Yet Another Small Piece of the Puzzle. The Report of Fulton Oursler.

My thanks to my newfound friend, Historian Kathryn Smith for making me aware of this.

Fulton Oursler was a journalist (editor of Liberty Magazine) and author (The Greatest Story Ever Told) who worked closely with Franklin Roosevelt at the time of his first election as President. He subsequently developed an unusually intimate social relationship and often visited the White House. Oursler's autobiography "Behold This Dreamer!" was published in 1964 and includes a distinct section entitled "Through the White House Side Door" (pp. 364-440). It is recommended reading for anyone interested in an unusually candid account of FDR's life.

On Page 439, Oursler describes an incident in mid-July 1940 when FDR became incensed at negotiations with Senator Burton Wheeler, the noted isolationist, who was demanding changes in the language of the Democratic Party Platform at the National Convention.

"At this point Sam Rosenman got up and went out of the room. The President was panting heavily. I noticed a flap of flesh that had grown over his left eye, and other visible physical deteriorations, but also told myself that I had never seen him so aroused, so jumpy, so nervously unsettled."

The "flap of flesh" that Oursler saw was most probably a skin graft, first hand evidence of the cosmetic removal of FDR's melanoma that was ongoing from early 1940 through late 1941. This is a credible first-hand account and a short excerpt of "the way it really happened".

See for yourself!