“Hitler Didn’t Snub Me — It Was Our President”

“Hitler Didn’t Snub Me — It Was Our President” | Foundation for Economic Education:
James Cleveland “Jesse” Owens famously won four gold medals, all at the 1936 games in Berlin, Germany.
But in the hearts of Americans who know their Olympic history, this African American man did more than win races: he struggled against racism.
At the time of Owens’s death in 1980 at age 66, President Jimmy Carter paid this tribute to him:
Perhaps no athlete better symbolized the human struggle against tyranny, poverty, and racial bigotry. His personal triumphs as a world-class athlete and record holder were the prelude to a career devoted to helping others. His work with young athletes, as an unofficial ambassador overseas, and a spokesman for freedom are a rich legacy to his fellow Americans.
Carter’s words were especially fitting in light of an unfortunate fact in Owens’s life: unforgivably, a previous American president had given him the brush-off.
...From one important man, however, no word of recognition ever came.
As Owens later put it, “Hitler didn’t snub me; it was our president who snubbed me. The president didn’t even send a telegram.”
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, leader of a major political party with deep roots in racism, couldn’t bring himself to utter a word of support, which may have been a factor in Owens’s decision to campaign for Republican Alf Landon in the 1936 presidential election.
FDR invited all the white US Olympians to the White House, but not Jesse.
“It all goes so fast, and character makes the difference when it’s close,” Owens once said about athletic competition.
He could have taught FDR a few lessons in character, but the president never gave him the chance. Owens wouldn’t be invited to the White House for almost 20 years — not until Dwight Eisenhower named him “Ambassador of Sports” in 1955..."