Eleanor Roosevelt Essay - 1601 Words

Although Eleanor Roosevelt served as first lady from 1932 to 1945, her influence lasted much longer than expected. Eleanor became her husband’s ears and eyes during her husband’s presidency and aided human rights during her entire life. She did what no other First Lady, or woman had dared to do before; she challenged society’s wrong doings. Many respected her; President Truman had called her â€Å"the First Lady of the World (Freedman, 168).† Eleanor Roosevelt was an amazing first lady who helped her husband, Franklin D. Roosevelt, run the country. Eleanor was born on October 11th 1884 in New York City to Anna and Elliott Roosevelt. Six years later, Elliott was confined to a mental asylum and Anna died of diphtheria. Eleanor’s grandmother†¦show more content†¦When, in 1921 Franklin Roosevelt became paralyzed from polio, Eleanor nursed him while still encouraging him to be involved in public life, much to F.D.R.’s mother’s dismay. Eleanor became a member of the Women’s Trade Union League, to help them pay off mortgage on their club house and to carry through plans on the Val-Kill experiment (Roosevelt, This I Remember. 31). She also joined the Democratic State Committee and met Marion Dickerman and Nancy Cook in 1922. Marion and Nan had lived and worked together for years. In WWI Marion and Nancy had gone overseas to serve as nursing orderlies and served in a London hospital. After the war, Marion ran for New York State Assembly, the first woman in the state to do so and Nan was her campaign manager. Eleanor relied on the two when she joined the Democrat’s Women’s Division and they became close friends (Freedman, 79-80) In 1925 and 1926 Eleanor, along with Marion and Nancy founded the Val- Kill Furniture factory, corresponding with the Val-Kill estate in Hyde Park built by Franklin for Eleanor, and purchased the Todhunter School, where Eleanor taught history and government (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eleanor/). The Democratic National Committee appointed her Director of the Bureau of Women’s Activities in the same year F.D.R. won the governorship in New York, they escalated in upper class society even more. In November 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected President of the UnitedShow MoreRelatedEleanor Roosevelt Essay928 Words   |  4 PagesJr. †¢Ã‚   Susan B. 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