Eleanor Roosevelt: The Life of an Extraordinary Woman

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Scholarly Biography
Discussion Section
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the most prominent women of her time who made a great contribution to social development and women’s rights movement, political and social acceptance of women leaders. Eleanor Roosevelt was an vantage woman who had a family and three children but she was an outstanding personality who took a leadership position in political life of America. Eleanor Roosevelt was real fighter against old tradition in political life of America. Eleanor Roosevelt transformed a passive role of women in society into an active influence for social change. She was an activist and became both one of the most popular leaders of her time and arguably the most effective First Lady of America.

Scholarly Biography

K.K. Sawyer creates a portrait of a strong an courageous women in his book about Eleanor Roosevelt. The book describes the life of Eleanor Roosevelt from early years till deaths. A special attention is given to political and social role of Eleanor Roosevelt, and its impact on the historical time. The book consists of 18 chapters devoted to different time periods and events in life of Eleanor Roosevelt. The biography describes hat Eleanor’s parents, Anna and Elliott Roosevelt, were members of New York City’s elite social circle. Eleanor was born on October 11, 1884. She had two brothers and a half-bother. Sawyer depicts that Eleanor received no college education and no formal preparation for public service. Everything she learned — and her sum total of experience and wisdom became prodigious — she learned by experience and observation, by watching those around her, listening, reading and thinking. She learned early to think for herself and to judge for herself. No rubber stamp of her husband’s administration, she fought for the kinds of human justice that appealed to her heart and soul — equality for African-Americans, a fair chance to earn a living for the average American, women’s rights and the general well-being of the populace. She fought for these issues effectively and energetically.

The book involves a lot of personal characteristics of Eleanor depicting as a shy girl. “Eleanor felt shy and embarrassment in large groups. She was taller that other girls her age and self-conscious about her height” (Sawyer 25). The book gives attention to relations between Eleanor and Franklin. When they met, Franklin was a junior at Harvard University, and he began to make a point of turning up at the social gatherings in New York that formed part of the coming-out process for his female peers. Eleanor was one of five young women to become debutantes in 1902, so he had ample family excuses for making the trip to New York several times that fall. Eleanor’s name began to turn up frequently in his diary, and he made a point of seeing that she was included on the invitation list to gatherings at his family’s house.

Eleanor had little time left for many of her old routines from earlier days in New York. This was the economic and political climate into which Franklin Delano Roosevelt cast his bid for presidential candidacy in 1932, and in one sense, it was a climate of opportunity: People were ready for a change. Franklin D. Roosevelt was a Democrat while Herbert Hoover, the incumbent presidential candidate who had presided over these years of bitter destitution, was a Republican. In 1932, another factor had also become important for the first time in a presidential election: the women’s vote. In part because of this fact, Eleanor began to campaign at her husband’s side, touring the country with him at least part of the time as his campaign train paused for speeches at every whistle-stop.

Sawyer writes that Eleanor accepted the first and only “official” job she ever held in her husband’s administration, the position of deputy director of the Office of Civilian Defense. She accepted no salary or paid expenses and worked long hours (occasionally going without sleep entirely). The mayor of New York, Fiorello LaGuardia, was director. Eleanor and LaGuardia differed in their views, however, with Eleanor placing more emphasis on morale and LaGuardia on preparedness. Unfortunately, too, controversies arose around Eleanor’s appointment. Some newspapers claimed that she used the agency to employ her friends, and other critics again raised issues over finances. She later described the period as an “unfortunate episode,” and LaGuardia finally resigned, soon followed by Eleanor. Once she had extricated herself from the Office of Civilian Defense, Eleanor was free to accept an invitation from the Red Cross to go to Great Britain as a goodwill ambassador, which she did in 1942. She followed that trip with tireless tours all over the world to visit soldiers, boost morale, see patients in hospitals, talk with children and dignitaries. Traveling through war-torn skies, the voyages were neither safe nor comfortable, but Eleanor never offered a complaint.

The book depicts years after the death of Franklin and life troubles faced by Eleanor. Franklin had suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage. Dr. Breunn at Warm Springs had done everything for him he could, but could not save her husband. Quickly she boarded a plane to Georgia and flew through the night for a long, heartbreaking day at Warm Springs, the place that had always represented hope and vitality to Franklin. For her own part, the seven years following Franklin’s death ranked among Eleanor’s fullest, productive and independent. During this time, she had established firmly for herself a reputation as a clear, objective thinker, whose patience, political savvy and ability to look at all sides of an issue contributed to her effectiveness as a mediator and leader. She used these skills, combined with her keen commitment to fairness and justice for all, to focus an international light on the inalienable rights of human beings throughout the world. After suffering a massive stroke, Eleanor Roosevelt died November 7, 1962 at the age of 78 and was buried in the garden at Hyde Park. In general, the book is objective and well-thought based on primary and secondary sources. The author proposes a unique description an understanding of Eleanor’s personality and her relations with other people. A special attention is given to political role of Eleanor and her significance for America and the nation in general.

