Will The President Be There?

            One day the telephone range in the office of the St. John’s Episcopal Church during the years Franklin Roosevelt served as president. “Tell me,” the voice said, “do you expect the President to be in church this Sunday?”

            “That,” the Rector explained patiently, “I cannot promise. However, God will be there and that will incentive enough for a reasonably large attendance.”

The Housekeeper

In your job, how would you like to always be remembered in a negative way? That happened to the White House housekeeper, Henrietta Nesbitt.

Nesbitt was hired by Eleanor Roosevelt, when Franklin Roosevelt was govenor of New York. Later, she joined the family in the White House, after FDR was elected president.

Nesbitt offered the president a very bland diet. One morning, FDR exclaimed to his secretary, Grace Tulley, "Doesn't Mrs. Nesbitt know that there are breakfast foods besides oatmeal? She has served it morning in and morning out for months and months now, and I'm sick and tired of it!"

Later that day, when the secretary appeared, Roosevelt showed her that day’s newspaper inserts displaying various breakfast cereals along with their prices. Then he began his dictation, "Cornflakes! 13 ounce package, 19 cents! Post Tosties! 13 ounce package, 19 cents! Cream of wheat! Two for 27 cents!... now take this gentle reminder to Ms. Nesbitt."

All of this was to no avail. When Roosevelt was running for his fourth term, he joked to his staff, the main reason he wanted to win was to fire Mrs. Nesbitt.

For years now I have seen Henrietta Nesbitt's name in various biographies of Roosevelt. Not one time to remember anything positive written about her. What a terrible indictment. Nesbitt's problem was she forgot who she was serving.

Christians do not have that excuse. Even when we do not like our earthly boss, Paul reminds us that we serve someone even higher:

23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving (Col. 3:23-24.)

May we daily work for the Lord Jesus.

Missy

Missy LeHand was President Franklin Roosevelt’s loyal secretary for decades. Then, eight years into his presidency, she suffered a debilitating stroke. Unable to speak, her years of serving the president were over.

Since FDR showed no outward display of emotion, a number of people around him considered him to be coldhearted. However, according to biographer, Doris Kearns Goodwin, nothing could be further from the truth. During Missy’s extensive hospitalization, Roosevelt ordered that she be given the finest medical care in the country – at his expense. He took time to write personally every doctor.

In time, Roosevelt would fully fund the years of physical therapy that followed. When he realized that Missy’s therapy could take years, FDR became concerned about what would happen to Missy should he died. Missy had no savings and no family to pay for her medical expenses.

In an act few would ever discover, Roosevelt arranged to redo his will. He decreed that half of his estate would be left to Missy. This act involved removing his children as beneficiaries; however, Roosevelt believed that his children would be able to take care of themselves. Missy, he knew, could not. After her death, the remaining income would be distributed in equal shares to his five children.

Later, the president explained his decision to his son, Jimmy. “I owe her that much. She served me so well for so long and asked so little in return.”

As events transpired, Franklin Roosevelt actually outlived Missy LeHand. Still, when Jesus spoke of “the least of these” in Matt. 25, I think he might have had acts such as these done by FDR in mind.