Nation: Elliott for Mayor Too

• Share

Elliott Roosevelt, 54, wants to be mayor too, but of Miami Beach.

He announced his candidacy last week while posing in front of a portrait of his famed father, and he is engagingly frank about the political appeal of his family name. "Let's not kid ourselves," he says. "It's very important." Presently a management and investment consultant, Roosevelt has lived in Miami Beach for only two years, and does not even pretend to know anything about municipal problems. Says he of his contest against Incumbent Mayor Melvin Richard: "It's a popularity contest, in a sense. The issues aren't as important as the man."

An Interesting Comparison. Richard, 53, disagrees. "You can bet it will not be a popularity contest," he says. "He'll have to stand up and be counted on every issue. And I want to know—I want the people of Miami Beach to know—everything about him. I want to examine his record of public service against mine, his military record against mine, his domestic record, his children, his business activity. I'm going to compare everything in his life to my life. Mr. Roosevelt is not going to get away with generalizations."

That might be an interesting comparison. A native of New York City, Richard received a law degree from the University of Florida, joined the Navy as a lieutenant j.g. After the war he returned to Miami Beach to become a vigorous anti-crime crusader. In 1949, he won a seat on the Miami Beach city council, served a total of four terms, was elected mayor in 1963. He has been married to the same wife for 24 years.

Confident of Victory. Roosevelt, on the other hand, has never held public office (last spring, however, he was elected Democratic state committeeman). Just before World War II the President's son went overnight from civilian to captain in the Army Air Corps Reserve, causing an outbreak of "I Want To Be a Captain Too" clubs, spent the war flying photo-reconnaissance missions. During his remarkably checkered business career, he has been a news commentator in Minneapolis, a Christmas-tree grower in New York, a rancher in Colorado, and a businessman in Havana. He is now married to wife No. 5, Phoenix Socialite Patricia Whitehead, whom he wed in 1960.*

Still, Elliott is confident of victory and has only one worry: the mayor's meager salary. "I couldn't possibly support my family on $3,000 a year," he says. Why, then, is he interested in the job? "I want to play a part in the development of my city."