Is it possible that FDR committed suicide and that, because of the war, this was hushed up?

Question

My English teacher in prep school told our class in 1947 that he knew Madame Shoumatoff, who was painting the president's portrait at the Little White House in Warm Springs, Ga., where FDR died, and that she had told him the president shot himself and that she had seen his body slumped over the desk with a pistol in his hand. I'm aware that Madame Shoumatoff's memoirs make no mention of this, but the teacher, now deceased, was a well-respected and honorable man and wouldn't have made this up. I don't expect anyone to accept my unverified hearsay account, but perhaps someone else can add pertinent information. I might add that if the ailing president did take his own life, this in no way should detract from his reputation as president and wartime leader.

Answer 1

more tails from the un known

Answer 2

The only problem with the theory is that he had an open coffin for the much of the public showing. When people die from self-inflicted gunshot wounds, they usually put the gun in their mouths making for terrible corpses. FDR didn't have that. Further, there would have been a bloody mess to clean in the room...something very difficult to hush up, especially at a place like Warm Springs.

But then, we still have the single bullet theory vs multiple gunmen on a grassy knoll abounding from the Kennedy assasination. I'm sure anything is possible, but the realm of probability is much smaller than the realm of possibility.

As an aside, the poster above noting FDRs disdain of Truman is very true. FDR, having been raised in a true atmosphere of Noblesse oblige, would not have allowed his beloved country to fall into the hands of an inexperienced leader like Truman without putting many things in place, particularly briefings to ensure that Truman knew how to end the war. The fact that no briefings of any kind occurred and that Truman was even clueless about the Hydrogen bombs is pretty compelling evidence that FDR was not planning to die.

Answer 3

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RE:
Is it possible that FDR committed suicide and that, because of the war, this was hushed up?
My English teacher in prep school told our class in 1947 that he knew Madame Shoumatoff, who was painting the president's portrait at the Little White House in Warm Springs, Ga., where FDR died, and that she had told him the president shot himself and that she had seen his body slumped over...

Answer 4

There are lots of stories about lots of things, many of them maliciously false, simply untrue, or incomplete. Rumor mills grind out strange stories because (1) the teller has only part of the facts, (2) the hearer only hears part of the facts, (3) and subsequent hearers trying to piece together the pieces jump to interesting conclusions as imagination fills in the holes. Of course the malicious facts are sometimes thrown into the mix in order to color events. Finally, memories can be really, really tricky things that cause pain to honest and well-intentioned people when recollections fail to fully match the facts that others present.

One of the facts is abundantly clear--FDR suffered from poor health for a long time. Churchill and Stalin both saw from their last meeting, where they planned their places the post-war world, that FDR was definitely not well (and Stalin took full advantage of it). Another fact is also abundantly clear, very sick people often die before well people. He had to go sometime, so while the papers and books often report "shock" at the news, it was a shock of disappointment to their hope that this honored and respected man would see yet another crisis his country was in, through to a successful end.

If someone said they heard someone say they saw him slumped over his desk with something in his hand, I can accept that. But what if it was his pipe or a stick or a long, narrow, open bottle, such as had his medicine--and someone commented from the glimpse that it looked like the barrel of a gun? We would do his memory great disservice over a snippet of interpretive thought which we have taken beyond its substance. Even today, it is no strange news for police to shoot someone in the shadows when it looks like they were pulling a weapon when it was only a cellphone, or an asthma inhaler. Honor your teacher for the teacher that he was, but place that story in a distinctly lower spot, okay?

Answer 5

FDR did not have an open coffin. His ashes were in the casket. Very few ever saw his body and he did not lie in state. All of these facts can certainly lead to speculation. His secretary was present when he complained of sudden head pain and then slumped over before being carried to his room. She has given her account many times of watching those attending him in the short time it took him to die after being afflicted. She was still present when his wife arrived and spent several minutes with the body. It was the first lady's wishes for privacy in the events that followed.

Answer 6

FDR enjoyed giving orders, and the fact that he named Truman, a guy FDR considered as not fit for the office as his VP, indicates he was not the type to just say "the hell with Hitler!!" and shoot himself. If he had given up, he would probably had made movements in his office to make sure a guy he thought fit for the office was the #2. Truman turned up to be more than able to handle the job, but that was NOT the consensus in 1945.

But then again, Mitterrand and his aides were able to hide his sickness and fear of death tho the French people for over a decade, so it would not be the only time such a thing was covered...

Answer 7

Right...third hand information....This would be the biggest coverup ever in history.

Let's be logical...who would benefit from this? Saving his reputation? Beyond that?

And why would he take his life...the war with Germany was almost over, and the war with Japan was entering the last four months? He had defeated the Great Depression, was on the verge of knocking off fascism.

I'm sorry, that makes no sense whatsoever. No disrespect to your teacher, but this doesn't add up.

Answer 8

FDR was not the type to check out early and leave a job unfinished. He was also used to dealing with pain since he'd had polio and other problems most of his adult life.

It may be that he died at his desk in the Oval Office, but I doubt he shot himself. More likely, he overworked.

Answer 9

No. After a while the brain realizes that you are holding your breath too long and takes the mouth muscles off of voluntary control; at the same time it sends a message to the lungs to force a breath inward. Only the most controlled and disciplined individuals can control that instinct long enough to just pass out (most of us can't even hold our breath long enough to pass out); and then when they pass out all body functions are put on hold except your involuntary functions (including breathing) and you begin to breathe.

Answer 10

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Nope, although being a firefighter/EMT for 8 years, I have actually seen people try. I have seen one adolescent that actually held thier breath long enough to reach unconciousness. However, once this point is reached your body involuntarily takes over again and corrects problem, and you begin to breath normally again.

Answer 11

FDR's health was failing... you could see it in the public pictures of him in the months prior to his death... so a death from natural causes would seem logical.

I suppose he could have ended it all to avoid a long drawn out painful death, but this IS the guy who fought RELENTLESSLY to beat his polio... so I find the idea of suicide difficult to believe, and even if he did, shooting himself in the head at his desk seems pretty unlikely...