Did you know F. D. Roosevelt once sailed together with a future prominent Fascist?

Today's short article is about a fascinating historical photo from 1926 we have just found. The man sitting is future President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His fishing companions are British baronet Sir Oswald Mosley and his wife Lady Cynthia Blanche Mosley. What makes the photo interesting is that Mosley would go on to become the foremost British Fascist and found the British of Union of Fascists in the early 1930s. How did these two future enemies meet?

After losing the use of his legs to polio, Roosevelt and a friend bought a 71-foot vessel they named the Larooco and went on an extended stay in Florida between 1924 and 1926. Besides trying to rehabilitate his health by standing in buoyant salt water and crawling in sand to build up body strength, Roosevelt also went on fishing trips and held boat parties in Florida Keys, entertaining a variety of guests who no doubt enjoyed the chance to dress improperly in a mixed-sex company and drink alcohol despite the Prohibition. Two of these guests were Mr. and Mrs. Mosley, who joined Roosevelt for a few weeks in February 1926.

It's not surprising that the two would meet, since they both came from high society: Mosley from British nobility, and Roosevelt from, well, the Roosevelt family. It should also be noted that Mosley had not yet turned to fascism at this time. In fact, he had abandoned his position as a Conservative representative and joined the left-wing Independent Labour Party recently, with political views that were not far from those of Roosevelt's. In late 1924, he lost elections in a Birmingham constituency against the same Neville Chamberlain who would go on to become Churchill's predecessor as Prime Minister. After his defeat, Mosley and his wife spent some time traveling, first in India, then in the United States where they met and joined Roosevelt on his boat.  

Mosley's quick and enthusiastic turn to fascism in the early 1930s put an end to cordial relationships he might have formerly had with Roosevelt, and, as our last photo proves, the latter eventually turned to another British politician for a fishing partner.

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