Curtis Roosevelt Curtis Roosevelt Curtis Roosevelt Dall (April 19, 1930–September 26, 2016) was an American writer. Roosevelt was the son of Anna Roosevelt and her first husband, Curtis Bean Dall. He was the eldest grandson of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Dall was born on April 19, 1930, in New York City. When he was three, Curtis, his sister Eleanor, and his mother moved into the White House, where they lived until his mother remarried in 1935. Curtis was often referred to as "Buzzie" in 1930s newspapers. After his parents' 1934 divorce, his mother married journalist Clarence John
Eleanor Roosevelt becoming First Lady, stating her intention to be only a "backdrop for Bertie." Eleanor's distress at these precedents was severe enough that Hickok subtitled her biography of Roosevelt "Reluctant First Lady". With support from Howe and Hickok, Roosevelt set out to redefine the position. According to her biographer Blanche Wiesen Cook, she became "the most controversial First Lady in United States history" in the process. Despite criticism of them both, with her husband's strong support she continued with the active business and speaking agenda she had begun before assuming the role of First Lady in an era when few married