Welcome back to The Deep Dive, the only place
where we take a monumental stack of sources,
articles, biographies, letters, research papers,
and distill them down to the essential, fascinating,
and most actionable knowledge just for you. Today
we are opening the vault on a figure whose political
influence was, I mean, truly monumental. Absolutely.
Spanning the Great Depression, World War II,
the rise of modern media, and the very foundation.
of global human rights architecture. We are undertaking
a deep dive into the extraordinary life of Anna
Eleanor Roosevelt, the longest serving first
lady of the United States. And our mission today
is to look far beyond the, you know, the typical,
sometimes sanitized portrait of a president's
wife. Exactly. Eleanor Roosevelt didn't just
stand by her husband, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
She transformed a traditional, often ceremonial
position into an independent, powerful platform
for diplomacy and rigorous social activism. She
essentially rewrote the job description of the
first lady. She really did. And our source materials,
they completely confirm this. This transformation
is the central narrative. We've compiled foundational
biographical material covering her deeply unhappy
early life and complex marriage. And we have
detailed histories of her revolutionary use of
media and communications. Her controversial domestic
initiatives during the New Deal. Her pivotal
civil rights victories that, I mean, often put
her at odds with her husband. And, of course,
her monumental post -White House work at the
United Nations. And when we discuss her influence,
we aren't just talking about domestic policy.
We're talking about massive world changing impact.
Right. She is consistently ranked by historians
as the greatest American first lady. We have
to frame her, as the sources suggest, not just
as a spouse, but as a groundbreaking political
figure, a diplomat. And the activist President
Harry S. Truman himself would later dub the first
lady of the world. That's it. And the emotional
journey from this shy, insecure socialite to
a global icon, that's really the core insight
of her story. I think to understand the sheer
scale of her public life, we have to start by
examining where she came from. Because the political
dynamo we know began life in a very dark, emotionally
damaging environment. Okay, let's untack the
beginnings. Because the first two decades of
her life, they read almost like a tragedy. Eleanor
Roosevelt was born into immense wealth and social
privilege. I mean, she was a member of both the
prominent Roosevelt and Livingston families.
And niece of President Theodore Roosevelt. Right.
But the sources repeatedly described her childhood
as dramatic and, well, emotionally deprived.
Absolutely. The emotional hardship began at home.
Her mother, Anna Rebecca Hall, was frequently
described as one of New York's great beauties.
And she was emotionally distant, even cruel toward
Eleanor. That's putting it mildly. Anna allegedly
found her daughter plain or ugly and was often
ashamed of her serious demeanor. That's where
the nickname Granny came from, isn't it? Yes,
a term her mother used to mock her lack of youthful
gaiety and her serious manner as a child. To
have your own mother undermine your self -worth
like that, that's a profound injury that must
have shaped her intense need for approval and
her later drive for social justice. The sources
do link that indirectly. Biographers suggest
that her profound lack of self -confidence and
this feeling of being an outsider, despite all
her privilege, gave her a unique ability to empathize
with the marginalized. And then her family life
was just shattered by devastating loss. Completely.
Her mother and younger brother died suddenly
from diphtheria in 1892. And her father, Elliot
Roosevelt, who suffered from severe alcoholism,
was absent and struggling with his own addiction.
And his death was equally tragic. It was. Elliot
Roosevelt died in 1894 from a seizure following
a serious fall, which happened during a fit of
delirium tremens. These rapid early losses were
just catastrophic. They were. And Eleanor confessed
in later life that she was prone to depression,
and the sources connect this directly to the
instability and trauma of her formative years.
There's a poignant detail that really sticks
with you. Her alcoholic father had implored her
before his death to act as a mother toward her
surviving younger brother, Hall. He asked her
to essentially guide him. And she took that responsibility
incredibly seriously, honoring that request for
the rest of his life. She even chaperoned him
to Groton and wrote him almost daily. It established
a pattern we see repeated throughout her life.
When faced with these emotional voids, Eleanor
poured herself into duty, into obligation, and
care for others, often suppressing her own needs.
But the sources agree that the major turning
point The moment she began to build her own identity
and confidence was when she was shipped off to
boarding school. Fallonswood Boarding Academy
in London at age 15. This was the moment she
found a true mentor. Exactly. The headmistress,
Marie Suvestra, was a noted intellectual and
enforced a rigorous curriculum designed specifically
to cultivate independent thinking and confidence
in young women. Which was revolutionary for the
time. Totally revolutionary. Suvestra took a
special interest in Roosevelt, who just thrived
there. She gained self -confidence. She became
fluent in French. And the connection with Sylvester
was clearly very deep, wasn't it? Intensely deep.
Sylvester was later revealed to be a lesbian,
and she cultivated a very advanced political
and intellectual environment. Eleanor kept Sylvester's
portrait on her desk and carried their letters
with her for years after Sylvester's death. So
this period showed her that intellectual rigor
and an independent political viewpoint were not
only possible for a woman, but essential. Yes.
She returns to the U .S. in 1902, and shortly
after, she meets her future husband, Franklin
Delano Roosevelt. They were fifth cousins once
removed. And this relationship was immediately
fraught with family interference. Right from
the start. They became engaged in 1903, but Franklin's
powerful and controlling mother, Sarah Ann Delano,
staunchly opposed the match. She even tried to
quash the romance by hauling Franklin away on
a Caribbean cruise. But they persisted. The 1905
wedding itself, though, was a massive social
event, largely thanks to her uncle. Yes. President
Theodore Roosevelt gave the bride away. He quipped
that it was a good thing to keep the name in
the family. But that public celebration hid a
private tragedy, the immediate dominance of Sarah
Delano. Sarah controlled virtually every aspect
of their domestic life. She even provided them
with a townhouse that was connected to her own
by sliding doors. And she ran both households
for the first decade of their marriage. It sounds
suffocating. I mean, Eleanor was an adult married
woman, yet living under the thumb of a powerful
mother -in -law who dictated everything. It was
suffocating. Eleanor later reflected sadly that
her six children, one of whom died in infancy,
were more my mother -in -law's children than
they were mine. And compounding this emotional
distance, she felt ill -suited to motherhood.
She did. She confessed to her daughter that sex
with Franklin was merely an ordeal to be born,
which suggests a deep physical and emotional
disconnect right from the early days. So the
marriage was a traditional, if distant, arrangement
until 1918. That's when everything changed with
the discovery of the affair. The defining moment.
Eleanor discovered love letters from her social
secretary, Lucy Mercer, in Franklin's suitcase.
And FDR had been seriously contemplating divorce.
He was. But the sources suggest multiple pressures
stopped him. His mother, Sarah, threatened to
disinherit him entirely if he divorced. And his
political advisor, Louis Howe, pressured him
to stay. Right, arguing that a divorce politician
had no future in America. So the result was a
radical transformation of the relationship. The
union ceased to be physically intimate and transformed
into a strictly pragmatic political partnership.
Precisely. Eleanor was profoundly disillusioned
and devastated, and she channeled that enormous
emotional energy into public life and social
work, joining the Women's Trade Union League,
or WTUL. And that political pivot was then cemented
by Franklin's sudden debilitating illness in
1921. This was her great opportunity, though
born of tragedy. FDR was stricken with a paralytic
illness, at the time believed to be polio, while
vacationing at Campobello Island. And Eleanor's
role was crucial. She provided intense nursing
care, perhaps saving his life from complications.
But more importantly, she fought fiercely against
Sarah, who urged Franklin to retire and become
a country gentleman. Because she recognized that
if he retired, she would likely be subsumed again
by Sarah's control. That's the key insight. Eleanor
successfully persuaded Franklin to stay in politics,
arguing that active involvement was essential
for his mental and physical recovery. This was
a massive turning point. It gave her the freedom
and the necessity to step out of Sarah's shadow
and become Franklin's public representative.
A role she took to immediately. So before they
ever reached the White House, she was already
a seasoned political operator, largely filling
the public vacuum left by the incapacitated FDR.
She was a tireless surrogate. Coached by Louie
Howe, she began making public appearances and
quickly became a leader in the New York State
Democratic Party. She passionately championed
the WTUL's core progressive goals. Advocating
for a 48 -hour work week for women, establishing
a minimum wage. And pushing for the abolition
of child labor. This was her true political education.
Her political ruthlessness during this period
is actually quite surprising, especially in her
conflict with her own family. Oh, absolutely.
She campaigned hard for Al Smith in 1924 against
her first cousin, Theodore Roosevelt Jr. And
she went directly for the jugular. employing
what she later admitted were dirty tricksters
tactics. She dogged her cousin on the campaign
trail using a car topped with a giant paper mache
bonnet shaped like a teapot that emitted simulated
steam. Which, for you listening, was a direct
pointed attack referencing the massive teapot
dome scandal. A major bribery scandal involving
government oil reserves during the Harding administration.
So she was explicitly linking her cousin to the
corruption of the prior Republican administration.
And he was furious. Never forgave her. It led
to a public painful break with that side of the
family. And though she later decried the methods,
they were effective. Theodore lost the race.
It showed her immense capacity for political
combat. And she didn't just campaign. She also
tested her ideas for community and labor revitalization
with the Valkill Community Experiment. In 1927,
she established Val Kill Industries with several
friends. The core idea was to create reliable
winter income for local farming families through
traditional handicrafts. Specifically, high -quality
reproduction furniture, pewter, and homespun
cloth. Right, leveraging the popularity of the
colonial revival style at the time. This sounds
very much like a blueprint for the kind of self
-help, community -focused projects we'd see later
in the New Deal. What was an important precursor?
