The First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt

The First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, is seen as the game changer in First Ladies by being the most outspoken women in politics. Eleanor was a Political Figure, Humanitarian, and Activist and was involved in numerous organizations, programs and was a United Nations Spokesperson. She was also the longest working First lady of her time. After she died her legacy still lives on, by setting an example of an excellent first lady and how to be a great person.

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born on October 11, 1884, to Anna Hall and Elliott Roosevelt, in New York City. She was born into a wealthy family; they were usually called “The Swells which was a common name for a wealthy family. Her father was an alcoholic, but Eleanor adored her father very much until he died in 1884, after he was committed to a sanitarium and then tried to kill himself by jumping out the window, luckily he survived, but he had a seizure and died after. Her Mother died than in 1892 from diphtheria and contracted it to Eleanor sibling Elliott Jr. Diphtheria is a serious infection of the nose and throat that makes it very hard to breathe, thankfully now it is preventable by a vaccine. After both her parents died she was sent to her Grandmother Mary Livingston Ludlow in Tivoli, New York with her 3 three siblings, Hall Roosevelt, Elliott Roosevelt Mann, and Elliott Roosevelt Jr. At this point Eleanor Roosevelt 15 and was being homeschooled by her Aunt, Anna Bamie Roosevelt. She then was sent to The Allenswood School in Wimbledon, London. The Allenswood School was a girls school, that taught girls confidence and responsibility. During her Time at Allenswood, the headmistress was a woman named Marie Souvestre. Marie excelled in helping young women to think independently and build confidence. Marie grew a liking in Eleanor, Marie helped her with learning French and becoming the great speaker she was.

In March 1905 Marie Souvestre had died. To commemorate the loss Eleanor hung Marie’s portrait by her desk and brought all of her letters with her. Eleanor’s Cousin, Corinne Douglas Robinson started her first year while Eleanor started her last. To Eleanor's surprise, Corrine said that Eleanor was one of the most popular people at school. Eleanor wanted to continue going to Allenswood but her Grandmother wanted her back in 1902 to do something bigger with her life.

Now at age 17, Eleanor wanted to do something with her education. Later that year she was presented at the Debutante Ball at the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan, New York. The Debutante Ball or “Deb” was for upper-class young women, how we're going to make their “debut” hence the name “Deb”. After the party, she says she was miserable because she had lost touch with all of her friends back in London. But during this year she became active in the society where she helped teach dancing.

She also worked in the New York Junior League. The New York Junior League is a non-profit organization that promotes volunteerism. That year she met her father’s fifth cousin once removed, which was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The meet on a train and had been talking to each other secretly. Franklin’s mother Sara who was not supportive of the couple tried to take Franklin away from Eleanor by taking him on a cruise but it did not work. Eleanor and Franklin were married on March 17, 1905. Theodore Roosevelt, who was the president at the time, attended the wedding, which was on the front page of the New York Times. For their honeymoon, they took a three-month vacation to Europe. After their honeymoon they moved to a house in Hyde Park, provided by Franklin’s Mother. Though Franklin’s mother, Sara, gave them a house she was still controlling. Sara’s house was connected to the Roosevelt’s house by mere sliding doors. Eleanor actually had a breakdown because of Sara. Sara also wanted to parent Eleanor and Franklin’s children. The Roosevelt’s Children include Anna Eleanor, James II, Elliott, Franklin jr., John II, and one child that died in infancy.

In 1918 Eleanor was unpacking Franklin’s suitcase and found a pack of a love letter from Franklin’s secretary at the time, Lucy Mercer. Franklin had actually been thinking of leaving Eleanor for Lucy. Though they never got divorced it was still a big dip in their marriage, and now they were more political partners.

In August 1921 Franklin contracted Polio and became paralyzed legs down. Through that time she took care of Franklin and the children tirelessly, but still had time for political matters. Her husband grew more of a liking towards her after everything she still helped him with everything. When he was not sick anymore he ran for president and was inaugurated on March 4, 1933.

At first, Eleanor was not fond of taking the role of the first lady, because of the precedents before her, the first ladies showed that the first lady should just be a “backdrop for the president”. Eleanor knew she had to change it, especially with her political background. Now she was set out to make the first lady have more of a political standard. This was hard because not many women had careers, and even if they did society detested it.

She held press conferences and was the first First Lady to speak at a national party convention. She also wrote a daily column called “called “My Day”, and hosted a radio show. One of her goals was to have her salary matching her husbands, at that time she was receiving about 75,000. One way that Eleanor Roosevelt relates to the theme when the WW1 Veterans were demanding their bonus certificates and awards for serving in the war, the government would gas the veterans with tear gas. Eleanor helped the conflict by going to the veterans’ camp and resolving the issue by listing to the issues and bringing it up in a meeting the issue was later.

On August 18, 1933 Eleanor visited the poverty-stricken minors in Arthurdale, Virginia. She was devastated at what she saw and reported it back to her husband. So she started a new project in which they would build new homes with heat and plumbing and where they would resettle the minors and their families so they could make money subsistence farming and work at a manufacturing plant, she wanted this to become an example of how a community should look. They started building 1934 and gave the first fifty homes to away to families, the deal was that the families would have to repay the government in thirty years. The government saw this plan as a failure, but when Eleanor visited in 1940, she saw that their economy was successful and the people living they're saw this new town as a success.

Eleanor also saw a problem with segregation and decided to change that. At this time Eleanor was the only person in the white house that thought wrongly of segregation which only made everything harder, so she invited a group of famous African-American people to the White House. When singer, Marian Anderson, was not allowed into the Constitution Hall by the Daughters of America, she decided to protest from the group by resigning and held a concert for Marian on Lincoln Memorial. Because of her help in the Civil Rights, she was fairly unpopular in the South. The plantation owners become scared that their servants were creating clubs called “Eleanor’s Club” and “Eleanor Tuesdays” were the servants protested privately against their owners.

During WW2 She also helped build up the army and encouraged and stood with the soldiers, and spoke to them about having better morals. She also advocated on behalf of the refugees from Europe. She also encourages volunteerism by helping out in any branch of the army and changed the United States Defense Systems forever. Starting Franklin’s fourth term he died from a cerebral hemorrhage.

After being First Lady she served as a US Delegate from 1946 to 1953. She oversaw a document called the Universal Declaration of humans’ rights, which was a document that is an international document that states the basic rights of every human on this earth. During John Kennedy’s run, she headed the first Commision on the status of Women, which is an organization that promotes gender equality and empowers women. She also served on the board of numerous organizations; one was NAACP which is the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the advisory council for the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps is a volunteer program that anyone can join and they help people all around the world.

Sadly she died at Age 78 on November 7th, 1962 of heart failure and Tuberculosis. During her funeral, she was visited by presidents such as President John Kennedy, President Truman, and Eisenhower, and was buried next to her Husband at Hyde Park. Even though she died she was never forgotten. After she died was initiated into the Women’s Hall of fame in 1973. She also has her own monument in New York, Riverside Park, which was made in 1996. The statue is actually the first statue to depict and first lady and her achievements. Also, an award called the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights which was made in 1998.

After she died her legacy still continues as a First Lady, Activist, and Humanitarian. She is a big role model in America and taught us to speak out and speak our minds. She didn’t mind fighting for what was right even though society though it was wrong. She teaches us how to be more caring a better human being. She never gave up on anyone and is a true figure of respect, admiration, and kindness.