Guess Who Sent A Bold Request
Inspired by Paul Harvey’s The Rest of the Story, Kevin has crafted a captivating series of “guess who” articles, which he’s generously sharing with our readers!
Imagine you’re thirteen years old, living in another country, and looking for a quick ten dollars.
Would it ever cross your mind to write directly to the President of the United States, simply asking for the money?
One thirteen-year-old did just that.
His request was so bold that the letter remains preserved in the National Archives. The year was 1940, and what followed became an unexpected piece of history.
At the time, he was a student in a strict private school, always looking for a way to stand out. Like most kids his age, he wanted attention—but more than that, he craved recognition. He wanted to impress his classmates, to be seen as someone important.
Then an idea struck him.
He had learned about the United States in school—its wealth, its power, its generosity. What if he could convince the U.S. President to send him ten dollars? Not as a loan, not in exchange for anything specific—just as a gift.
The idea consumed him. He carefully crafted a letter, requesting ten American dollars and hinting, almost as an afterthought, that his country was rich in iron ore—information that might interest the President.
He mailed the letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Then, full of confidence, he told his classmates that soon, he’d be ten dollars richer.
His friends laughed. The President of the United States wasn’t going to send money to some kid in another country.
As doubt crept in, he began to worry. What if the President ignored the letter? What if he ended up looking foolish in front of everyone?
But then, a response arrived.
A U.S. embassy official, writing on behalf of the President, acknowledged the letter and thanked the boy for his interest—especially since it had been written just after Roosevelt’s re-election.
No ten dollars.
But when the boy showed the letter at school, his teachers were impressed. They pinned it to the bulletin board for all to see, unaware that their student had been trying to pull off a small con.
What no one could have predicted was that nearly four decades later, U.S. officials would rediscover that letter, amazed by who had written it.
Because the thirteen-year-old who once sought a few American dollars would later rise to power as a revolutionary.
His name?
Fidel Castro.
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