While it never achieved the ambitious subsistence
goals she imagined, it absolutely demonstrated
her commitment to using craft and community to
provide meaningful work rather than just direct
charity. And Val Kil later became the only home
she ever personally owned. A vital distinction
from the grand family estates she merely inhabited.
It symbolized her independence, born out of this
pre -White House political and social engagement.
So when Franklin was inaugurated in 1933, Eleanor
became first lady. But the sources make it clear
she was initially depressed. Even terrified about
assuming the role. Why? Well, the role of the
first lady up until that point was strictly constrained
to hostessing, domestic charity and ceremonial
duties. Her immediate predecessor, Lou Henry
Hoover, had been an accomplished geologist and
activist, but she had actively stopped her feminist
activities upon entering the White House. Right.
Eleanor's distress was real. She reportedly told
a friend that she did not want to be confined
to being merely a backdrop for Birdie, meaning
a non -speaking, pleasant accessory. So she used
the full moral and political weight of the presidency
with Franklin's active backing to essentially
redefine the position from the ground up. She
absolutely did. She made the position an independent
platform for activism. And as a result, she became
known as the most controversial first lady in
United States history. She immediately adopted
an active speaking and writing agenda. Which
few married women did professionally at the time,
let alone a first lady. And she immediately monetized
her position, which was a risky move. But she
did it in a unique way. She did it for purpose,
not for personal wealth. In her first year alone,
she earned $75 ,000 from lectures and writing,
donating the vast majority of that income directly
to charity. By 1941, she was able to command
lecture fees of $1 ,000 per engagement. a staggering
sum at the time, all of which went to organizations
she supported. Her transformation of the first
lady role is inextricably linked to her revolutionary
mastery of media. She truly was a pioneer. She
was unprecedented in her approach. She became
the first presidential spouse to hold regular
press conferences, scheduling 348 of them over
her 12 years in the White House. But the brilliant
strategic move was in her initial rule. She barred
male reporters from attending these conferences.
That seems like an odd move to exclude the majority
of the working press. But what was the goal?
It was a direct maneuver to force the male dominated
newspapers who were required to cover the first
lady to hire female staff in order to gain access.
This single decision immediately expanded professional
opportunities for women journalists during a
time when their access to the White House was
extremely limited. And that wasn't her only media
event either. She went head to head with the
journalism establishment itself. She did. Since
the powerful journalist organization, the Gridiron
Club, banned women from its annual dinner, she
hosted the famous Gridiron Widows event at the
White House. a highly publicized, successful
counter -event that further highlighted her disdain
for exclusionary practices. Beyond press conferences,
she created a vast personal media empire that
connected directly with millions of Americans,
starting with her syndicated column, My Day.
She wrote that column six days a week from 1936
until her death in 1962. An incredible span.
It discussed her daily activities, travel, and
most importantly, her humanitarian concerns.
She also contributed a monthly column to Woman's
Home Companion and an advice column called If
You Ask Me. Why did she invest so much time and
effort into these columns? Was it purely political?
I think biographers argue these publications,
which invited reader responses and extensively
covered women's issues and domestic dilemmas,
were a conscious, sophisticated attempt to use
journalism to overcome social isolation for women.
She was creating a two way channel of communication,
making the White House feel accessible. And fostering
a sense of community among her readership. Then
there was radio, where she was an early adopter
and a huge commercial success. She hosted a regular
radio program of commentary and discussions starting
in 1934. covering a range of topics from movie
censorship and children's education to the challenges
faced by ordinary families. And as with her lectures,
she always donated her salary from these broadcasts
directly to charity. But the commercial aspect
of her radio appearances caused intense political
blowback, didn't it? She was reading ads for
mattresses and shoes. It certainly did. She read
commercials for products like a mattress company
and the Selby Shoe Company. The controversy pleaked
because when Selby sponsored her series, their
sales reportedly increased by 200%. So critics,
primarily conservative political opponents, seized
on this, calling it profiteering. And questioning
the sincerity of her charity donations. So how
did she navigate that criticism? Her personal
popularity and the undeniable charitable destinations
of the funds were her shields. The shows were
so popular that the criticism largely failed
to stick. Proving she understood how to leverage
her fame for financial good, even if it ruffled
political feathers. And she was also a genuine
trailblazer in the new mediums of film and television,
making over 200 appearances during her life.
She was remarkably media savvy, constantly adapting.
She started with writing articles for fan magazines
like Modern Screen in 1932. Offering movie recommendations,
her film debut was in 1940, narrating the prologue
for the anti -Nazi film Pastor Hall. She even
tried screenwriting. She did, producing the script
for an Oscar -nominated civil defense short,
Women in Defense, narrated by Katharine Hepburn.
And she embraced the small screen immediately
after the war. Her debut was on VE Day in 1945.
