Thelma and Lowell's Diary: July 9, 1943

They see a show, maybe; FDR has cocktails with Harry Hopkins

The notations in the diary today are again about expenses, 14 cents for rides, $1.05 for eats and the word “show” with no amount entered. So maybe they did and maybe they didn’t.

At the White House, President Roosevelt had a packed day, with a press conference in the morning, a cabinet meeting in the afternoon, and appointments with the Mexican ambassador, the postmaster general, and House Speaker Sam Rayburn sprinkled through the day. That evening, he spent twenty minutes enjoying cocktails with his top aide Harry Hopkins before attending a dinner honoring French General Henri Giraud, leader of the Free French forces in partnership with Charles de Gaulle. He stayed up talking with Giraud until 11:30. This National Archives photo of the two, accessed through Wikimedia Commons, was taken earlier in 1943 at the Casablanca Conference. FDR was wearing a black armband in memory of his mother.

Roosevelt was a social drinker famous for his daily “little sippy.” Read on to learn what he drank and a couple of recipes.