Roosevelt attended the 1924 Democratic National Convention where he served , in his words , as his father 's " page and prop " . In 1928 , he and some Harvard classmates campaigned for Democratic presidential nominee Al Smith . In 1932 , he headed FDR 's Massachusetts campaign ; he made about two hundred campaign speeches that year . Though FDR lost the Massachusetts Democratic primary ( to Smith ) , he easily carried Massachusetts in the November election . James Roosevelt was viewed as his father 's political deputy in Massachusetts , allocating patronage in alliance with Boston mayor James Michael Curley . He was also a delegate from Massachusetts to the Constitutional Convention for the repeal of Prohibition in 1933
1924 Democratic National Convention
1924 Democratic National Convention
James Roosevelt