Five years later, in 1950, she became the first
woman to host a major American public affairs
broadcast TV show, today with Mrs. Roosevelt
on NBC. The premier guests included Albert Einstein
in his first television appearance and J. Robert
Oppenheimer. That is incredible. She's essentially
running a talk show with the world's most brilliant
minds while also keeping her syndicated column
going. It speaks to her ceaseless energy and
her commitment to public discourse. She knew
that in the post -war world, information was
delivered instantly, and she had to be a part
of that conversation. Which is why we see her
making appearances on shows like What's My Line
as the mystery guest to promote United Nations
Day. She was willing to use pop culture to push
serious political and humanitarian causes. And
sometimes her political support through television
could be crucial. Biographers note that her highly
visible televised support of John F. Kennedy,
despite her initial reservations about his politics,
may have provided the necessary nudge. for his
hairline victory in the 1960 election. She even
led her name for commercial endorsements, like
for Good Luck Margarine. Where she used the paid
slot to raise awareness about world hunger, ensuring
every platform served an advocacy purpose. Let's
transition now to two of her most controversial
domestic projects during the New Deal era, starting
with Arthur Dale in West Virginia. This was her
deeply personal project. It was her chief project,
born out of deep personal conviction. She visited
impoverished, blacklisted, unemployed miners
in 1933 and was determined to create a solution.
So Arthur... was an experimental plan community
that she poured much of her personal income into.
Hoping it would be a model for better cared for
workers who could achieve self -sufficiency through
farming and handicrafts. But it was a spectacular
failure in its early execution, right? An operational
disaster initially, the initial prefabricated
houses failed entirely, forcing a rapid rebuild
in 1934 to her specifications. The new houses
were built with every modern convenience, including
indoor plumbing and steam heat. But the project
faced relentless criticism. Conservatives condemned
it as a communist plot due to its government
planning. While even members of the administration,
like Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickx, criticized
the incredibly high per -family cost. And this
project, meant to be a beacon of progressive
reform, quickly ran into the harsh reality of
segregation. It did. Though Roosevelt initially
hoped for a racially mixed community, the white
minors who formed the core of the community insisted
on limiting membership exclusively to white Christians.
And she lost the community vote. However, this
failure became a catalyst for her. It motivated
her to become much more outspoken on racial discrimination.
And to urge the creation of similar parallel
communities for excluded Black and Jewish minors.
Right. So even though the government sold off
its holdings at a loss by 1941, Roosevelt still
viewed it as a success on a human level. That's
the distinction she drew. She viewed success
not purely on the balance sheet, but on the visible,
tangible improvements in the residents' lives.
The fact that they had steam heat. indoor plumbing,
and community cohesion. For her, the social dividend
outweighed the financial loss. Her work with
young people also ignited significant political
fire, especially concerning the American Youth
Congress, or AYC. Roosevelt was an urgent advocate
for youth during the Depression, stating her
terror at the idea that America might be losing
this generation to despair and unemployment.
This led directly to the creation of the National
Youth Administration, the NYA, in 1935. A massive
New Deal mechanism that provided work and education
for Americans aged 16 to 25. But the AYC, which
was a lobbying group for youth interests, was
politically tainted in the eyes of many conservatives.
Yes. The controversy arose because the AYC had
leaders who were known members of the Young Communist
League. In the context of the late 1930s, when
political polarization was intense and fear of
communism was rising, this affiliation was dangerous
for the White House. And her response wasn't
to back away, but to embrace them. She invited
subpoenaed AYC leaders to stay at the White House,
including Joseph P. Lash, which predictably fueled
conservative criticism and accusations of coddling
communists. The press and political opposition
had a field day. It escalated when AYC members
later picketed the White House, even booing Franklin
when he addressed and admonished them. But despite
the immense political heat, she remained their
champion. She endured it. She was willing to
risk major political standing to support groups
she felt deserved advocacy and who were pushing
for necessary reforms, regardless of their unpopular
affiliations. Her advocacy for civil rights is
truly where Eleanor Roosevelt earned her unique
place in history, largely because she was willing
to go further and move faster than her own husband.
Historians generally agree she was significantly
more advanced than FDR on racial issues. She
served as the absolutely critical connection
between the White House and the African -American
community during the Jim Crow era. Often acting
as the eyes and ears for her husband, who was
politically constrained. And she didn't rely
on reports. She observed the discrimination firsthand
during her extensive travels. That's right. She
traveled widely, including through the segregated
South, observing discrimination and noting that
African -Americans received a disproportionate...
small share of relief money from the New Deal
programs. So she insisted often loudly that New
Deal benefits be extended equally to all races.
And she broke protocol constantly within the
White House itself. She shattered tradition by
consistently inviting hundreds of African -American
guests to the White House for dinners and receptions,
a practice unheard of at the time. The most famous
incident demonstrating her willingness to publicly
break with the segregated establishment was the
Marian Anderson concert in 1939. When the Daughters
of the American Revolution, the DS, denied the
black opera singer Marian Anderson use of their
Constitution Hall because of segregationist rules.
