On November 2, 1940, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and party visit P-39 aircraft production line at the Bell Aircraft Company factory, 2050 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York, and P-40 production lines at the Curtiss Aeroplane factory, 2303 Kenmore Avenue, Buffalo, NY. Workers in the Bell plant pose around and inside fuselages taking shape along a production line for Bell P-39 Airacobra airplanes. In the Curtiss plant, view from rear, of Secret Service agent in coat and hat, standing on running board of an open Packard motor car carrying President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and his party as they drive slowly along an aisle in the factory, showing P-40 aircraft in various stages of completion. The President is barely visible in the back seat. (This is a 1939 Packard twelve, model 1708, special parade car, built for the President's use.) View from ahead of the President's car, as it proceeds along the Curtiss P-40 production line. (The President, in coat and hat, sits in the right rear seat.) As they progress along the production line, the aircraft seen are increasingly more complete. At the Bell plant, the motorocade passes a fully assembled P-39 on display. The President holds a desk model of the plane. The American flag and Presidential flag are displayed on the front of the car. The president is now seen without his hat. The car moves into a section of one of the factories that fabricates wing assemblies and other smaller parts. Closeup front view of the President and party as the car begins to exit the Bell factory on Elmwood Avenue. The building has "Bell Aircraft Corp." written on it. Employees are lined up outside the plant and applaud the President. [Note: There is a possibility that some scenes may be from other Buffalo-area aircraft factories that started production in 1942, including the Bell Plant in Wheatfield, NY (Niagara Falls) and the Curtiss Plant #2 at the Buffalo Airport.]
During the 1940 Presidential election campaign, President Franklin D. Roosevelt rides the streets of Buffalo, New York, in his limousine, a 1939 Lincoln V12 model 1708, special parade car, built for the President's use. Escorted by several motorcycle policemen, and followed by a car of Secret Service agents, it stops in front of the City Hall, at 65 Niagara Square, where a large welcoming crowd is gathered. The McKinley Monument is seen behind them in the square. Police and uniformed guards control the flag-waving crowd. The President, bundled against the wind in a cloak, makes some remarks recorded on a microphone of radio station WBNY. Several enthusiastic women supporters wave American flags at the front of the crowd. The next scenes show the Presidential limousine and escorts traveling along streets of the commercial district of Buffalo. Spectators line the sidewalks and cheer the President. A final sequence is taken from a car moving in the motorcade. It shows members of the Presidents party, and a police official waving spectators away from the motorcade.
Presidential train parked in a train station at a city in Pennsylvania,during President Roosevelt's reelection campaign in 1940. It is surrounded by a phalanx of officials and police. View from rear of the train reveals a huge crowd jamming the train station, outside. A banner reads: "Lavery for Congress,"and another announces AFL support 500,000 strong for Franklin D. Roosevelt. The President speaks from the train's rear platform, and waves as the train pulls out of the station. Interesting side profile view of the President waving to the crowd as his railroad train car starts moving away.
Herbert Hoover carries a folded ballot to a ballot box, where a woman helps him to insert it. He shakes her hand and walks away. Scene shifts to Hoover filling out a ballot, at a table. A woman is seen in the background bending over and filling out her own ballot. Hoover smiles and gets up from his chair. Next, Mrs.Hoover (Lou Henry) sits at the table filling out her ballot. She stands up and steps away.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt is seen platform beside the new stone Post Office in Hyde Park, New York. He speaks to a crowd gathered for the dedication of the Post Office. Brief view from across the avenue, then back to the crowd at the dedication site. The President speaking to the crowd. He then takes a trowel and ceremoniously applies mortar to the top of a cornerstone. Closeup of the corner stone shows names of current officials and the architect, including: Franklin D.Roosevelt, President of United States of America; James A. Farley, Postmaster General; John M. Carmody,Federal Works Administrator; W. Englebert Reynolds, Commissioner of Public Buildings; Louis A. Simon, Supervising Architect; and Neal A. Melick, Supervising Engineer. The year 1940 is also engraved.
Opening scene shows a voting booth with curtains closed. U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) accompanied by his mother Sara Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor Roosevelt are seen preparing to vote in the 1940 Presidential elections. They stand together in front of a voting booth, with curtains open showing machine inside. There is much activity around and things seem a bit disorganized. (Other persons are voting and being assisted by volunteers, all unseen. But their conversations can be overheard.) At one point the President is amused, and almost laughs. President Roosevelt speaks with a man briefly, who helps him step aside, using his cane. At the same time, Eleanor Roosevelt helps her mother-in-law enter the open voting booth, and makes sure the curtains are closed. After Sara Roosevelt leaves the booth, Eleanor Roosevelt listens to brief comment from man assisting voters, and then enters the booth and votes. She is seen backing out of the booth.
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