This letter was written by Fidel Castro at the age of 12. Castro wrote to President Roosevelt introducing himself and asking if the President would send him a $10 bill because he had never seen one before.
Letter from Fidel Castro to President Franklin D. Roosevelt
- 11/6/1940
Description
On November 6, 1940, Fidel Castro—then a teenager, now the President of Cuba—wrote a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt that included a request for a $10 bill.
Transcript
Santiago de Cuba
Nov 6 1940
Mr. Franklin Roosvelt (sic),
President of the United States
My good friend Roosvelt (sic): I don’t know very English, but I know as much as write to you.
I like to hear the radio, and I am very happy, because I heard in it that you will be President for a new (periodo).
I am twelve years old. I am a boy but I think very much, but I do not think that I am writing to the President of the United States.
If you like, give me a ten dollar bill green american in the letter because never I have not seen a ten dollars bill green american and I would like to have one of them.
My address is:
Sr. Fidel Castro
Colegio de Dolores
Santiago de Cuba
Oriente Cuba
I don’t know very English, but I know very much Spanish and I suppose you don’t know very Spanish but you know very English because you are American but I am not American.
(Thank you very much)
Good by (sic) Your friend,
Fidel Castro
If you want iron to make your sheaps ships I will show to you the bigest (sic) (minas) of iron of the land. They are in Mayari Oriente Cuba.
This primary source comes from the Records of the Foreign Service Posts of the Department of State.
National Archives Identifier: 302040
Full Citation: Letter from Fidel Castro to President Franklin D. Roosevelt; 11/6/1940; 1940 Correspondence, Part 12, 800-800.1; General Records, 1936–1961; Records of the Foreign Service Posts of the Department of State, Record Group 84; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/document/letter-from-fidel-castro-to-president-franklin-d-roosevelt/, March 19, 2026]
Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