Discussion Section

For Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin’s election meant a new social role and position in society. The family moved to Albany, where they found a house on State Street, while they rented out their place in New York City. During this time she also caught a glimpse of the underbelly of politics when a country newspaper was forced out of business for supporting her husband in a fight against the Tammany Hall bloc from New York City. Known for its political abuses, the Tammany segment of the Democratic Party often played dirty, and this time people who had sided with Roosevelt got caught in the cross fire. Eleanor became outraged at the injustice. Public service, she realized for the first time, could have its ugly, dangerous side, especially for those who were not financially independent. Eleanor was an average woman who had six children. Thus, in Albany Eleanor began to seek out the wives of new assemblymen and journalists to make them feel more welcome and at ease. When Franklin and his political allies needed a place to discuss issues and plan strategies, she found herself easily making their home a hub for afternoon gatherings, dinners and late-night sessions. In Albany, she found herself exposed, for the first time, to a wide range of people, and she found she liked it. It was a premise that would remain a cornerstone of her philosophy for the rest of her life.

Before the election, in June 1935, Franklin had created the National Youth Administration (NYA) by executive order, in part in response to prodding from Eleanor. Now that the election was over, Eleanor turned her attention to this program for easing the plight of the nation’s youth. A generation of youths was growing up in the nation’s urban and rural regions alike, unskilled and untrained for productive work, lacking in self-esteem and ill-equipped in any way for the job of recovery that lay before them, and for which the nation depended on them. The establishment of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was the administration’s first approach to the problem, sending thousands of young men into the woods to work on conservation projects. But this program had shortcomings. It was only for males, and it only helped those in dire need, who could do nothing else.

She was the first wife of a presidential candidate to do so. Internationalists had rejoiced at Franklin’s decision to throw his hat in the presidential ring in early 1932. So they were amazed when he announced early in February that membership in the League of Nations was a dead issue. Furthermore, he went so far as to suggest that cooperation among nations was no longer such a good idea for the United States, a position that Eleanor did not support. Pragmatically, FDR came to believe early in the 1932 campaign that it was no longer advisable to hitch his political wagon to membership in the League of Nations. By underplaying his former internationalist position, he hoped to defuse controversies that might torpedo his nomination and later his success at the polls.

The New Deal programs were controversial then and still are now, and many economists argue that they did nothing to reverse the economic trends of the depression on the larger scale. But on the individual scale, they did make a difference in many people’s lives. Eleanor was solidly behind the social programs of the New Deal, and she believed, as Franklin did, that the time had come when the morale of the people needed to be lifted, and that until this happened, no rise from economic depression would be possible. Eleanor functioned in a way that few American women ever had — let alone a so-called First Lady — holding her own press conferences. She liked to speak, according to her speaker bureau’s advertising brochure, on one of five advertised topics: “Relationship of the Individual to the Community,” “Problems of Youth,” “The Mail of a President’s Wife,” “Peace,” or “A Typical Day at the White House.” Eleanor had been working on two major writing projects: Hunting Big Game in the Eighties: Letters of Elliott Roosevelt, Sportsman, which she edited as a tribute to her father, and It’s Up to the Women, an anthology of articles that challenged women to become active in building a progressive nation. Both were published in 1933. She had also earned her own money with her radio appearances and writing. Now she came under fire for how she spent her money.

She had helped the Women’s Trade Union League by paying off the mortgage on their clubhouse and had used some of her money on the Val-Kill experiment. She set up lunchrooms for working women at the Women’s Trade Union League clubhouse and the Girls’ Service League headquarters on Madison Avenue. “I do not question that I often gave to people who were not worthy,” she admitted, “but in those years it seemed better to take that risk than to fail those who were worthy.” Later, she contributed to the American Friends Service Committee, who shared her philosophy that donations should help people help themselves. But critics contended that she was trying to evade taxes by having her income paid directly to the Friends. So she paid taxes and then donated. Throughout her husband’s tenure in the White House, she found herself having to defend her financial affairs, but, in fact, she contended that she left the White House with considerably less than when she arrived.

The more Eleanor probed at the racial issues she saw around her, the less she liked what she saw, and she became outspoken on the subject of civil rights. She went to visit black schools and communities, became friends with black leaders and saw the humiliation firsthand. Some of Franklin’s advisers thought Eleanor went too far, spoke out too radically, and that she would rock the political boat that had swept them all into office. Some critics even began to accuse her of socialism, or even communism, but she still had many friends, and thousands of people continued to cheer her in the streets and at meetings.

