Robert Klara. FDR’s Funeral Train: A Betrayed Widow,
a Soviet Spy, and a Presidency in the Balance.
New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
As reviewed by Ted Odenwald
The death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 12, 1945, shook the nation; the heroic world leader, who had guided his people through the Great Depression and through nearly four years of a horrific world war, succumbed to a cerebral hemorrhage in his resort/retreat in Warm Springs, Georgia. Historian Robert Klara traces in detail the immediate aftereffects as the President’s remains were transported by a funeral train from Warm Springs to Hyde Park, NY, via Washington, D.C. The primary stage for Klara’s dramatic series of events is the train called POTUS, (President of the United States) when FDR was alive. The train was a “consist” of two engines and a series of Pullman cars. The “plot” contains several key actions: the long journey to the final resting place; the nation’s expression of grief and loss; the attempts to insure continuity with the new President and his administration; and the revelation of dark secrets.
Klara describes the first legs of the journey from Warm Springs to D.C., including details of the types of engines used, and the names and respective decors of each of the significant Pullman cars in tow, especially the sleeper/lounge Conneaut that carried the bier and casket of FDR. Klara tells how the train was routed and how it traveled at the very conservative rate of 25 mph so that the hundreds of thousands of Americans could safely line the tracks or the terminals of moderate-sized cities along its path. He describes the simple obsequies performed in several of the stops, including military and police honor guards and memorial wreathes presented by local officials. There are several engine changes, and upon entering Washington, a closed-casket lying-in-state; for the trip to Hyde Park, NY, several Pullman cars were added along with a separate “consist,” The Congressional, to transport a huge entourage of government officials and media correspondents. While a great deal of the information presented here would engross railroad historians/enthusiasts, the incredibly detailed accounts of the entire operation should fascinate anyone interested in the history of the mid-twentieth-century.
Just as significant to Klara as the details of the equipment and the journey per se, are the events—both documented and surmised—which took place in connection with the funeral train. The first leg of the journey presented a microcosmic view of the nation’s reaction to the loss of its leader. Though Roosevelt had appeared fragile and haggard for several months, it was difficult to accept that the robust personality, which had steered the country and the world through disastrous times, was a mere mortal. A veil of shock, despair, and disconsolate grief enveloped the traveling mourners and the observers.
Added to these emotions was the tension generated by the ascent to power of Harry Truman, a relatively unknown, untried, and inexperienced executive. Truman boarded the funeral train in D.C. along with officials from all three branches of the government, military chiefs, and individuals, including Truman’s “Missouri gang,” hoping to move into positions of power. Overwhelmed by the enormity of the task before him, Truman turned to FDR’s former “assistant president,” James Byrnes, for a crash course in running the country. Klara conjectures that it was on this journey that one of the most important pieces of information was delivered to Truman: the existence of the Manhattan Project, the creation of the super weapon that could abruptly end the war in the Pacific. Also of great importance was the need for Truman to assure the country that it was in safe, sure hands. He insisted on delivering a State of the Union address as quickly as possible—and much of this speech was apparently pieced together on the train rides to and from Hyde Park by Truman himself and speech writers, George Allen and Edwin Pauley. The gist of the speech was that he would keep the main goals set by FDR regarding the war; the enemy would have to surrender unconditionally.
Also making the D.C.-Hyde Park round-trip on the funeral train was widowed First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. The nature of her dramatic situation was powerful. Obviously in shock because of her husband’s demise, she managed to carry herself with strength and dignity. This “show” was all the more impressive because she had apparently just learned (according to Klara’s conjecture) that her husband had deceived her by having Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd with him in Warm Springs; she was the mistress who had almost broken up the marriage years earlier, and whom FDR had promised never to see again. Apparently Eleanor learned that FDR had suffered his fatal stroke while sitting for a portrait arranged by Mrs. Mercer Rutherfurd. Upon questioning, Eleanor’s daughter, Anna, confessed to having arranged several trysts for the President and Lucy while Eleanor was representing her husband’s interests in various meetings around the country. The widow’s poise while under stress was apparently remarkable as she insured that her husband’s wishes for his interment would be fulfilled—interestingly his written instructions were not found until after the funeral; but she had been nearly 100 percent correct in her educated guesses.
Side stories grew out of the train ride. Aboard the train was Lauchlin Currie, an economic advisor to FDR, who later was accused of participating in a spy ring, which helped Stalin understand that the US was not particularly concerned about protecting Poland from Soviet takeover. There is no evidence here than Currie gleaned any useful information during the three days involved, if in fact he was guilty as accused. Another side story arose because of the use of a closed coffin; because of the nature of his death, the copper coffin had remained closed for most of the journey. Various conspiracy rumors appeared, including the assertion that the remains were not Roosevelt’s.
The ride of FDR’s funeral train lasted but a few days, but it served as a milepost for a nation looking forward to the end of war and toward continued improvement of economic stability. The President who had courageously bolstered the spirits of his suffering countrymen was now mourned. The outpouring of grief was represented by the populace crowding the railway’s path to catch a glimpse of the flag-covered coffin in a Pullman car. The great respect for the fallen leader was evident in the mass pilgrimage from the capital of politicians, government workers, military leaders, and justices. It was a journey home, equaled in emotion and drama only by that of assassinated president, Abraham Lincoln.
Ted Odenwald and his wife, Shirley have lived in Oakland for 40 years. He taught HS English at Glen Rock High School for all of those years plus one more. Now he is enjoying time spent with his family, singing in the North Jersey Chorus and quenching his wanderlust. Ted is also the Worship Leader at the Ramapo Valley Baptist Church in Oakland.