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In a week that His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier, was meeting US President Barack Obama, the grandson of one of the most cherished American presidents was talking to GulfWeekly about how much he loves living in Bahrain.
Shortly after enjoying Friday brunch at the Dilmun Club in Saar, a short drive from his home in Janabiya, Hall Delano Roosevelt told of his aim to help further invigorate links between US businesses and the Gulf States.
The newly-elected chairman of the Middle East Council of American Chambers of Commerce (MECACC) plans to stage a private meeting with leading US company chiefs and their counterparts in Bahrain, with a top American politician giving its keynote speech.
“The first thing I tell any American company is that if you really want to make a serious go at it in this region, the first step is agreeing to have a full-time presence here. It is so culturally and operationally different than anything you have ever come across,” he said.
To prove the point two US companies have recently set up regional headquarters in Bahrain, introduced here as part of his full-time role as the director of new business development for the Reza Investment Group based in Saudi Arabia.
“It’s the genuine warmth, graciousness and hospitality of the Gulf Arab that hits you first and foremost and it’s not just a back-slapping ‘Hi, how are you doing, come in, let’s have a coffee’. It’s genuine. You really feel welcome and at home,” he said.
“You will also find character here. I have seen a hundred million dollar-plus deal done on a handshake, with funds being allocated and movement of products across seas before any contract has been signed or executed.”
Del, 54, as he is known to friends, is the grandson of late President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, often referred to by his initials FDR, and First Lady Eleanor, and he is also a direct descendant of former President Theodore Roosevelt.
He has recently given a ‘live history lesson’ to pupils at St Christopher’s School and says he was impressed with the question-and-answer sessions which followed, compared to the general response he received from children during similar events back in the US.
Assuming the presidency at the depth of the ‘Great Depression’ in 1932, to the first of four terms, FDR is universally acknowledged for helping the American people regain faith in themselves. He brought hope as he promised prompt, vigorous action, and asserted in his acclaimed inaugural address: ‘the only thing we have to fear is fear itself’.
In the US at the time there were 13,000,000 unemployed, and almost every bank was closed. In his first ‘hundred days’, he proposed, and the US Congress enacted, a sweeping New Deal programme to bring recovery to business and agriculture, relief to the unemployed and to those in danger of losing farms and homes, and reform.
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, FDR directed organisation of the nation’s manpower and resources for global war.
On February 14, 1945, the president had a historic meeting with King Abdul Aziz, founder of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on the American cruiser USS Quincy in the Suez Canal.
“I guess my grandfather made a very good impression on the Saudis,” said Del. “I was told that every February 14 they always have something in the newspaper to commemorate the date when ‘our first King met the American father’.
“There were a lot of things discussed at that meeting but I think one of the main things that solidified the relationship was that FDR did what he said he would do, followed through on issues about agriculture, oil, politics – the whole nine yards – and that makes a difference in this culture.”
It was also as a result of that meeting, 60 years on, that Del’s move to the Middle East was cemented. He received a surprise call from an intermediary of the current ruler, King Abdullah, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, asking him to become joint founder of Friends of Saudi Arabia, a cultural awareness programme, with his son, Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah.
As first he thought it was a hoax and even placed the telephone receiver down on the caller. It was not the first time his family’s Sunday ‘spaghetti night’ get-together had been interrupted because handling the occasional crank call appeared to be part of the life of an elected US city councillor.
Del and his wife Janice, an electric utility executive and Long Beach native, had lived in the Los Altos area of the city since 1988; and Del had lived in Long Beach for more than 25 years. They have two sons, James Austin, 21, and Hall Delano II, 20, and recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in Bahrain.
Del was born in Los Angeles and his father was James Roosevelt, FDR’s first-born son. He lived on the US East Coast when James served as a Congressman for six terms from California’s 26th District and in Europe when his father was the United Nations’ Ambassador to Geneva.
The call was returned, it proved to be genuine and presented a unique opportunity to reunite two families through the grandsons, cement the relationship between two great allies and trading partners and create a better understanding of the Arab people with ordinary Americans following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on US soil.
