PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT - DOCUMENT SIGNED 04/18/1919 CO-SIGNED BY: REAR ADMIRAL EDWARD B. FENNER - HFSID 254409

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
As Assistant Secretary of the Navy, he signs a document rejecting a lieutenant's request to resign from the navy.
Typed Document Signed: "Franklin D Roosevelt" in ink as Acting Secretary of the Navy and "E.B. Fenner" as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. Denver in pencil, ¾ page, 8x10½. Washington, D.C., 1919 April 18. On letterhead of the Navy Department to Lieutenant Frederick D. Powers, U.S.N., U.S.S. Denver. Roosevelt refuses to accept the resignation of Lieutenant Powers from Naval Service. In part: "The receipt is acknowledged of reference (a), and you are informed that the exigencies of the service will not permit the acceptance of resignations of officers of the regular permanent Naval establishment." Roosevelt's endorsement was delivered to the U.S.S. Denver, which was stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on 28 April 1919; it was then signed and delivered to Lieutenant Powers by Fenner. The U.S.S. Denver (LPD-9) was an amphibious transport dock that served in both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets from 1904-1933. In 1917 and 1918, during WWI, the ship served as a convoy escort in the Atlantic. A second U.S.S. Denver, a light cruiser, saw action during WWII, during FDR's tenure as President (1933-1945), before being decommissioned in 1960. A third U.S.S. Denver (another LPD) was commissioned in 1968 and was deployed to the Persian Gulf before returning to its home port of San Diego, California. Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy by President Wilson in April 1913, would himself resign from the post on April 6, 1920. That year, FDR was the Democratic candidate for Vice President. The James M. Cox-Roosevelt ticket lost to Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge in November 1920. Edward B. Fenner later rose to the rank of Rear Admiral and command of the 13th US Naval District, headquartered at Puget Sound Naval Station. Lightly creased with folds, not at signatures. Date and receipt stamps at upper right margin. Light paperclip stain at upper blank left edge. 2 file holes at upper blank margin, 3 file holes at blank left edge (reinforcements at upper 2 and on verso). Pencil notes (unknown hand) at upper right corner. Lightly soiled, slightly shaded at upper edge. Chipped at blank left edge and upper edge. Overall, fine condition.