Grace Tully

Who was Grace Tully?

Grace Tully was private secretary to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Grace Tully was born on 9 August 1900 in Bayonne, New Jersey. Her father was a businessman and a loyalist to the Democratic Party. He died when she was young, and Tully and her two sisters and brother were raised by their mother. She received her secretarial education at the Grace Institute in New York, and after graduating was appointed as secretary to Patrick Hayes, bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York.

In 1928, Grace Tully started to work for the Democratic National Committee, and was assigned to assist Eleanor Roosevelt who was organizing support for presidential nominee Al Smith. Later that year, when FDR was nominated for Governor of New York, Grace Tully went to work on his staff. After Roosevelt's successful election, Tully began serving as the assistant to Missy LeHand, who was Roosevelt's personal secretary in Roosevelt's office at Albany, New York. Tully was given the dictation and typing duties that Lehand disliked. Tully served with FDR for his four years as governor.

Grace Tully moved to Washington DC in 1933, when Roosevelt was elected President. Both she and Missy LeHand were important figures for FDR during his presidency. Tully frequently accompanied FDR on his trips to Hyde Park and Shangri-La.