“We met and to cut a long story short we did the events, starting in 2005, and kicked off the 60th anniversary of the meeting between the two leaders. You didn’t see us having events in midtown Manhattan or downtown Los Angeles, but in Middle America where we would find Americans with the greatest misconceptions.
“We were having these dinners and luncheons in North Dakota or Portland Oregon, and it was just great – 200 to 500 people at a time and we would hold presentations and talk about the relationship and then we would discuss what the opportunities were in Saudi Arabia for businesses and American small- and-medium enterprises.”
The duo enjoyed the people-to-people responses generated too. On occasions busloads from retirement communities would come along and when they arrived not everyone was happy.
“You could tell from the body language,” said Del, “what am I doing here with a bunch of Arabs? But, by the end of the evening that same guy, whose body language was so defensive at the start, would be the first to raise his hand asking whether there were any senior tours of Saudi Arabia!”
Del admits he had little experience of the Arab world before the cultural road shows took off. “I had never been remotely close to anywhere in the Middle East and I was one of those Americans that probably couldn’t show you where Abu Dhabi was in relationship to Jeddah – it was all one big melting pot.”
But all that changed when he started working and living here. He was snapped up by Reza Investment Group, based in Jeddah, in 2006, wholly owned by the Alireza family, one of the oldest and most respected trading families in Saudi Arabia who have successfully developed market-leading positions in trading, manufacturing and service industries.
“My job is to look for business opportunities that will enhance the existing Reza operations – looking at investments, acquisitions, joint ventures or as an exclusive agent for products or services. Sometimes we come across something that has nothing to do with our current portfolio but is so cool, and so niche, that we have to do it.
“The last two companies I brought to the group I suggested would be best suited by having their people setting up in Bahrain.”
Solomon Associates, a Texas-based global oil refinery benchmarking company has launched its new consultancy arm one month ago in Seef and Code 1 Lubricants is just rolling out now.
Del set up home in Bahrain two years ago when his wife joined him, almost coinciding with unrest erupting in the kingdom.
“When I first came over here our circle of friends, people we had known for 10, 20 years said, ‘Del, are you crazy?’ Jan’s friends asked, ‘did you take out more life insurance on Del?’ She heard that more than a couple of times!
“It becomes quite apparent living here today in Bahrain it’s still safer any hour of the day or night than walking around just about any part of Los Angeles at certain times of the night, or certain times of the month, or any major city in the US.
“There are no drive-by shootings here, we don’t have third-generation street gangs killing people that have nothing to do with whatever their beef is with each other. It just doesn’t exist.”
Del, like many expats living in Bahrain, was disgusted by the coverage of events reported by the international media.
“It took me less than a week to realise this country was special,” he said. “But the media reporting, that’s what blew me away. What was being shown on the airwaves in the States was an out-and-out lie.
“Did you see the T-shirts around Manama … Dear CNN, this is a circle and this is a square!” he added, referring to the continuous reference on international news channels of the former roundabout, where anti-government protesters had gathered, as Pearl Square.
“The thing that is bothering me now is the continuance of the nasty reporting on issues about Bahrain,” said Del.
“I’m not saying people shouldn’t demonstrate when they feel they need to – that would be going against everything I believe in, about the importance of freedom of speech. But we have groups – human rights watch organisations – that continually slam Bahrain’s actions. Where are the groups that should be coming out on behalf of the police who are being regularly targetted?
“Is there a message being sent out that it’s OK for officers to be hurt in such a manner without any repercussions? I don’t understand that. This is the part that is really confusing me now. Who is speaking on their behalf?”
He hopes his role as chairman of the MECACC will go some small way to helping redress the balance Bahrain has suffered on the international stage.
“I know that part of the problem that Bahrain is having is this huge communication disconnect,” he said. “I want to hold an event that will draw attention to the positive things that are happening here.”
That may take the shape of the quarterly meeting of the MECACC in September, and the announcement of its new board which will be followed by a top level private dinner, not directly tied to the US Embassy in Bahrain, featuring a well-known American congressman.