Eleanor immediately. publicly and dramatically
resigned from the DR in protest. And then used
her influence to help arrange for Anderson to
perform instead on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
That concert, attended by 75 ,000 people and
broadcast internationally, was a monumental act
of political visibility and symbolism. It was
a defining moment in the modern civil rights
movement. But it's fascinating and important
for historical context that not everyone saw
it as enough. The sources show Zora Neale Hurston
criticized her for not also denouncing the D
.C. Board of Education for denying Anderson the
auditorium at the all white Central High School.
Right. Noting that the D .C. board was controlled
by congressional committees, largely Democrats,
who were screaming so loudly against the D .R.
Hurston's critique highlights the immense pressure
activists face to address the underlying systemic
issues, not just the visible symptoms. Exactly.
But Roosevelt continued to push the boundaries
in her own way, often through personal symbolism,
such as her friendship with Mary McLeod Bethune.
The African -American educator she appointed
as director of the Division of Negro Affairs
of the N .Y .A. And how does she manage the pervasive
segregationist attitudes of the White House staff?
It was a constant battle. powerfully simple tactic.
Whenever Bethune visited, Eleanor would meet
her at the White House gate, openly embrace her,
and walk in arm in arm. This public display made
the staff's compliance with non -discrimination
undeniable and was a powerful, silent protest.
Despite her efforts, she could not move Franklin
on the most difficult piece of legislation. The
anti -lynching bill. This is where political
reality clashed hardest with her moral compass.
She lobbied intensely behind the scenes for the
Costigan -Wagner bill, which would have made
lynching a federal crime. She even arranged a
meeting between FDR and NAACP president. Walter
Francis White. However, Franklin refused to provide
public support, fearing the loss of crucial Southern
congressional votes. And for you listening, that
Southern vote was so crucial because the New
Deal depended entirely on Southern Democratic
chairman in Congress. They held the power to
block or pass nearly all of FDR's broader economic
and social agenda. Taking a stand on civil rights
was considered an existential political threat
to the entire New Deal coalition. So FDR chose
legislative progress over moral certainty on
this issue, leading the anti lynching bill to
failed repeatedly in the Senate. And as a direct
consequence of her support, Eleanor became a
deeply unpopular, even reviled figure across
the segregated South. Oh, absolutely. The opposition
was intense and often irrational. Baseless rumors
spread through the South about mythical Eleanor
Club servants supposedly organizing to oppose
their employers. And Eleanor Tuesdays, suggesting
that black men would attack white women on the
street. She was blamed for everything, including
the Detroit race riots in 1943. Yet her immense
popularity among African -Americans was real
and lasting. It helped shift the black vote from
a reliable Republican bloc to a cornerstone of
the Democratic Party. Moving to wartime, her
conscience also placed her in opposition to one
of the most disgraceful decisions of FDR's presidency,
the Japanese -American internment. She was a
crucial voice of dissent. She privately opposed
Executive Order 9066, warning against the great
hysteria against minority groups that fueled
the internment. This stance was extremely unpopular
even during the war. For her opposition, she
was widely criticized, with the powerful Los
Angeles Times calling for her forced retirement
from public life, which demonstrated a clear,
consistent separation between her moral standards
and her husband's political expediency. During
World War II, her primary role shifted to becoming
a vital morale booster, both domestically and
internationally. Initially, she co -chaired the
Office of Civilian Defense, the OCD, in 1941,
working to expand civilian volunteer roles. She
saw the OCD not just as defense preparation,
but as an opportunity to address broader social
problems. However, controversy followed her.
She was forced to resign after criticism arose
over high salaries paid to friends she had appointed.
but her trips to visit the troops were legendary
for their impact on morale. They were truly grueling.
She toured England, sometimes under threat of
bombing, and then undertook a famously extensive
and physically challenging trip through the South
Pacific in 1943. Visiting hospitals, remote bases,
and frontline troops. Admiral William Halsey
Jr., one of the war's most prominent commanders,
later stated that her Pacific tour alone accomplished
more good than any other person who passed through
his area. I think we need to linger on the political
tension of that trip. She was a morale booster,
but she also saw the carnage of war. up close.
She was deeply shaken by the experience, which
hardened her post -war views. At the same time,
congressional Republicans criticized her severely,
accusing her of using scarce wartime resources
for unnecessary travel. So she couldn't escape
controversy, even when performing a task vital
for military morale. Her support for the Tuskegee
Airmen also serves as a crucial civil rights
moment during the war. It was very public endorsement
of the first black combat pilots. In 1941, she
visited the Tuskegee Air Corps Advanced Flying
School. And significantly took a half hour flight
with C. Alfred Chief Anderson, the chief civilian
instructor, cheerfully declaring, well, you can
fly all right. This event was widely reported
and highly influential, even leading her to help
secure a large loan from the Julius Rosenwald
Fund to finance Moten Field. And despite all
her wartime efforts, what did she eventually
identify as her deepest regret from the war years?
