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| March 24, 1936 at Port Everglades |
By Jane Feehan
Presidents’ vacations have garnered notice throughout U.S. history; Franklin D. Roosevelt’s annual spring fishing trip was no exception.
Roosevelt came to Fort Lauderdale by train March 23, 1936 where he boarded the USS Monaghan at Port Everglades. The party rendezvoused at sea with the president's yacht, the Potomac, a converted Coast Guard cutter. FDR boarded the vessel for an inaugural ride. During the expedition, Roosevelt hooked a large sailfish, which escaped, and then landed a bonita. The excursion ended by early afternoon.
Roosevelt also conducted business that day while docked at Fort Lauderdale.
Major General Johnson Hagood met with the president en route to Fort Lauderdale after making some controversial remarks before a congressional committee about federal work relief expenditures. The day after the meeting, the decorated general was ordered by Roosevelt, still in Port Everglades, to take three months leave of absence.
Hagood’s leave lasted less than two months when he received a new command. He accepted the command for one day and then retired. His memories of Fort Lauderdale, no doubt, were not as fond as those held by Roosevelt.
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Sources:
Palm Beach Daily News, March 24, 1936
Weidling, Philip J., Burghard, August. Checkered Sunshine. Gainesville: University of Florida Press (1966).
Tags: Fort Lauderdale history, President Franklin D Roosevelt, Florida fishing history, Major General Johnson Hagood, film research