After the death of her husband, Eleanor was invited by President Truman, who had wanted to find an appointment for Eleanor in some phase of foreign relations. On the list of possible delegates for the first meeting of the United Nations Assembly in London, he told the president he would put Eleanor Roosevelt’s name first. Because of her husband’s interest in the success of the United Nations, he thought she just might accept. Immediately, Truman telephoned her, and she agreed on the spot. During these postwar years, Eleanor began to lobby Truman about human rights, both domestic and international — and by now, she had broadened her scope and become more outspoken, no longer bound by being the wife of the president. It was not surprising when, as a delegate to the newly formed United Nations, she fought for the cause of human rights worldwide and became deeply involved in the formulation of the UN’s position on human rights. In her capacity as UN delegate, she also championed the cause of peace and nuclear containment. She watched the Soviet delegates carefully and began to think, as she had learned about communists she had known in the United States, that their objectives frequently obscured the principles of honesty and trust. She grew to mistrust the Soviet UN delegates as well. Having visited a Nazi concentration camp after the war, she became a vocal advocate of the establishment of the uniquely Jewish nation of Israel. In 1946, she became chair of the Commission on Human Rights, an auxiliary of the Economic and Social Council of the UN, spearheading the forging of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In this capacity, she came to recognize the potential of developing nations, and she evolved an international world view that helped her immensely in her negotiations with other nations. She also realized that international relations could not take place without making allowances for diversities among the participating countries – especially with respect to economic conditions and cultural traditions. And she succeeded in steering the document through many hostile sessions. She tired of tedious Soviet attacks but she was patient and persistent and diplomatic.

In 1947 Eleanor found a new friend, who also became a member of her select circle. David Gurewitsch was a doctor, a friend of her friend Trude Lash. David and Eleanor met on a flight to Geneva, and David soon became a frequent theater and dinner companion. She invited him to Val-Kill, where they enjoyed long walks together in the green Hudson River countryside. And when David married, Eleanor included his wife, Edna, in her circle. Ultimately, the three of them bought a town house in New York together, which they shared, dividing it up into two apartments. Eleanor had found a way to be less alone. The Gurewitsches were delighted with her company and she relished theirs. Some friendships — with Marion Dickerman, Nancy Cook and Lorena Hickok, for example – faded away. But many she held close for a lifetime. Eleanor had a deeply held commitment to the United Nations’ work. She had even once remarked to a group of reporters that she wanted to spend the rest of her active life working for the UN. Now she made good on her word by volunteering to work for the American Association for the United Nations.

Eleanor did her best to help her brother Elliott with ongoing financial problems, Eleanor formed a production company with him, agreeing to let him produce a television show for her. Elliott continued to squander his money, selling off Roosevelt heirlooms and real estate to maintain his lifestyle and pay his debts. He sold the family vacation home at Campobello for $12,000. He sold a silver tea set from Eleanor’s side of the family that dated back to Revolutionary War days. Then, without consulting Eleanor, he sold Top Cottage. For Eleanor, this was the worst betrayal, and she never really recovered from her anger with him, dissolving the company they had formed together. She had always been especially fond of Elliott, as she had of her brother Hall and her father. With all of them, she always felt a poignant sadness, even bitterness, about their missed opportunities and unborn dreams.

Conclusion

Eleanor Roosevelt was an average women involved in routine problems of housekeeping and childbearing, thus she found tome for her political activities and support of people in need. The general assumption that women were not strong enough to be fitted for the professions had a certain amount of hypocrisy to it as well, since low-income and farm women were routinely engaged in heavy work. Eleanor Roosevelt established public debates and organized conferences aimed to attract attention to problems of women and their destinies. Using her unique political skills and knowledge, Eleanor Roosevelt entered the world politics and played a crucial role in representation of America on the global scale.

References

Black, A. (2000). Courage in a Dangerous World. Columbia University Press.

Caroli, B. (1999). The Roosevelt Women. Basic Books.

Freedman, R. Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery (Clarion Nonfiction). Sandpiper; 1 edition, 1997.

Gerber, R. (2002). Leadership the Eleanor Roosevelt Way: Timeless Strategies from the First Lady of Courage. Prentice Hall Press.

Goodman, D. (1995). No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II. Simon & Schuster.

Lask, J. P., Schlesinger, A.M., Roosevelt, F. Jr. (1971). Eleanor and Franklin: The Story of Their Relationship, based on Eleanor Roosevelt’s Private Papers. W. W. Norton & Company.

Roosevelt, E. (2000). The Autobiography Of Eleanor Roosevelt. Da Capo Press.

Sawyer, K.K. (2006). Eleanor Roosevelt (DK Biography). DK CHILDREN.

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