Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the most popular Americans of the twentieth century. More than a president's wife, she was an eloquent diplomat, humanitarian, and spokeswoman for various causes throughout her life.

Early life

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York City on October 11, 1884. Her parents, Anna Hall and Elliott Roosevelt, were wealthy members of New York's social elite. Her father was the younger brother of President Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919; served 1901–9). Her parents legally separated as a result of her father's struggles with depression and alcoholism. When Eleanor was only eight, her mother died of diphtheria. She and her brothers went to live with her maternal grandmother. Her older brother died shortly thereafter. Though her father only had visiting rights, Eleanor was very close to him, and it was very difficult for her when he died before her tenth birthday.

In 1899, Eleanor attended boarding school near London, England. She developed a special friendship with the headmistress, Marie Souvestre (1830–1905), and had a very positive experience at the school. When she returned to New York in 1902, she had developed an intellectual curiosity and sense of social responsibility. In New York, she plunged into social work.

Marriage and family

Eleanor was soon courted by future president Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945; served 1931–45), a distant cousin. In March 1905, they were married. Between 1906 and 1916, they had six children, one of whom died in infancy. The Roosevelts moved to Hyde Park, New York, and lived near Franklin's mother, Sara. Sara dominated much of their lives, and Eleanor struggled to maintain her independence.

Franklin's pursuit of a political career in the Democratic Party added to Eleanor's difficult family life. In 1910, Franklin won a seat in the state senate, and the family moved to Albany, where Eleanor took on the role of a politician's wife. In 1913, Franklin was appointed assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy , so the family moved to Washington, D.C. Eleanor continued to support her husband's career by performing the social duties expected of an official's wife.

World War I (1914–18) provided the first motivation for Eleanor to reclaim her independence and identity. Working for the American Red Cross in relief efforts, she revived her interest in social work, restoring a sense of public usefulness and dedication to those who were confronted with social struggles.

Eleanor's need to assert her independence from Franklin was reinforced by marriage difficulties. In 1918, she discovered that Franklin was having an affair with her social secretary, Lucy Mercer (1891–1948). Eleanor offered divorce. Franklin resisted, but their relationship shifted to a political and social friendship. They began to maintain their own agendas while continuing to support each other's careers.

Political lives

Beginning in 1918, Eleanor became increasingly involved in politics herself. She began work with the League of Women Voters, the National Consumers' League, the Women's Trade Union League, and the women's division of the New York State Democratic Committee. In 1920, Franklin ran unsuccessfully for vice president, and Eleanor became an important collaborator during his campaign.

In 1921, Franklin was struck with polio. The disease left his lower limbs useless, and his political career faltered. Though Franklin's mother urged him to retire to Hyde Park, Eleanor encouraged him to remain active in the Democratic Party. Eleanor supported him by becoming his assistant and representative. She became more actively engaged in public politics, earning a reputation for herself, and continued her own political activism through Franklin's elections to the governorship of New York State in 1928 and the U.S. presidency in 1932.

First lady

Franklin Delano Roosevelt served as president from 1932 until his death in 1945. During that time, Eleanor dedicated herself to serving the public. She worked tirelessly for the causes of women's rights, racial equality, and conditions of the poor. She had a radio program, regular press conferences, and a daily column that appeared in sixty newspapers. She became a popular speaker at political events and institutions.

Having no official responsibilities, Eleanor was freer to express her views than her husband was and so she became an important intermediary between the public and the White House. Her devotion to liberal causes, however, often made her a more controversial figure than her husband.

Eleanor also devoted herself to the formal role of first lady. She hosted state dinners, attended receptions, and supported her husband as president both socially and politically. She was also much more involved in the administration than previous first ladies had been. In light of Franklin's illness, she often toured the country and reported back to him the conditions that she observed. This partnership attracted both great approval and criticism from the public.

The success of Roosevelt's presidency, and his election to four terms, is inseparable from the support he received from Eleanor.

After the White House

President Roosevelt died in April 1945. World War II (1939–45) was in its final phases, and Harry S. Truman (1884–1972; served 1945–53) took over as president. Truman offered Eleanor a role as the U.S. delegate to the newly formed United Nations (UN), where she served as chairman of the Commission on Human Rights. In this role, she played an important part in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948.

Eleanor remained at the United Nations until 1951, at which point she became active in the Democratic Party again. She campaigned on behalf of the Democratic presidential candidate, Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965), in 1952 and 1956. After she supported John F. Kennedy (1917–1963; served 1961–63) in the election of 1960, he appointed her chair to his Commission on the Status of Women.

In the last years of her life, Eleanor continued to devote herself to international and domestic social improvements. She traveled the world in hope of improving international understanding. She continued to speak on behalf of the disadvantaged to inspire millions to bring change to the world. Her legacy of experience and work is recorded in the books she authored. Eleanor Roosevelt died in New York City on November 7, 1962, from a rare bone-marrow tuberculosis.