Roosevelt Franklin Franklin Delano Roosevelt writes an incredibly rare Autograph Letter Signed as President to his daughter Anna, reporting on his cruise through the Panama CanalAn extremely rare Autograph Letter Signed, "Father," as President, 3 pages, 7.25" x 10.5" on "United States Ship Houston" letterhead, "At Bahia Honda Repub[lic] of Panama," October 13, 1935, written to his daughter Anna Roosevelt (1906-1975). Expected mailing creases, else fine condition. Housed in an attractive blue-cloth bound custom slipcase. His letter reads in full: "Dearest Anna - I have just come up to my cabin after the Church Service on the well-deck, attended by many of the officers & men of the Houston and Portland - We are lying in this very lovely landlocked harbor 200 West of the Canal - a very wild tropical country that can only be reached by sea - a few Indian huts on stilts, & with thatched roofs – and some dugout canoes coming out to trade cocannuts [sic] for cigarettes - It is hot in the sun but there is a nice breeze, & I am getting thoroughly tanned to the waist - The fishing has been marvelous & tho' Gus [August A. Gennerich, F.D.R.'s bodyguard] has the record with a 148 lb. sailfish I am second with a 134 pounder - 9 ft. 6 inches long. For the next four or five days we shall fish among the Perlas Islands in the Gulf of Panama & I may run over to the Darian country near the Columbian border to see part of Central America never yet occupied by White men – The Three Musqueteers [sic] on the Portland are having a grand time - much happier than last year, and they are reconciled to my editing of their despatches [sic]! I have had a really good rest, disturbed only by cockatoos radios to & from the State Dept. over the Italo-Ethiopian war– I don't know your new address, so I am sending this to 49 E. 65, where I take it Jimmy or Bats[?] are duly ensconced. I do want to hear all about the apartment & also the children's schools. Give them a great deal of love & tell them I hope to have some good photos of the Big Fish to show them. Much more love to you & John [Clarence John Boettiger, Anna's first husband] - I heard several reports of the grand work he is doing while I was on the Coast - I hope to be at H[yde].P[ark]. the Sat or Sun before Christmas & count on seeing you then." Roosevelt boarded the U.S.S. Houston at San Diego on October 2, 1935 accompanied by Harold Ickes, Harry L. Hopkins, Chester C. Wood, R. D. Clark and others for a cruise through the Panama Canal that ended at Charleston South Carolina on October 23. His party included Harold Ickes, Harry Hopkins, and Chester C. Wood (Cruise of the President on board U.S.S. Houston October 2 to 23, 1935). Roosevelt used the cruise as a means to return to the East Coast after travelling cross country to attend the dedication of Boulder Dam. Anna Roosevelt Dall Boettiger Halsted (1906-1975) was the first child born to Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt and for the first half of her life worked as a newspaper and magazine editor and writer. During Franklin Roosevelt's final year in the White House, Anna worked for her father as an assistant to the President and as White House hostess during her mother Eleanor's frequent absences. She witnessed many historic events during her time in Washington and even accompanied her father to Yalta. Following her father's death, Anna helped produce a radio program with her mother, the Eleanor and Anna Roosevelt Program which ran from 1948 to 1949. Following her divorce from her second husband, newspaper publisher Clarence Boettiger, she married James Addison Halsted, a physician, and soon afterward began a long and successful career in public relations. Clarence John Boettiger (1900-1950) met Anna aboard Roosevelt's campaign train while he was covering the election of 1832 for the Chicago Tribune. In 1935 the couple wed in a low key ceremony at the Roosevelt's town house in New York. From 1936 to 1946 Boettiger served as publisher of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer while Anna edited of the paper's women's pages. During the Second World War, Boettiger served as a captain and accompanied his father to the Tehran Conferenced, helping compose the final draft of the Declaration of the Three Powers. Boettinger and Anna are also credited with composing F.D.R.'s famous "D. Day Prayer" in 1944. Following F.D.R.'s death in 1945, the couple grew estranged and in 1949 they divorced.This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.WE PROVIDE IN-HOUSE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE!