Delano family
 Delano family  (Elite family)   | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Membership | •  Franklin Delano Roosevelt• Ulysses S. Grant •  Calvin Coolidge |
| Wealthy American family heavily involved in politics. Once participated in the opium trade. | |
The Delano family had three of it's members serve as US president: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Ulysses S. Grant, Calvin Coolidge.
Drug trade
Warren Delano, Jr., the grandfather of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was chief of operations for Russell & Co., another Boston trading firm which did big business in the China opium trade in Canton. He first went to China at age 24 and spent a decade dealing dope on the Pearl River before returning to New York as a newly wealthy and very eligible bachelor. He admitted in letters home that opium had an "unhappy effect" on its users, but argued that its sale was "fair, honorable, and legitimate," akin to importing wine and spirits to America. Delano lost his fortune in the Great Panic of 1857, but returned to China and rebuilt it in part by supplying the US military with opium to treat Union soldiers in the Civil War. The Delanos don't like to talk about the opium connection much. As FDR biographer Geoffrey C. Ward noted, "In a family fond of retelling and embellishing even the mildest sort of ancestral adventuresno stories seem to have been handed down concerning Warren Delano’s genuinely adventurous career in the opium business."[1]
Known members
2 of the 3 of the members already have pages here:
| Member | Description |
|---|---|
| Calvin Coolidge | |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | Widely recalled for his 'new deal' |
