Logo for William D. Hassett Papers | Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

William D. Hassett Papers | Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

Collection Overview

Title: William D. Hassett PapersAdd to your cart.

Primary Creator: William D. Hassett (1880-1965)

Extent: 13.0 Cubic Feet

Date Acquired: 06/02/1958

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The William D. Hassett Papers are divided into four series, with the final series on microfilm. The first series consists of general correspondence. The second series consists of personal correspondence, book notes, and memoribilia.  The third series consists of clippings.  The fourth series consists of correspondence and files related to Hassett's real estate, medical matters, and other persoanl business.

Collection Historical Note

William D. Hassett was born in Northfield, Vermont, on August 28, 1880. He attended Clark University from 1902-04, then became a reporter for the Burlington Free Press.

In 1909, Hassett went to Washington, D.C., where he continued his newspaper career with the Washington Post and the Associated Press, and also served as Washington correspondent for the Cincinnati Enquirer and the New York Telegram. From 1921 to 1925, her served in London as correspondent for the Philadelphia Public Ledger and the Associated Press.

Hassett began his government career in 1933 with the National Recovery Administration. In 1935 he became an Assistant Secretary to the President. On February 19, 1944, President Roosevelt appointed him Secretary to the President. Hassett also served occasionally as White House press secretary and it was he who announced the President’s death in Warm Springs, Georgia. He was appointed Secretary to President Truman on April 16, 1945, and held this post until his retirement in 1952.

Hassett was a director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial Foundation, a trustee of Norwich University (Vermont), and a member of the Board of Management of the Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C. He wrote several articles and books, the best known being Off the Record with FDR (New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press, 1958).

Mr. Hassett died on August 29, 1965, in Northfield Vermont.

Administrative Information

Repository: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

Access Restrictions: Certain materials have been closed on the instructions of the donor.

Use Restrictions: The literary property rights in them have not been donated to the United States Government.

Acquisition Source: William D. Hassett

Acquisition Method: Mr. Hassett donated his papers to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library on June 2, 1958.

Related Materials: Materials relating to William Hassett will be found in PPF 5125 (William D. Hassett), OF 5485 (William D. Hassett) and the Oscar Cox Papers (William D. Hassett). There is also material at the Library of Congress and copies of material at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri.

Box and Folder Listing


Browse by Series:

[Series 1: General Correspondence, 1911-1965],
[Series 2: Personal File, 1903-1961],
[Series 3: Clippings File, 1910-1960],
[Series 4: Microfilm, 1941-1955],
[All]


Series 1: General Correspondence, 1911-1965Add to your cart.
Incoming and outgoing correspondence, memoranda, reports and printed material arranged alphabetically by subject and surname of correspondent. Material before 1933 consists only of printed items. The Franklin D. Roosevelt files (1933-45) contain copies of Presidential memoranda from his papers in the Library of Congress)(Containers 1-19).

Box 1Add to your cart.

A - GeneralAdd to your cart.

Aiken, George D., 1946-1965Add to your cart.

Allen, Leslie H., 1943-1954Add to your cart.

Andrews, Robert, 1943-1945Add to your cart.

Andrews, Robert, 1946-1952Add to your cart.

Angly, Edward, 1942-1951Add to your cart.

Annin, J. P., 1947-1952Add to your cart.

Atwood, Wallace W., 1945-1949Add to your cart.

Austin, Warren R., 1941-1964Add to your cart.

Box 2Add to your cart.

B - GeneralAdd to your cart.

Barcella, Ernest, 1951-1963Add to your cart.

Bassett, Mr. and Mrs. R. C., 1946-1951Add to your cart.

Baukage, H. R., 1939-1949Add to your cart.

Baukage, H. R., 1950-1960Add to your cart.

Benton, William, 1945-1956Add to your cart.

Bergman, Vonda, 1949-1955Add to your cart.

Bishop, H. O., 1942-1951Add to your cart.

Bogart, Charles M., 1950-1951Add to your cart.

Books Loaned by W.D.H.Add to your cart.

