the newspapers.
Did you ever hear any criticism about Roosevelt or have any reason for thinking he was a bad leader or didn’t do as well as he could have?
I think he did a very good job. Of course all presidents are criticized, but he did a wonderful job. He wasn’t at top notch health either. He had a hard life to live and he did very very good.
And after he was made president they had what they called the March of Dimes and all the dimes were collected in states and went to the eradication of polio. And actually they have a vaccine for it now. So there shouldn’t be any more polio.
Roosevelt is widely known as the first president to have used the radio to communicate with the people through his weekly fireside chats. Do you remember them? Did you ever listen to them?
Well there wasn’t really much radio in them days. Out West we had a listen to a station that come Chicago. There weren’t too many broadcasting stations around. It was all published in newspapers and that’s where we got all the good and bad.
A lot of people consider him to be one of America’s favorite presidents. Do you consider him to be one of your favorite presidents?
Well I think you can classify him as The One in modern times. I mean we had a lot of good presidents at the beginning of the Revolution and so forth. But this was a different era. And he was good. Remarkably.