It was her inability to force Franklin to accept
more refugees from Nazism. She was haunted by
the knowledge that many could have been saved.
She did manage one key victory. She successfully
secured refugee status for 83 Jewish refugees
aboard the SS Kwanzaa in August 1940. But she
was refused on many other occasions due to intense
political pressure and fears of fifth columnists
entering the country. Her son James confirmed
this was her deepest regret at the end of her
life. Following the war, her hardened views on
Germany led her to support a controversial post
-war policy. She strongly backed the controversial
Morgenthau plan, which, for those who may not
recall, aimed to de -industrialize Germany after
the war. Essentially converting it into an agrarian,
non -industrial state. And Roosevelt supported
this because she deeply feared the resurrection
of Germany's political and military power, believing
that only through total economic disarmament
could long -term peace be secured. This brings
us to the deeply complex, often debated aspects
of her personal life and relationships, which
were running parallel to her intense political
career. Let's start with Lorena Hickok. Loretta
Hickok, or Hick, was an Associated Press reporter
assigned to cover her during the 1932 campaign.
According to sources, Hickok quickly fell madly
in love with her. They had an intensely close
emotional relationship. Hickok eventually resigned
her AP post to be near ER, moving into the White
House for a brief period. And the letters they
exchanged are the subject of significant scholarly
debate. They are voluminous daily, often 10 to
15 page letters filled with endearments. ER wrote
phrases like, I want to put my arms around you
and kiss you at the corner of your mouth. She
even wore a sapphire ring Hickok had given her
to Franklin's inauguration. So what is the prevailing
scholarly conclusion regarding the intimacy of
this bond? The debate remains lively. Some biographers
conclude the relationship was definitively erotic
and romantically involved, citing the emotional
intensity and the length of the correspondence.
However, Hickok's own biographer argued that
the language was likely an unusually belated
schoolgirl crush, cautioning against modern interpretation
of 1930s female emotional language. So we can't
definitively label the physical nature, but we
can confirm the emotional support was undeniable.
Absolutely. The deep emotional bond and mutual
support provided Eleanor with the comfort and
closeness that was absent in her political marriage.
And there was another key romantic figure, her
bodyguard, Earl Miller. Earl Miller was a New
York State police sergeant, 12 years her junior,
assigned as her bodyguard starting in 1929. Biographers
describe their relationship as close and romantic.
Calling it her first romantic involvement in
her middle years, filling another void left by
the affair with Lucy Mercer. Miller taught her
various sports and outdoor skills. They were
in contact for decades, correct? They corresponded
daily until her death, which speaks to a profound
connection. But here's the mystery. All those
letters have been lost. The rumor is that they
were either purchased and destroyed by unknown
parties after her death or simply locked away
by her family. And this romantic friendship coincided
with FDR's long -term rumored relationship with
his secretary, Marguerite Miselehan, demonstrating
just how much their marriage had dissolved into
a pragmatic, platonic political alliance. Finally,
we must discuss her complex and extremely uncomfortable
evolution regarding Jewish people, which seems
to track directly with her rising political awareness.
Her journey here is one of profound transformation,
illustrating the deeply ingrained societal prejudices
of the early 20th century. Until middle age,
ER exhibited anti -Semitic tendencies. For example,
in a 1918 letter, she described a social gathering,
chillingly, as the Jew party was appalling. I
never wish to hear money, jewels, or sables mentioned
again. She also, at the Todd Hunter School, where
she was co -owner, explicitly limited the number
of Jewish students. So how did she go from that
casual prejudice to become... a vocal anti -racist
and Zionist advocate. Her political life forced
the change. By 1929, her social circle began
to include powerful, prominent Jewish political
figures like Bernard Baruch and Henry Morgenthau
Jr., forcing direct engagement. Once she became
first lady, She began speaking out publicly against
rising anti -Semitism, both in Europe and the
U .S. And she was a key advocate for Jewish refugees.
After World War II, she became a staunch champion
of Israel, admiring its perceived commitment
to New Deal values and pioneering social democracy.
It was a clear political and moral realignment.
The end of Franklin's life in April 1945 was
in many ways the prelude to Eleanor's true global
career. But it began with a final, painful domestic
revelation. A revelation that shattered her final
illusions about her marriage. It was twofold
and incredibly bitter. She was profoundly shocked
to learn that Franklin's mistress, Lucy Mercer
Rutherford, had been with him when he died. And
adding to that bitterness was the discovery that
her own daughter, Anna, had known and helped
conceal the ongoing relationship for years. This
betrayal, coupled with grief, must have been
overwhelming. But she dealt with the tragedy
and immediately channeled her energy back into
public service, focusing on legacy and relocation.
She focused on logistics, dedicating the family
estate Hyde Park to the federal government as
a museum in 1946. This act set the crucial precedent
for the modern system of presidential libraries.
