At that time Boettiger had resigned from the Tribune and taken a job with the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America.

[4] He participated in the invasions of Sicily and Italy, served in the military government, and was promoted to major in November 1943 and to lieutenant colonel shortly thereafter.

[5] In January 1943, Boettiger was, along with brother-in-law Elliott, dispatched by President Roosevelt to attend the Teheran Conference.

His stepson Curtis Roosevelt suggested in his memoirs that Boettiger was initially unhappy in his military service, was not given worthwhile tasks in North Africa before the invasion of Sicily, and thought the Army was trying to keep him out of trouble due to his family.

[7][8] After the death of President Roosevelt in April 1945, Boettiger was no longer so appreciated as publisher of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

With the financial assistance of powerful Democratic backers, led by department store magnate Walter Kirschner, Boettiger purchased a small advertiser, the Phoenix Shopping News, in February 1946.

[9] The project turned into a financial debacle that left the Boettigers bankrupt and their creditors angry and unpaid.

[12] One year later, on Halloween 1950, Boettiger committed suicide by jumping from his seventh-floor room in the Weylin Hotel in New York City.

"[15] Boettiger's correspondence is preserved in part at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, Hyde Park, N.Y.

Colonel Boettiger's diary notes from the Teheran summit, preserved at the FDR Library, have been quoted by historians seeking corroboration of Elliott Roosevelt's published account therefrom.

[16] Biographers agree that John Boettiger had a fragile ego and had difficulty dealing with the strong-willed Anna and her illustrious family.