Del said: “I’m 90 per cent sure he is coming. He is going to stop in Kuwait to visit the troops from his district, come down here and be a keynote speaker and talk about the American desire to export, how we want to support free trade and how Bahrain is not the pariah.
“I did have the opportunity when I first came to the region to meet King Abdullah and I thanked him for the opportunity to work with his son and continue the legacy that my grandfather started.
“I can take comfort from that commitment I made in 2005. I’m still around and bringing American businesses over and loving every minute of it. Now that I’m living in Bahrain we have the opportunity to do the same here.”
Del hopes to confirm the speaker and the event’s location on his return to Bahrain, after flying off on Tuesday morning back to the States for his eldest son’s graduation ceremony. Having gained a degree in computer programming in visual art and entertainment his son has already secured a position as a senior app engineer at a company specialising in making phone apps for businesses, including airlines.
His youngest son is studying at a university in Queensland, Australia. Del who attended the International School in Geneva, Switzerland, Brentwood Military Academy California, Pacific Palisades High School and Woodbury University, has a keen interest in education, worked with schools regularly in the US and has recently taken on a similar role at St Christopher’s School in Isa Town.
“It’s about being part of the community,” he said. “This is my community now so whether it’s involvement in education or business I’m happy to be around.”
The date with the British-curriculum school came about when a colleague’s son mentioned his name during a history lesson. Del walked away mightily impressed with the pupils.
“In the United States, when you get to the question-and-answer session, within the first few I could guarantee being asked: Mr Roosevelt, how much money do you make?”
The questions were much more challenging in Bahrain. One raised the subject of FDR’s disability. In the summer of 1921, when he was 39, the president was stricken with poliomyelitis, a serious illness caused by the polio virus.
The virus first infects the gut, but then travels to the nervous system and can cause a meningitis-like illness. This may leave permanent damage to some nerves. This can lead to wasting of some muscles and can sometimes cause paralysis of the arms or legs. The illness can seriously affect breathing in some people and may even lead to death. Polio is now rare in most countries because of the success of immunisation.
Demonstrating indomitable courage, FDR fought to regain the use of his legs, particularly through swimming.
Del said one young lady raised her hand and asked: ‘Mr Roosevelt, with regard to your grandfather having contracted polio, do you feel that he could be elected as President of the United States today from a wheelchair?’
“I was just so impressed by the question and we had a great conversation about it. My answer was no, I don’t think so. Not an absolute ‘no’ but I think it would be very, very difficult because of the media. I think it would be very difficult in today’s world.
“But if you were to have asked me six months before Obama was elected President of the United States my answer was, simply this, a woman, yes, I think the country’s ready for that, but an African-American black male, not a chance, ‘it ain’t gonna happen’. But look where we are, what a pleasant surprise, forget the politics, the Democrats and the Republicans, what a great surprise that was.
“Some pretty smart people have run for the Office and failed. A great deal of it today is about perception, how you are presented and do you fit.”
The school is looking forward to the president’s grandson returning. Jim Connolly, head of history, said: “Del’s visit really brought the era of the Great Depression to life for the students of my Year 9 class who had been studying the US during the period of the ‘Roaring Twenties’ and the Wall Street Crash. His personal insights into the Roosevelt family background provided real insight into the nature of the man and the factors that motivated his actions.
“The students were spellbound by Del’s easy, relaxed style and the questions they asked were wide-ranging, taking in everything from ‘What music did FDR like?’ to ‘What would he have made of the situation facing President Obama today with regards to America’s social welfare programmes?’
“His honest replies endeared Del to Class 9F and we as a school are looking forward to his return, when it is hoped that he will be able to find the time to talk to the Year 10 students about his grandfather’s role in defeating the Axis forces in World War II and his relationship with the Soviet leader, Stalin.”
As well as President Obama, HRH Prince Salman met US Vice-President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel in the US.
He now has backing closer to home with presidential links in the form of Del.