Book-of-the-Month Club, Inc., 1951Add to your cart.

Bradfield, H. C., 1943-1955Add to your cart.

Box 3Add to your cart.

Brodnax, Mrs. E. P. (Dorothy Mosely), 1946-1952Add to your cart.

Brown, John P., 1945-1952Add to your cart.

Buck, Gardner A., 1940-1950Add to your cart.

Burlington Free Press, 1953-1962Add to your cart.

Burlington Free Press Reunion, 1953 and 1958Add to your cart.

C - GeneralAdd to your cart.

Cave, Richard L., 1944-1952Add to your cart.

Cayo, Arthur J., 1948-1951Add to your cart.

Chadwick, H. H., 1950-1952Add to your cart.

Chandler, Florence, 1942-1955Add to your cart.

Christmas Lists, 1951Add to your cart.

Christmas Card Lists, 1950, 1954Add to your cart.

Clark University, 1927, 1945-1951Add to your cart.

Clark University, 1952Add to your cart.

Clark University Dinn, January 10, 1952Add to your cart.

Box 4Add to your cart.

Clark University, 1953-1965Add to your cart.

Clark University - Alumni Bulletin, 1946-1952Add to your cart.

Clifford, Clark M., 1947-1965Add to your cart.

Clifford Children (Joyce, Mary and Margery), 1947-1952Add to your cart.

Cobb, Mrs. Guy W., 1940-1951Add to your cart.

Cogswell, Robert F., 1947-1952Add to your cart.

Cole, Mr. and Mrs. Victor B., 1938-1955Add to your cart.

Collet, John C., 1945-1952Add to your cart.

Collier's Article - Correspondence re, October 20, 1951Add to your cart.

Conversational Club, 1953-1964Add to your cart.

Copies of Old Letter and Humorous MemosAdd to your cart.

Cosmos Club, 1940-1963Add to your cart.

Box 5Add to your cart.

Cosmos Club - Committee on Admissions, 1946-1952Add to your cart.

Cosmos Club - House Rules, Membership Card, NoticesAdd to your cart.

Cosmos Club - Board of Governors, 1951Add to your cart.

Cosmos Club - Board of Governors, 1952Add to your cart.

Cosmos Club - Bulletin, 1947-1952Add to your cart.

Crain, Bennett, 1944-1958Add to your cart.

Crane, Charles E., 1945-1957Add to your cart.

Cross, Marie, 1949-1950Add to your cart.

Cushman, Roy M., 1944-1955Add to your cart.

D - GeneralAdd to your cart.

Daniels, Jonathan, 1945-1965Add to your cart.

Davenport, B. Warwick, 1945-1952Add to your cart.

Box 6Add to your cart.

Dolbear, Samuel H., 1952-1958Add to your cart.

Drew, Ira Walton, 1936-1955Add to your cart.

Drury, Newton B., 1949-1956Add to your cart.

Drury, Newton B. - re Termination as Director of Park Servi, 1951Add to your cart.

E - GeneralAdd to your cart.

Early, Stephen, 1945-1952Add to your cart.

Early, Mrs. Stephen, 1951Add to your cart.

Edgerton, Alson B., 1941-1951Add to your cart.

Eisenhower, Dwight D., 1946-1949Add to your cart.

Ellis, George A., 1950-1953Add to your cart.

Emerson, George T., 1941-1952Add to your cart.

Essex JunctionAdd to your cart.

F - GeneralAdd to your cart.

Farrar, John, 1952Add to your cart.

Fisher, A. K., 1946-1948Add to your cart.

Flash - Hassett's Mynah BirdAdd to your cart.

Funny LettersAdd to your cart.

G- GeneralAdd to your cart.

Box 7Add to your cart.

Gibson, Ernest W., 1944-1964Add to your cart.

Graf, John E., 1949-1954Add to your cart.

Great Indemnity Company, 1946-1950Add to your cart.

Ha-Hi - GeneralAdd to your cart.

Hargrove, Gale (See also H. John Kelly), 1950-1952Add to your cart.

Harmon, Ernest N., 1951-1964Add to your cart.

