I’m sure you’ve heard about Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), the 32nd US President and one of the greatest US Presidents for the Democratic Party. He won a record four presidential elections between 1932 and 1945.
But do you know the man behind Roosevelt’s two successful political campaigns?
Well, what you’ve probably never heard about is the man who helped put Roosevelt in the White House in 1932.
The man was called James Aloysius "Jim" Farley, simply known as “Jim”.
Here is the man.
Image Source: Wikipedia[i]
James Farley was born of Irish Catholic immigrant parents on May, 1888 in Grassy Point, New York. His father died suddenly from a horse accident when Jim was only 10.
To help support the family, Jim went to work in a brickyard and also helped his mother tend a bar and grocery store. As a result Jim’s early education suffered, barely going through high school, but managing to graduate from the Packard School of Commerce in New York City, with bookkeeping and business skills.
After graduation, he was employed by the United States Gypsum Company as a travelling salesman – a job he held until he decided to join politics in 1911.
Tired of the daily grind to and from New York City, Jim Farley first decided to run for elective office in 1912 on a Democratic Party ticket, as Town Clerk of Stony Point, New York City. Despite going against the predominantly Republican wave, his political opponents were no match for Farley’s honed, person-to-person political campaign skills. He won the election and was re-elected twice between 1912 and 1919. In 1922 Farley was also elected to the New York State County Assembly as Representative for Rockland County.
In 1918 Jim Farley was elected Chairman of the Rockland County Democratic Party, a position that propelled him to become Alfred E. Smith's 1922 gubernatorial campaign Manager, helping Smith win the election for Governor of New York State.
Jim Farley’s political star continued to rise and he became one of the most sought after political campaigners. Following Smith’s victory, Jim Farley’s prominence went nationwide. No sooner had he been elected as Democratic Party County Chairman, than he first met Franklin D Roosevelt who was running for vice president of the United States.
Jim Farley organized Franklin D Roosevelt's gubernatorial victory in 1928 and the 1930 re-election as governor of New York State, and was the campaign manager for Roosevelt's presidential campaign that put Roosevelt in the White House in 1932 as well as the presidential campaign manager for Roosevelt's re-election in 1936.
Pundits popularly referred him as “political kingmaker”.
Before he was 46 years old, he had achieved what most people will never even dream about in their entire lifetime. His personal bio was as long as a professor’s CV:
- Town Clerk of Stony Point, New York City
- County Assembly Representative for Rockland County, New York State
- Port Warden of New York City
- Chairman of the Rockland County Democratic Party
- Chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission
- Chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee
- Alfred E. Smith's 1922 gubernatorial campaign Manager
- Franklin Roosevelt's 1928 gubernatorial campaign Manager
- Franklin Roosevelt's 1930 gubernatorial campaign Manager
- Franklin Roosevelt’s 1932 presidential campaign Manager
- Franklin Roosevelt’s 1936 presidential campaign Manager
- Postmaster General of the United States of America
- Chairman of the Democratic National Committee
- Political Kingmaker
- Knight of Malta
- Head of the Coca-Cola Company Export Corporation
How did he do it?
James Farley was known for his uncanny ability to remember people’s names.
Farley developed a system for remembering people’s names when he was working as a travelling salesman for United States Gypsum Corporation.
He discovered that he had a flair for making people to like him, when he called them by their first names and spelled their namely correctly.
At first it was just a simple system where he would ask people their names and commit them to memory, but as time went by, he soon realized that this was not a very efficient system.
So he began to record people’s complete details including complete names and some facts about their family, career, business and political affiliations, in a small diary he kept with him at all times. When he arrived home, he would spend time reading his diary, reciting these names and details until he had fully crammed them.
He developed a photographic memory and made an effort to fix people’s names and details in mind as much as possible. The next time he met anyone he knew, he would call them by their first names, shake hands, inquire about the family, their daughter, their car, their dog, their garden etc.
Jim Farley could call 50,000 people by their first names.
No wonder he had so many fans…
This is what Dale Carnegie, bestselling author of “How To Win Friends and Influence People”, had to write about Jim Farley:
“For months before Roosevelt's campaign for President began, Jim Farley wrote hundreds of letters a day to people all over the western and northwestern states. Then he hopped onto a train and in nineteen days covered twenty states and twelve thousand miles, traveling by buggy, train, automobile and boat. He would drop into town, meet his people at lunch or breakfast, tea or dinner, and give them a "heart-to-heart talk." Then he'd dash off again on another leg of his journey.
As soon as he arrived back East, he wrote to one person in each town he had visited, asking for a list of all the guests to whom he had talked. The final list contained thousands and thousands of names; yet each person on that list was paid the subtle flattery of getting a personal letter from James Farley. These letters began "Dear Bill" or "Dear Jane," and they were always signed "Jim."
Jim Farley discovered early in life that the average person is more interested in his or her own name than in all the other names on earth put together. Remember that name and call it easily, and you have paid a subtle and very effective compliment. But forget it or misspell it - and you have placed yourself at a sharp disadvantage”[ii].
Hello, my name is Flavian Mwasi. I'm an online marketer, entrepreneur, personal development and success coach.
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