NARA Collection fdr-tully — Collection fdr-tully

Original Exhibition Caption: Italian dictator Benito Mussolini composed this friendly letter to FDR several months after the President took office. Roosevelt's ambassador had recently arrived in Rome bearing FDR's letter of introduction and a gift copy of his inaugural address. Mussolini responded with enthusiasm, noting, "The relations of the United States and Italy were never more cordial and friendly and I firmly believe and confidently hope that they will continue . . . to grow stronger with each succeeding year." In fact, Mussolini would soon embark on a path of military aggression and alliance with Nazi Germany that ended with Italy's defeat by an Allied coalition-and his death in April 1945 at the hands of Italian partisans.