In 1933, a three-yearold boy, his older sister and their mother moved in with the boy’s grandparents – who had a very large house in an important city.
Curtis Roosevelt was that young boy. His grandparents were Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, who had just recently moved into the White House themselves.
And for much of the next twelve years Curtis – nicknamed Buzzie – was a White House resident.
But as he later wrote, it was a double-edged sword living with two such compelling figures as Franklin and Eleanor. Life as a normal child was not an option.
Curtis Roosevelt recalled his early life in the White House in a 2008 book called Too Close to The Sun. I interviewed him twice for this book, once in 2008, again in 2010
So here now, from 2008 and 2010, Curtis Roosevelt.
Curtis Roosevelt died in 2016 at age 86.