FOLLOWING IN FDR'S FOOTSTEPS : PRESIDENT'S GRANDSON TESTS POLITICAL WATERS IN LONG BEACH COUNCIL RACE.

Byline: Kenneth J. Garcia San Francisco Chronicle 

He tried to resist the calling, but since his forebears controlled the White House for five terms, led the nation out of a depression and guided it through a world war, it was tough to ignore the family business.

Still, Hall Delano Roosevelt doesn't need to grapple with global disorder quite yet. At least, not until he wins that Long Beach City Council seat.

And that is what Del, as he likes to be called, is trying to do. The 36-year-old grandson of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who has spent more time surfing Southern California beaches than steering public policy, is giving in to what he calls ``that nasty little gene'' that seems to run rampant in the descendants of famous politicians.

``Believe me, I've been trying to avoid this for years,'' he said of his June race. ``I figure this will either be the shortest political career in history or the job for the rest of my life. But at this point, I'm hoping it will be the latter.''

By making his first run for elective office, Roosevelt is joining the nation's other political offspring in following in the footsteps of their fathers, grandfathers, aunts and uncles. Michela Alioto is trying to become the country's youngest member of Congress in her Northern California race, while across the country, Massachusetts Representative Joe Kennedy II is seeking re-election and is preparing for a future gubernatorial bid.

In a land filled with million-dollar political names - Taft, Bush, Rockefeller, Gore - it is in the port city of Long Beach where the power of political progeny will be showcased next month as Roosevelt seeks a new deal for the family heritage.

Roosevelt, a marketing executive for an energy conservation firm, said he purposely wanted to start small and avoid the lure of jumping into an expensive, high-profile campaign for national office. He said he wants to build a track record in local politics, a strategy based on studying the family's flops: his older half-brother, James Jr., lost his congressional campaign to Joe Kennedy (John F. Kennedy's nephew) in Massachusetts, and Roosevelt's father, James, lost the 1950 California gubernatorial race to Earl Warren.

Besides, he says, his main reason for running is not to continue the family legacy and help carry the nation into the next century. No, he got fed up with the city's inability to address the problem of crosswalks.

``Where we live, across the Cal State Long Beach campus, is one of the busiest streets in the city and it's dangerous for little children,'' said Roosevelt, the father of two young boys. ``So I kept going to City Hall to fight for a crosswalk, and their position was, `There haven't been many accidents there, so there's no need for a crosswalk.' And I said, `So one of our kids has to get killed so we can get a crosswalk?'''

Instead, he decided to try to get elected, fight for the little guy, bring more international business to Long Beach, and then see about running for a higher office.

``Money-wise, we are definitely not the Kennedy family,'' said the red-haired Roosevelt, who mixes surf-speak with more polished political rhetoric. ``And politics is a rich man's game.''

But as his family can attest, money alone does not reap political rewards. The nation's long line of political dynasties is pockmarked with failure - because the boost of a legendary name is often tempered by the weight of historical baggage.

Two years ago, this lesson was brought home by California first daughter Kathleen Brown, who tried to follow her brother and father into the governor's mansion. At one point, the charismatic Brown enjoyed a commanding lead over the workmanlike incumbent, Pete Wilson, only to see his savvy campaign staff slowly slice her up by attacking her family's liberal leanings.

``It's definitely a double-edged sword,'' said GOP consultant Dan Schnur, who served as Wilson's chief spokesman during the campaign. ``It gives a candidate an instant level of recognition, but they're also held responsible for everything they've done and everything their family has done. And when she won the Democratic nomination, we immediately had researchers going through every word Pat Brown and Jerry Brown ever said.''