Grayson County TXGenWeb

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
1936 visit to Denison

During the summer of election year 1936 and Texas' Centennial Exposition, President and Mrs. Roosevelt traveled through the South for his campaign, arriving in Dallas on Friday, June 12th and traveling three miles from the Union Station to Fair Park. As his open touring car entered the Cotton Bowl, twenty-one aerial bombs went off overhead in a Presidential salute, not to be outdone by the mighty roar that emitted from the 50,000 people inside the Cotton Bowl. Texas Governor James Allred introduced the popular President to the crowd on a flag bedecked stage in the center of the Cotton Bowl. The President gave a 30-minute speech which was broadcast on national network radio. Following two other special events in his honor, the Presidential family spent the night at their estate near Ft. Worth. The following morning (Saturday, June 13th) the Presidential couple were joined by their son Elliott, as they left DFW and traveled north, stopping in Denison during the afternoon of Saturday.

The Denison Press
Friday, June 12, 1936
pg. 1

DENISON READY FOR PRESIDENTIAL APPEARANCE
Fourth Chief Executive To Be In Denison
Thousands to Hear
Loud Speaking System to be installed; Street to be cleared early in the morning; Plenty of police to be present

Last minute plans are being formulated today in preparation for the most rousing welcome ever given to a single personage in the history of Denison with the arrival of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt Saturday afternoon.
On four other occasions has Denison paid homage to the President of the United States. Ulysses S. Grant was the first President to visit Denison in the nineteenth century, followed by Theodore Roosevelt and Howard Taft.
More than twenty-five thousand persons from Denison, north Texas and southern Oklahoma are expected to throng the Union station at an early hour to secure posts from where they might see and hear the Chief Executive to advantage.

50 FEET OF PLATFORM
Police officials announce that listeners will not be allowed closer than 50 feet to the presidential platform and the entire premises will be literally swarming with officers, special policemen, legionnaires, army men and others to see that no harm comes to the President nor his party or that any sort of unruliness occurs. Officials said they did not expect any type of trouble, but would remain at their posts regardless and keep sharp lookouts.
Definite permission has been granted to the Chamber of Commerce to install a loud speaking system that citizens might hear the President's message more clearly. The permission was gained through the President's Secretary. The system has a clear audible tone for several blocks.

WINDOWS DECORATED
Police said they would rope off the blocks on Main street from Houston avenue to Crockett at 6 a.m. Saturday and would keep them closed until after the President's speech. The street will be cleared of cars in this section and none will be allowed parked during that time.
All windows in the downtown section have been decorated in tribute to the President with welcome signs everywhere. The decorations were done through the Chamber committee headed by Phil Witz and assisted by several local organizations.

President Roosevelt visited Denison for the first and only time on June 13, 1936. He spoke briefly from the rear platform of his train before it continued north to Oklahoma. His remarks were recorded in shorthand by a stenographer and then transcribed on a typewriter. The pages are from the FDR Presidential Library in New York. The double "n" in "Dennison" may have been a typist's error.

INFORMAL EXTEMPORANEOUS REMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT
DENNISON. TEXAS
June 13, 1936
3:15 p.m.

My friends, I am very glad to come in person to Dennison. (Applause) Although it is my first visit, I feel that I have known Dennison pretty well for a lo ng time. The reason for that is that my very good friend, your Congressman, Sam Rayburn, (applause) has been talking to me about the problems of Dennison and this part of the country for a good many years. In fact, I am not so very sure that I do not know your own geography just as well as you do.
We are taking steps, as you know, to have a survey of this part of the Red River made and I hope some day, very soon, that the great project of the Denison Dam and Basin will be started. (Applause)
And then, too, in talking with Sam Rayburn, I have been very much interested in getting electricity into people's homes. I am told that in this Congressional District there are about 31,000 farms, but out of the 31,000 farms only 700 or 800 of them have got electric lights. That is something we are going to remedy before we get through. (Applause)
We have had a wonderful two days in Texas and in a very few miles I will be leaving the State - - leaving it with great regret because Mrs. Roosevelt and I have had a wonderful reception everywhere we have gone in this great State. We will carry all through our lives the memory of this spelndid gathering and your welcome here in Dennison. And so, may I, through you, thank all of the good people of Texas.
It has been a great joy to travel through your State in company with your fine Governor, Governor Allred and Mrs. Allred. (Applaluse)
Now that I have broken the ice, I am going to come back again, I hope very soon. (Applause)

The Denison Press
Tuesday, June 16, 1936
pg. 1

COMPLIMENTED ON FDR RECEPTION
Estimate Million Greeted President on Texas Tour; Comments Made on Throng Greeting Executive at Denison
Denison was complimented on the manner in which it greeted President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on his visit and short address here Saturday afternoon in Washington by Congressman Sam Rayburn, who was companion to the President from Fort Worth to St. Louis.
It was estimated that over 1,000,000 Texans greeted the President on his trip, with approximately 30,000 of those thronging the Union Station here, standing in a hot, glaring sun for hours to get a five-minute glimpse of the Chief Executive. Practically every citizen within the city limits took the opportunity to greet the President.
The Texas tour was declared to have broken all existing records of the President's tenure of office in respect to the ovations given him, it was declared. Mr. Roosevelt was said to have returned to Washington weary, but happy over the receptions given him on his southwestern tour, taking him 4,000 miles. It was one of the most successful ever made by the President, and the first made by a Chief Executive to Texas in more than thirty years.

President's Speech at Denison, 1936