Hazen, Martha, 1950-1956Add to your cart.

Helm, Edith, 1953-1961Add to your cart.

Hewitt, Arthur, 1941-1952Add to your cart.

Ho-Hu - GeneralAdd to your cart.

Box 8Add to your cart.

Holmes, George - Memorial Library, 1944Add to your cart.

Home Life Insurance Company, 1945-1951Add to your cart.

Hopkins, Bishop J. H., 1947-1949Add to your cart.

Howe, David, 1941-1952Add to your cart.

Illingsworth, Robert, 1945-1951Add to your cart.

Important - To Be Filed LaterAdd to your cart.

Irish, Stacey, 1947-1953Add to your cart.

Isherwood, Mrs. Harold, 1954Add to your cart.

J - GeneralAdd to your cart.

Jefferson, Howard B., 1951-1952Add to your cart.

Jefferson, Thomas (Papers of)Add to your cart.

Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner, 1947-1952Add to your cart.

Johnson, Luther, 1953-1962Add to your cart.

K - GeneralAdd to your cart.

Kelly, H. John (See also Gale Hargrove), 1949-1952Add to your cart.

Kerin, Charles A., 1943-1964Add to your cart.

Kerin, Susie, 1943-1951Add to your cart.

Kerr and Elliott, 1945-1951Add to your cart.

Kromer, Leon, 1947-1952Add to your cart.

Kyes, Frank M., 1950-1952Add to your cart.

L - GeneralAdd to your cart.

Leahy, William D., 1945-1959Add to your cart.

Leviero, Anthony, 1952-1954Add to your cart.

Living Wilderness Magazine, 1946-1949Add to your cart.

Box 9Add to your cart.

M - GeneralAdd to your cart.

U.S.S. "Margie", 1951Add to your cart.

Marble, Henry C., 1944-1965Add to your cart.

Marshall, George C., 1943-1964Add to your cart.

Mayo Memorial Hospital, 1955Add to your cart.

Mazuzan, John E., 1943-1952Add to your cart.

McCrea, John E., 1943-1965Add to your cart.

Mearns, David C., 1953-1964Add to your cart.

Message to Garcia, February 8, 1952Add to your cart.

Morse, Lincoln W., 1941-1955Add to your cart.

Morse, Louis L., 1942-1952Add to your cart.

Morse Children - Andy, Pat, Ellen, Tom, 1947-1952Add to your cart.

Morse, Theron, 1943-1952Add to your cart.

Mutual Life Insurance Company, 1946-1947Add to your cart.

N - GeneralAdd to your cart.

National Geographic Society, 1946-1951Add to your cart.

National Life Insurance Company, 1947-1951Add to your cart.

National Parks, 1950-1952Add to your cart.

Box 10Add to your cart.

National Press Club - Year Book, 1911-1913Add to your cart.

Newsweek Magazine, 1950-1951Add to your cart.

New Yorker Magazine, 1949-1951Add to your cart.

New York Times, 1960-1962Add to your cart.

Northfield High School Alumni Association, 1941-1951Add to your cart.

Northfield High School Reunion, 1950Add to your cart.

Northfield High School - The AegisAdd to your cart.

Northfield Town Report, 1947-1950Add to your cart.

Northfield - Miscellaneous, 1947-1965Add to your cart.

Norwich University, 1945-1953Add to your cart.

Norwich University - Reports and Printed MaterialsAdd to your cart.

Box 11Add to your cart.

Norwich University - Board of Trustees, 1951-1953Add to your cart.

O - GeneralAdd to your cart.

O'Brien, Robert L., 1951-1953Add to your cart.

O'Connor and Faber - re Saturday Evening Post ArticlesAdd to your cart.

Oehser, Paul H., 1948-1952Add to your cart.

Oxford University Press, 1953-1957Add to your cart.

P-Q - GeneralAdd to your cart.

Pearl Harbor DisasterAdd to your cart.

Petigru, James - EpitaphAdd to your cart.

Pierce, H. R., 1941-1951Add to your cart.

