James Roosevelt II[1] (December 23, 1907 – August 13, 1991) was an American businessman, Marine officer, activist, and Democratic Party politician.

Roosevelt was viewed as his father's political deputy in Massachusetts, allocating patronage in alliance with Boston mayor James Michael Curley.

[1] Many of Roosevelt's controversial business ventures were aided by Kennedy, including his maritime insurance interests, and the National Grain Yeast Corp. affair (1933–1935).

Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau Jr. threatened to resign unless FDR forced his son to leave the latter company, suspected of being a front for bootlegging.

[3] Soon after the 1936 re-election of his father, Roosevelt was given a direct commission as a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps, which caused public controversy for its obvious political implications.

[2][6] After leaving the White House in November 1938, Roosevelt moved to Hollywood, California, where he accepted a job as a $750/week "administrative assistant" (equivalent to an annualized salary of $870,068 in 2024) for motion picture producer Samuel Goldwyn.

In 1939, he set up Globe Productions, a company that produced short films for penny arcades; however, it was liquidated during Roosevelt's active Marine Corps service in 1944.

In April 1941, his father sent him on a secret, world-circling diplomatic mission to assure numerous governments that the United States would soon be in the war.

[2] After Japan's Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Roosevelt was seated next to his father when the President delivered his Day of Infamy speech.

Despite occasionally debilitating health problems, Roosevelt served with the 2nd Raiders at Midway in early June 1942 and in the Makin Island raid on August 17–18, 1942, where he and 22 others were awarded the Navy Cross.

Roosevelt remained an inactive member of the Marine Corps Reserve until October 1, 1959, when he received a final promotion to the rank of brigadier general upon fully retiring from the service.

Risking his own life over and above the ordinary call of duty, Major Roosevelt continually exposed himself to intense machine-gun and sniper fire to ensure effective control of operations from the command post.

As a result of his successful maintenance of communications with his supporting vessels, two enemy surface ships, whose presence was reported, were destroyed by gun fire.

His gallant conduct and his inspiring devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

[14]For the President, Chester W. NimitzThe President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star (Army Award) to Lieutenant Colonel James R. Roosevelt (MCSN: 0–5477), United States Marine Corps, for gallantry in action at Makin Atoll, Gilbert Islands, 20 to 23 November 1943.

Attached as an observer to the units of the 27th Infantry Division which effected the landing on Makin Atoll, Lieutenant Colonel Roosevelt voluntarily sought out the scenes of the heaviest fighting.

In April 1965, Roosevelt ran for Mayor of Los Angeles, challenging incumbent Sam Yorty, but lost in the primary.

[16] He resigned from Congress in October 1965, 10 months into his sixth term, when President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him a delegate to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Roosevelt resigned from UNESCO in December 1966 and retired to become an executive of Bernie Cornfeld's Investors Overseas Service (IOS) in Geneva, Switzerland.

During the unraveling of IOS, Roosevelt's third wife, Irene Owens, stabbed him "eight times" with his "own Marine combat knife"[17] while he was preparing divorce proceedings in Geneva in May 1969.

[18] Although fugitive financier Robert Vesco obtained control of IOS from Cornfeld and absconded with approximately $200 million, Roosevelt initially stayed on with the company.

The latter was written in part as a response to his brother Elliott's book An Untold Story, which told of FDR's marital issues and was fiercely repudiated by the other siblings.

By direct mail, Roosevelt's group solicited contributions from elderly persons by claiming that Social Security and Medicare programs were in financial jeopardy.

His daughter, Kate Roosevelt, married the Kennedy family aide William Haddad and later CEO of the Ford Foundation Franklin A.