“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams,” said Eleanor Roosevelt, sharing words of wisdom by which many people still live today. The words and actions of Eleanor Roosevelt helped provide one of the things that were needed most among the American people at the time: hope. Eleanor Roosevelt was an important American figure, and she is known for transforming the role of First Lady.
Similar to her husband, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born into a privileged family. However, both of her parents died when she was very young, which caused her to have a difficult childhood. When she was fourteen years old, she went to London to attend a boarding school, where she was taught to be a leader, not just trained to be an ordinary woman or mother. In March of 1905, she married Franklin Roosevelt, even though his mother did not approve of the relationship, and they ended up having six children.
When Franklin Roosevelt was suffering from polio in 1921 and lost mobility in his legs, Eleanor took care of him and encouraged him to go back into politics, while also becoming increasingly involved in politics herself. In 1933, Franklin Roosevelt was elected president, and Eleanor Roosevelt became First Lady. This was an opportunity for her to continue the work she had started doing in politics, and this position would give her a unique platform which she would end up utilizing to a greater extent than her predecessors typically did. Some of the causes she was passionate about included human rights, children’s causes, women’s issues, racial discrimination, and the poor, which was extremely relevant as the Great Depression was going on. Additionally, she wrote a column in the newspaper to further share her voice.
Eleanor Roosevelt was a very active First Lady. She reflected the female empowerment that had been growing more prevalent not too long before she came into the White House. By the time President Roosevelt began his first term, the Great Depression had caused many people to lose hope and also made many people feel much differently in general than they had felt during the decade before, commonly known as the “roaring twenties.” The Great Depression was a hit to the self-esteem of many Americans, since it was common for people to blame themselves for their own living conditions, which, for many, involved losing their jobs and being unable to provide for their families. President Roosevelt came into office and quickly began taking action to try and improve the conditions in the country. Nonetheless, Eleanor Roosevelt also played an important role. Like her husband, she had great ambition and was ready to work hard in order to accomplish goals. She gave hope to the people and made many Americans believe that the circumstances would improve. In addition to the work she did for various issues she cared about and the help she provided her husband with his work, Eleanor Roosevelt worked to bring back a sense of empowerment that had become less common because of the economic circumstances.
Even after Franklin Roosevelt’s death in 1945, Eleanor’s work was not finished, despite a claim she once made that it was. She was appointed to the United States General Assembly by President Truman, where she would continue her service for eight years. In addition, she was involved in the U.N.'s Human Rights Commission and played a part in creating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These initiatives proved that Eleanor Roosevelt not only could be a source of hope for Americans in a time of severe distress but also a fighter for important causes after World War II was over and the nation had begun on its road to recovery from the Great Depression, and after her husband was gone. All in all, Eleanor Roosevelt was an advocate, and by the time of her death in 1962, she had created a lasting legacy through her efforts as a leader.
Sources:
https://www.biography.com/people/eleanor-roosevelt-9463366
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Roosevelt
http://quotesnsmiles.com/quotes/20-inspiring-eleanor-roosevelt-quotes/
Images:
http://www.americanradioworks.org/segments/the-roosevelts-as-a-political-team/
https://www.thoughtco.com/eleanor-roosevelt-1779802
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Roosevelt
I really liked how you detailed the importance of Eleanor as a first lady. She was one of the first to really use her position to empower others and motivate her husband along the way. I did not realize that Eleanor actually wanted to divorce Franklin during his campaign. That would have destroyed FDR and his chances of being president because his party wouldn't even elect him because of his party. Instead they resolved their issues and agreed to be "married" in tern Eleanor had more freedom which could have played a role in how much change she was allowed to motivate as the first lady. But great blog post it really made me interested in the dynamic between Franklin and Eleanor and how they created a more modern progressive relationship in the white house that you can still see today with our first ladies like Michelle Obama's campaign for a healthier more active society.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nybooks.com/articles/2011/06/09/charms-eleanor-roosevelt/
I really enjoyed this post. It was interesting to see how much of a role a First Lady could play in society during this time of transitioning social roles. The independence and influence that Eleanor showed was truly very interesting, as well were her many contributions. One of the contributions that interested me most was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that she helped to draft. She believed that part of the reason that world peace could not be obtained was the Russians' ignoring of human rights, along with the blatant abuses from the Nazis. This discussion came at a pivotal time, during the years following WW2. It was this discussion that she created, along with the document, that helped to ensure that this would not happen again.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/10/opinion/eleanor-roosevelt-s-legacy-human-rights.html
I thought it was rally interesting how you highlighted that while Eleanor Roosevelt was born into a life of privilege, her life in itself was not one that would be considered that grand as she was growing up. You mentioned in particular that "she was taught to be a leader, not just trained to be an ordinary woman or mother" and this was something that I did not really know. I was not really aware of her involvement in political things and thought that it was really interesting to learn about. I was particularly interested in her efforts in making the Universal Declaration of Human Rights because I remember learning about that as something that technically does exist but is not really "mandatory" meaning that it isn't necessarily required for people to follow, however it would be terrible for someone not to follow it. I researched it and actually found a video of a speech she gave on human rights. She said that it's main goal was to "make people everywhere conscious of the importance of human rights and freedoms."
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPVWmmVKVk0
While reading this, I remembered third grade when I made a little speech about Eleanor Roosevelt for an assignment. Obviously, before, I didn't know much about her and her legacy. It is fascinating to read that she was involved in much more even after her husband passed away. This post highlights the importance of First Ladies and how they contribute to the world, especially Eleanor. As you mentioned about her contributions on women's rights, I found a page that goes into that in detail. It mentioned that she encouraged women to be more involved in establishing the New Deal and kept pushing future President Truman and President Kennedy to have women involved and raise awareness of women's justice issues.
ReplyDeletehttps://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/lesson-plans/notes-er-and-womens-movement.cfm