She then moved to New York City, eventually residing
at 55 East 74th Street, while maintaining Val
Kill. The only home she ever personally owned.
And within months of his death, she transitioned
from first lady to global diplomat, thanks to
President Truman. Truman recognized her global
stature and her diplomatic skills. In December
1945, he appointed her as a delegate to the UN
General Assembly. She went on to serve as the
first chair of the Preliminary and Permanent
UN Commission on Human Rights from 1946 to 1952.
She was immediately recognized for her incredible
ability to synthesize diverse views and manage
complex international negotiation, despite initially
being doubted by many male colleagues. And she
oversaw the drafting of what is arguably the
most important document of the modern human rights
era, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
or UDHR. This stands as her crowning achievement,
her enduring global legacy. Working alongside
figures like Renee Cassan and John Peters Humphrey,
she played an instrumental role in shaping the
text. Her skill was in moving from general principles
to specific implementable articles and finding
consensus among nations with radically different
political systems. What were some of the biggest
challenges in drafting the UDHR? You had nations
coming out of a devastating World War, the beginnings
of the Cold War. And vast colonial differences.
The philosophical differences were immense. Western
nations emphasized civil and political rights,
freedom of speech, religion. While Soviet bloc
nations prioritized economic and social rights,
the right to work, the right to housing. Her
brilliance was acting as the synthesizer, ensuring
that the final document was not just a treaty
but a globally agreed -upon standard that bridged
these ideological divides by including both sets
of rights. The UDHR was adopted on December 10,
1948, receiving a standing ovation. She called
it the international Magna Carta of all men everywhere.
It was a monumental victory for diplomacy, and
it's crucial to understand why she saw it that
way. The UDHR established for the first time
a universal benchmark against which a country's
treatment of its own people could be judged internationally.
It shifted human rights from being a purely domestic
issue to a global concern. There were eight abstentions
from the vote, though. Six Soviet bloc countries
abstained, primarily due to Article 13, which
guaranteed the right of citizens to leave their
country. Roosevelt correctly attributed their
abstention to their fear of legitimizing emigration
from the Soviet system. South Africa, operating
under apartheid, abstained because the declaration
fundamentally contradicted its policy of racial
discrimination. And Saudi Arabia abstained due
to concerns that articles concerning marriage
and religious conversion conflicted with Islamic
law. But her success with the UDHR cemented her
reputation, leading President Truman to call
her the first lady of the world. A title that
truly captured her transition from domestic policy
reformer to global architect. That title was
earned. Her U .N. work extended far beyond the
declaration. She consistently pushed for organizations
focused on global needs, particularly concerning
poverty and hunger. Like the creation of the
Food and Agriculture Organization. Exactly. She
was an early supporter of establishing a U .N.
agency focused on food and nutrition, following
a crucial memorandum on freedom from want of
food by an Australian nutritionist, Frederick
McDougall. She arranged a meeting between McDougall
and FDR, which laid the groundwork for the creation
of the FAO in 1945. Later, in 1960, she pushed
the U .N. to create the Food from Hunger campaign,
mobilizing NGOs against global malnutrition.
Even after leaving the White House, she... remained
fiercely engaged in American partisan politics,
particularly in her home state of New York. She
became a key figure in trying to dismantle the
old political machine structure. She grew disgusted
with Tammany Hall boss Carmine DiSapio after
he engineered the defeat of her son, Franklin
Jr. For listeners unfamiliar, Tammany Hall was
the notorious political machine that had controlled
New York City politics for over a century, relying
on patronage and often corruption. And she took
him on directly. She joined friends like Herbert
Lehman to form the New York Committee for Democratic
Voters, dedicated to opposing DiSapio and the
machine. And this long -running, bitter political
battle eventually succeeded, forcing DiSapio
out of power in 1961. She maintained her influence
in presidential politics, even though she resigned
from her U .N. post when Republican Dwight Eisenhower
was elected in 1953. She supported Adlai Stevenson
in both 1952 and 1956. When John F. Kennedy ran
in 1960, she had significant reservations about
him. primarily due to his past failure to unequivocally
condemn McCarthyism, which he found morally reprehensible.
Yet she ultimately supported him. And Kennedy
recognized her continued global stature, reappointing
her to the U .N. and the National Advisory Committee
of the Peace Corps in 1961. I want to revisit
her longstanding complicated opposition to the
Equal Rights Amendment or ERA. She had historically
opposed the ERA. because she feared it would
erase decades of legal protections achieved for
women workers through unionization and progressive
legislation. Her worry was that one constitutional
amendment could undo all that protective legislation.
But her view shifted later in life. It did. By
the 1950s, she stopped publicly criticizing it.