Pingree, C. E., 1945-1956Add to your cart.

Plumley, Charles A., 1935-1960Add to your cart.

Plumley, Fletcher, 1936-1952Add to your cart.

Box 12Add to your cart.

R - GeneralAdd to your cart.

Revere Ware, 1952Add to your cart.

Roosevelt, Anna Boettiger, 1942-1952Add to your cart.

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1938-1963Add to your cart.

Roosevelt, Elliot, 1941-1951Add to your cart.

Roosevelt, Franklin D. - Materials re (1)Add to your cart.

Roosevelt, Franklin D. - Materials re (2)Add to your cart.

Roosevelt, Franklin D., 1933-1939Add to your cart.

Roosevelt, Franklin D., January-April 1940Add to your cart.

Box 13Add to your cart.

Roosevelt, Franklin D., May-December 1940Add to your cart.

Roosevelt, Franklin D., 1941Add to your cart.

Roosevelt, Franklin D., 1942-January 1944Add to your cart.

Roosevelt, Franklin D., April 1944-1945Add to your cart.

Roosevelt, Franklin D. - Campaign Speech Materi, 1944Add to your cart.

Roosevelt, Franklin D. - V-E Day Proclamation, 1944-1945Add to your cart.

Roosevelt Day Dinners, 1951-1952, 1956-1957Add to your cart.

Roosevelt Foundation, 1947-1951Add to your cart.

Box 14Add to your cart.

Roosevelt - President's Birthday Ball, 1944-1945Add to your cart.

Roosevelt Library, 1948-1966Add to your cart.

Roosevelt National Historic Site, 1949-1950Add to your cart.

Roosevelt - Warm Springs Foundation and Memorial Commission, 1947-1963Add to your cart.

Roosevelt - Inscriptions in books given to HassettAdd to your cart.

Roosevelt, Franklin D., Jr., 1949-1952Add to your cart.

Roosevelt, James, 1938, 1950, 1964Add to your cart.

Roosevelt, Mrs. Kermit, 1944-1946Add to your cart.

Rutgers University Press, 1957-1965Add to your cart.

S - GeneralAdd to your cart.

Saturday Evening Post, 1953-1961Add to your cart.

Shangri-La, 1946-1952Add to your cart.

Sherry Hall - Hassett's Apartment, 1949-1951Add to your cart.

Sherwood, Robert, 1944-1952Add to your cart.

Box 15Add to your cart.

Spaatz, Carl A., 1942-1951Add to your cart.

Stephens, Marion W., 1943-1952Add to your cart.

T - GeneralAdd to your cart.

The Tablet, 1938-1951Add to your cart.

Taylor, James H., 1943-1951Add to your cart.

Taylor, Myron C., November 1946-June 1947Add to your cart.

Taylor, Myron C., 1948Add to your cart.

Box 16Add to your cart.

Taylor, Myron C., 1949Add to your cart.

Taylor, Myron C., 1950Add to your cart.

Taylor, Myron C., 1951-1952Add to your cart.

Taylor, Myron C., 1953-1959Add to your cart.

Box 17Add to your cart.

Taylor - Material for BookAdd to your cart.

Taylor - Printed Matter (1)Add to your cart.

Taylor - Printed Matter (2)Add to your cart.

Thompson, Malvina, 1945-1951Add to your cart.

Tobin, Katharine H., 1948-1952Add to your cart.

Travelers Insurance Company, 1945-1947Add to your cart.

Truman, Harry S., 1945-1952Add to your cart.

Box 18Add to your cart.

Truman, Harry S., 1953-1965Add to your cart.

Truman, Margaret and Bess, 1946-1952Add to your cart.

Tuckerman, Louis B., 1948-1954Add to your cart.

Tully, Grace G., 1939-1960Add to your cart.

U-V - GeneralAdd to your cart.

The Vermonter, 1946Add to your cart.

Vermont Historical Society, 1943-1963Add to your cart.

Vermont Life, 1946-1952Add to your cart.

Vermont State Association, 1946-1952Add to your cart.

