Eleanor Roosevelt, Statue at the FDR Memorial

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, 1984-1962, wife of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, is pictured here as part of the FDR Memorial in Washington DC. I have always admired her, but after doing a bit of research to write this introduction this picture I took recently in Washington, my admiration increased exponentially. She was quite a woman, especially for her time and position. I’ll be brief.

Eleanor married Franklin Roosevelt, her 5th cousin once removed, in 1905. She was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, throughout FDR’s four terms in office. But she wasn’t just a pretty face. She had brains, ambitions, and didn’t readily take no for an answer. She wasn’t a typical First Lady. When her marriage started teetering due to FDR’s controlling mother and his affair with Lucy Mercer in 1928, she decided she wasn’t going to be the subservient typical First Lady of the times. She became an activist, diplomat, political figure. She served as the United States Delegate to the UN General Assembly 1945-1952. She persuaded Franklin to stay ini politics after he was afflicted by polio in 1921, and gave speeches and appeared at campaign events in his place. She regularly made public appearances on his behalf. She significantly redefined the role of First Lady. She was outspoken on civil rights for African and Asian Americans and for unemployed miners, and the rights of World War II refugees. After FDR’s death in 1945 she remained active in politics until her death 17 years later.,

Let it be said that she was a controversial figure. I admire her all the more for that.

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