Louis McHenry Howe (January 14, 1871 – April 18, 1936)[1] was an American reporter for the New York Herald best known for acting as an early political advisor (1909-1936) to future 32nd President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945, served 1933-1945).

[3] Edward P. Howe, originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, had been a captain with the Union Army in the Civil War and made an unsuccessful run for the Indiana State Senate as a Democrat before Louis' birth.

[11] Ultimately, the dual obstacles of his still-questionable health and finances caused him to abandon his university ambitions and instead take a job with his father's paper.

Grace's mother had given the couple a large house for a wedding present, which Louis mortgaged in an attempt to save his father's newspaper from bankruptcy.

[19] In 1903, after a failed attempt to make a living writing fiction, Howe worked for a time as a manager for a Saratoga country club.

He employed Howe to oppose the gubernatorial candidacy of William Randolph Hearst, the Democratic nominee, newspaper magnate, and ally of Tammany.

[22] Howe and Osborne's other operatives successfully spread dissent and chaos among the Democratic campaign, and Hearst lost the election to Charles Evans Hughes.

However, he was made a nonviable candidate by his unusual propensity to travel in a variety of disguises and his close friendship with a young handyman, with whom Osborne was rumored to have a homosexual relationship.

[1] Howe managed the final six weeks of Roosevelt's campaign, focusing particularly on rural areas that he felt politicians traditionally neglected.

[37] By 1920, Roosevelt, on Howe's advice, had made peace with Tammany boss Charles Murphy, and again sought New York state office.

[39] In mid-1921, Howe was vacationing with the Roosevelts at Campobello Island when Franklin began to run a high fever and reported paralysis in his legs.

[41] By September of that year, Howe had been formally invited to join the Roosevelt household, and began visiting his own family only on weekends.

[47] In 1924, Howe and Eleanor collaborated to arrange for Franklin to give the speech to nominate New York governor Alfred E. Smith as a presidential candidate at the 1924 Democratic National Convention.

Franklin initially felt the idea was too risky, knowing that if he fell down before the convention due to his limited mobility, his political career would be effectively over, but Howe and Eleanor persuaded him to attempt it.

[48] When the convention came, Franklin successfully walked to the podium with the aid of crutches and his son James Roosevelt and received an ovation from the crowd.

In the fall election, Roosevelt won the governorship by a small margin, though Smith was defeated by Herbert Hoover both nationally and in New York State.

[56] In 1931, Howe began raising money for the campaign from Democrats like Henry Morgenthau, Sr. and Joseph P. Kennedy as well as recruiting delegates for the 1932 national convention.

Howe suffered from severe asthma attacks throughout the convention, but remained in telephone contact with Roosevelt—who was not present, per the custom of the day—and continued to meet with delegates who were brought to visit him.

Roosevelt was nominated by the convention after agreeing to make another rival, John Nance Garner, his vice presidential candidate, and after some of Smith's Tammany Hall supporters, led by William Gibbs McAdoo, began to defect.

The onset of the Great Depression, for which Hoover's Republicans were widely blamed, meant that Roosevelt's victory was virtually assured, and in November, he was elected by a landslide.

[59] During the administration Howe's official title was Secretary to the President,[60][61] a role equivalent to the current White House Chief of Staff posting.

[62] Howe described his role in the administration as the president's "no-man", checking Roosevelt's natural enthusiasm and preventing unsound proposals from reaching wider discussion.

[71] During the long train rides in Franklin's 1920 vice presidential campaign, Howe encouraged her to become interested in politics herself and coached her in how to talk with reporters.

[72] Eleanor later wrote that Howe's interest during this campaign sparked a major change in her life: In later years I learned that he had always liked me and thought I was worth educating, and for that reason he made an effort on this trip to get to know me.