Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt "was elected President in November 1932, to the first of four terms..."

FDR & the 1924 Klanbake

Klan marches during 1924 Democratic National Convention

From RAIR Foundation USA:

"FDR spoke at the 1924 Democratic National Convention, also known as the “Klanbake”,,,, for the “heavy representation of Ku Klux Klan-friendly delegates,” as reported at the Wall Street Journal. According to Digital History, after the Klanbake, “some 20,000 Klan supporters wearing white hoods and robes held a picnic in New Jersey...an anti-KKK resolution was narrowly defeated...The final vote at the DNC was 546.15 for the Klan, 542.85 against the Klan, according to an American magazine published in the early 20th century: “Review of Reviews and World’s Work: An International Magazine, Volume 70”.

Hugo Black

September 13, 1937 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Hugo Black Ku Klux Klan membership card

"FDR appointed prominent Ku Klux Klan member Hugo Black to the Supreme Court. Black’s involvement in the KKK was confirmed by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette journalist Ray Sprigle, a journalist who won a “Pulitzer Prize for Reporting” for his exposé.

Time Line

Excerpt [edited] from Liberty Unyielding:,

September 13, 1937

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Exposed Hugo Black's Ku Klux Klan membership.

September 14, 1937

At a press conference on Sept 14 1937, FDR responded to questions about Hugo Black's Ku Klux Klan membership in the wake of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette journalist Ray Sprigle:

“I know only what I have read in the newspapers… Mr. Justice Black is abroad. Until such time as he returns there is no further comment to be made.”

September 21, 1937

On Sept 21 1937, FDR was again asked about Hugo Black’s involvement in the Ku Klux Klan during a press conference. Five minutes of the conversation were left unrecorded “per instruction.”

On September 21, 1937, Hugo Black was “besieged” by reporters. Hugo Black said, “If I make any statement it will be in a way the people can hear me and understand what I have to say, and not have to depend on some parts of the press which might fail to report all I have to say.”

October 1, 1937

On October 1, 1937, Hugo Black made a statement over the radio. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that “fifty million listeners heard the unprecedented speech.” In it, Hugo Black admitted to having been in the Ku Klux Klan.

Black said in part: “I later resigned (the Ku Klux Klan). I never rejoined. What appeared then or what appears now on the records of the organization, I do not know. I have never considered and I do not now consider the unsolicited card given to me shortly after my nomination to the Senate as a membership of any kind in the Ku Klux Klan. I never used it. I did not even keep it...When this statement is ended, my discussion of the question is closed.”

October 5, 1937

On October 5, 1937, FDR delivered his “Quarantine Speech,” where he proclaimed that “the very foundations of civilization are seriously threatened…”

The speech was criticized by Percy Crosby, an influential author and cartoonist, who wrote, “[T]here is nothing so dependable as a rousing, good war to keep a ‘president’ in the White House.”