Vermont Town Meeting, 1950-1951Add to your cart.

Vinson, Fred M., 1945-1947Add to your cart.

W - GeneralAdd to your cart.

Washington, George - Farewell AddressesAdd to your cart.

Washington Post and Star, 1952Add to your cart.

Box 19Add to your cart.

Webb, Charles A., 1942-1952Add to your cart.

Weil, Eliot, 1935-1952Add to your cart.

Welch, Mrs. Guy N., 1950Add to your cart.

Who's Who, 1947-1951Add to your cart.

Wilderness Society, 1934-1955Add to your cart.

Williams, Jay Jerome, 1944-June 1949Add to your cart.

Williams, Jay Jerome, July 1949-1955Add to your cart.

Wilson, Lyle C., 1941-1962Add to your cart.

Zahniser, Howard, 1947-1952Add to your cart.

Series 2: Personal File, 1903-1961Add to your cart.
Messages of congratulations, greeting cards, diary material, date and guest books, invitations, memorabilia and writings of Hassett and others. The diary is a marked copy which Hassett used in preparing Off the Record with FDR. The only material before 1933 is a Clark College notebook (1903) and White House invitations (1914 and 1917). (Containers 20-24)

Box 20Add to your cart.

Congratulations on Appointment - A, February 1944Add to your cart.

Congratulations on Appointment - D-HAdd to your cart.

Congratulations on Appointment - I-MAdd to your cart.

Congratulations on Appointment - N-SAdd to your cart.

Box 21Add to your cart.

Congratulations on Appointment - T-YAdd to your cart.

Correspondence re Resignation - A-W, 1952Add to your cart.

Birthday Greetings, 1942-1951Add to your cart.

Biographical SketchesAdd to your cart.

Diary, January 6-June 28, 1942Add to your cart.

Diary, June 29-November 15, 1942Add to your cart.

Diary, November 16, 1942-November 2, 1943Add to your cart.

Box 22Add to your cart.

Diary, November 3, 1943-September 18, 1944Add to your cart.

Diary, September 19-December 19, 1944Add to your cart.

Diary, December 23, 1944-May 13, 1945Add to your cart.

Date Book, 1949Add to your cart.

Guest BooksAdd to your cart.

White House Invitations, 1914, 1917, 1939-1951, 1961Add to your cart.

Box 23Add to your cart.

Invitations - General, 1941, 1945-1947Add to your cart.

Memorabilia (1)Add to your cart.

Memorabilia (2)Add to your cart.

Memorabilia - Presidential Cruise - U.S.S. Missouri, September 1947Add to your cart.

Notes - MiscellaneousAdd to your cart.

Notebook - Clark College, October 1903Add to your cart.

Box 24Add to your cart.

Press Conferences, 1939, 1946, 1947, 1949Add to your cart.

Speech - Hassett, June 16, 1954Add to your cart.

Writings - "The Lengthening Shadow of FDR"Add to your cart.

Writings - "Walking with the Devil"Add to your cart.

Writings - "Off the Record with FDR" - Correspondence reAdd to your cart.

Writings - "Off the Record with FDR" - Material reAdd to your cart.

Writings - "Off the Record with FDR" - Galley ProofAdd to your cart.

Writings - "Off the Record with FDR" - ReviewsAdd to your cart.

Writings - "The President was My Boss" - Article in the Saturday Evening PostAdd to your cart.

Reviews of Books about FDRAdd to your cart.

Writings of Others - MiscellaneousAdd to your cart.

Publications - "Confessions Of A Young Man" and "La Peinture de Michel'Ange"Add to your cart.

Series 3: Clippings File, 1910-1960Add to your cart.
Containers 25-28 include newspaper clippings arranged in rough chronological order for the entire period. Containers 29-32 include newspaper clippings bound in scrapbooks covering the period 1944-1952.

Box 25Add to your cart.

Clippings - Prior to 1939Add to your cart.

Clippings, 1939Add to your cart.

Clippings, 1940Add to your cart.

Clippings, 1941Add to your cart.

Clippings - Death of FDR's Mother, 1941Add to your cart.

