The first President to secretly record meetings.
The recordings were manually turned off and on and FDR forgot to turn off the recorder, so we have this recording discussing integrating the Armed Forces. The tape was not discovered until the 1980s.
The meeting was held in the Oval Office, September 27, 1940. Attending were
FDR, Walter White (NAACP), A. Phillips Randolph (Union and civil rights activist), Frank Knox, Secretary of the Navy.
The tape is hard to hear, but the Library produced the script to read.
For White and Randolph to present their case to the President at a meeting in the Oval Office at least began a dialog on the issue.
The Armed Services remained segregated until 1948.
I found the tape both illuminating and disconcerting to hear FDR so unfiltered.
Perhaps a swipe at Southern Democrats?
Rosy Ramblings 