FDR Jr. Born: Son Who Championed Civil Rights

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. carried one of the most recognizable names in American politics and used it to build a career in Congress and federal service that, while overshadowed by his father's presidency, left its own mark on civil rights enforcement. Born in Campobello Island, New Brunswick on August 17, 1914, he was the fifth of six children of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. He grew up in the White House during the Depression and graduated from Harvard and the University of Virginia School of Law. During World War II, he served as a naval officer in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean, earning the Silver Star and the Navy Cross for actions against German submarines. He won a special election to Congress in 1949, representing a New York City district, and served five terms. In the House, he became an early and vocal advocate for civil rights legislation at a time when the Democratic Party was still deeply divided between its northern liberal wing and its southern segregationist bloc. He pushed for fair employment practices and anti-lynching legislation. His most consequential appointment came in 1965, when President Lyndon Johnson named him the first chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC was created by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to enforce the new federal prohibition on workplace discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The commission had no enforcement powers initially and relied on conciliation, but Roosevelt's leadership established the institutional framework that would later gain the authority to bring lawsuits against employers. He left the EEOC in 1966 and spent the remainder of his career in business and farming. He ran unsuccessfully for governor of New York in 1966. His later years were marked by declining health and multiple marriages. He died on August 17, 1988, his 74th birthday, in Poughkeepsie, New York.