Clippings, 1942Add to your cart.

Box 26Add to your cart.

Clippings, 1943Add to your cart.

Clippings, 1944Add to your cart.

Clippings - Electi, 1944Add to your cart.

Clippings, 1945Add to your cart.

Clippings, 1946Add to your cart.

Clippings, 1947Add to your cart.

Clippings, 1948Add to your cart.

Box 27Add to your cart.

Clippings, 1949Add to your cart.

Clippings, 1949Add to your cart.

Clippings - Miscellaneous (1)Add to your cart.

Clippings - Miscellaneous (2)Add to your cart.

Box 28Add to your cart.

Clippings - Miscellaneous (3)Add to your cart.

Clippings - Miscellaneous (4)Add to your cart.

Clippings - Miscellaneous (5)Add to your cart.

Box 29Add to your cart.

Clippings - Scrapbook, 1944Add to your cart.

Clippings - Scrapbook, 1945Add to your cart.

Clippings - Scrapbook, 1946Add to your cart.

Box 30Add to your cart.

Clippings - Scrapbook, 1947Add to your cart.

Clippings - Scrapbook, 1948Add to your cart.

Box 31Add to your cart.

Clippings - Scrapbook, 1949Add to your cart.

Clippings - Scrapbook, 1950Add to your cart.

Box 32Add to your cart.

Clippings - Scrapbook, 1951Add to your cart.

Clippings - Scrapbook, 1952Add to your cart.

Series 4: Microfilm, 1941-1955Add to your cart.

MICROFILM: The Hassett Papers contain three rolls of microfilm.

Microfilm NO. 46-1 (two rolls) consists of Hassett’s correspondence with family and friends filmed by the Library and returned to him. Roll 1 covers the period 1941-1955, and includes correspondence with Mr. and Mrs. C. I. Frost, Warren Frost, Fred A. Howland and Mrs. C. E. Dorothy, Maxine and Wilson C. McNamara. Roll 2 covers the period 1944-1952 and contains correspondence with Wilson C. McNamara, Mrs. Lawrence Morah and Hassett personal papers relating to real estate, finance, travel, insurance and medical matters. Microfilm No, 46-2 (one roll) consists of material copied from the Hassett Papers in the Library of Congress. Included are a number of FDR memoranda, an invitation to the Truman-Barkley inauguration, an address by Hassett on the eighth anniversary of FDR’s death and material related to the FDR Memorial Commission. Some of this material is duplicated in the manuscript collection.


Sub-Series 1: No. 46-1Add to your cart.

Box Roll 1Add to your cart.

Frost, Mr. and Mrs. C., 1941-1955Add to your cart.

Frost, Warr, 1941-1955Add to your cart.

Howland, Fred, 1941-1955Add to your cart.

McNamara, Mrs. C., 1941-1955Add to your cart.

McNamara, Dorot, 1941-1955Add to your cart.

McNamara, Maxi, 1941-1955Add to your cart.

McNamara, Wilson, 1941-1955Add to your cart.

Box Roll 2Add to your cart.

McNamara, Wilson, 1944-1952Add to your cart.

Morah, Mrs. Lawren, 1944-1952Add to your cart.

Personal - Real Estate - Correspondence, 1944-1952Add to your cart.

Personal - Financial, Trav, 1944-1952Add to your cart.

Personal - Insuran, 1944-1952Add to your cart.

Personal - Medical repor, 1944-1952Add to your cart.

Personal - Humorous Poe, 1944-1952Add to your cart.

Sub-Series 2: No. 46-2Add to your cart.

Box Roll 1Add to your cart.

FDR, 1935, 1939-1945Add to your cart.

Invitation to Truman Barkley InaugurationAdd to your cart.

Hassett address on eighth anniversary of FDR's passing and material re FDR Memorial CommissionAdd to your cart.

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: General Correspondence, 1911-1965],
[Series 2: Personal File, 1903-1961],
[Series 3: Clippings File, 1910-1960],
[Series 4: Microfilm, 1941-1955],
[All]