And in the early 1960s, she conceded that due
to the increased strength of unionization and
changes in the workforce, the ERA might no longer
pose the existential threat it once did. Her
final public position was chairing the Presidential
Commission on the Status of Women, appointed
by JFK in 1961. And that commission's conclusion
was a very careful compromise. Yes. The final
report issued after her death concluded that
equality for women was best achieved by recognizing
gender differences and needs and by pursuing
legal reforms state by state rather than through
the sweeping language of the ERA. It reflected
the ongoing tension within feminism between those
seeking uniform constitutional equality and those
prioritizing legislative protections for specific
groups. And one of her last diplomatic missions
demonstrates the sheer level of global trust
placed in her. After the disastrous 1961 base.
of pigs invasion, JFK asked her, along with labor
leader Walter Reuther and Milton S. Eisenhower,
to undertake the incredibly sensitive task of
negotiating the release of captured Americans
with Cuban leader Fidel Castro. This speaks volumes
about her nonpartisan global credibility and
the belief that she, perhaps more than any official
diplomat, could connect with a challenging counterpart.
Eleanor Roosevelt remained incredibly active
well into her late 70s, averaging 150 lectures
a year throughout the 1950s. She seemed tireless.
How did her final years unfold? Her tremendous
energy finally began to wane in 1960 when she
was diagnosed with a plastic anemia. Unfortunately,
two years later, in 1962, the treatment she received
for that condition activated a dormant case of
tuberculosis in her bone marrow. She died on
November 7, 1962, at the age of 78, from resulting
cardiac failure. cared for by her daughter Anna
in her Manhattan home. The national and international
response to her death was massive. It showed
the respect she had commanded globally. President
Kennedy ordered all U .S. flags lowered to half
staff throughout the world. She was interred
next to Franklin in the Rose Garden at Springwood
Estate in Hyde Park, with JFK, Lyndon B. Johnson
and former Presidents Truman and Eisenhower all
in attendance. She received the U .N. Human Rights
Prize posthumously in 1968. and was named the
most admired woman by Gallup 13 times between
1948 and 1961, which is truly unparalleled. Her
recognition and legacy have only grown since
her death, cementing her status in the American
political firm of men. She holds several unique
honors that speak to her singular status. The
Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, Val
Kill, is the only residence she ever personally
owned, a monument to her independence. Uniquely,
the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial and National
Mall is the only U .S. presidential memorial
that explicitly depicts a first lady. Her bronze
statue is displayed prominently with a U .N.
seal, specifically honoring her post -White House
achievements. And what does the consistent historical
consensus say about her role? It is remarkably
consistent. The Siena College Research Institute
conducts periodic surveys asking historians to
assess first ladies on metrics like intelligence,
courage, accomplishments and leadership. In every
one of those surveys since they began in 1982,
Eleanor Roosevelt has been consistently ranked
as the greatest American first lady. She dominates
those rankings across all criteria. She topped
nine out of 10 criteria in the 2003 survey and
eight out of 10 in 2008. Historians also ranked
her and Franklin as the highest power couple
in presidential history. And she was consistently
cited as the greatest 20th and 21st century first
lady in categories like advancing women's issues,
being a political asset, public service after
leaving office, and crucially for creating a
lasting global legacy. What an incredible trajectory
we've traced. Eleanor Roosevelt was a figure
shaped by profound early tragedy, an ugly duckling
struggling with loss and insecurity, who navigated
a shattered marriage that she converted into
a foundational political partnership. She became
a groundbreaking first lady who literally used
every available media platform, print, radio,
television, to force the expansion of American
democracy, fighting for civil rights and New
Deal ideals. And she didn't stop there. Going
on after her husband's death, to quietly but
forcefully draft the moral foundation for global
human rights. Eleanor Roosevelt's legacy is the
definitive proof that the role of a political
spouse could be leveraged far beyond mere hostessing.
She was a singular force who demonstrated that
influence could be wielded both domestically
through her aggressive, often controversial advocacy,
and internationally, defining the moral architecture
of the post -war world. She created an enduring
global legacy that vastly surpassed the expectations
and limitations of her time. Absolutely. The
ultimate takeaway for me, and the final question
I want to leave you with as you reflect on her
life, is about the nature of true political courage.
Eleanor Roosevelt was constantly willing to publicly
align herself with and advocate for deeply unpopular
groups, whether they were youth communists, marginalized
African -Americans fighting for basic dignity
or Jewish refugees fleeing Nazism. And she often
did so even when it put her directly at odds
with her husband, the press, the public and even
her own family. What is the true value of that
kind of unwavering political courage when it
means risking the popular political standing
of your closest ally, the president of the United
States? She lived with that tension, that necessity
of moral protest versus political pragmatism
her entire public life. A phenomenal question.
It forces us to consider whether standing firm
on principle, even if unpopular, creates a deeper,
more lasting political impact than achieving
immediate legislative wins through silent compromise.
Exactly. Thank you for joining us for this deep
dive into the extraordinary life of Eleanor Roosevelt.
See you next time.