Historical Figure
Eleanor Roosevelt
1884–1962
American diplomat and activist (1884–1962)
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"Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt's Own Program" — April 30, 1940
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Biography
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D. Roosevelt's four terms as president from 1933 to 1945. Through her travels, public engagement, and advocacy, she largely redefined the role. Widowed in 1945, she served as a United States delegate to the United Nations General Assembly from 1945 to 1952, and took a leading role in designing the text and gaining international support for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 1948, she was given a standing ovation by the assembly upon their adoption of the declaration. President Harry S. Truman called her the "First Lady of the World" in tribute to her human rights achievements.
Timeline
The story of Eleanor Roosevelt, told in moments.
Marries her fifth cousin once removed, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, on St. Patrick's Day. Uncle Theodore, the sitting president, walks her down the aisle. He tells the press: "It is a good thing to keep the name in the family." Franklin's mother Sara opposed the match, took him on a Caribbean cruise to kill the romance. It didn't work.
Unpacking Franklin's suitcase, she finds a bundle of love letters from her own social secretary, Lucy Mercer. Franklin considers leaving. His mother threatens to disinherit him. They stay married but it's a political partnership now. Not an intimate one.
Becomes First Lady. Holds regular press conferences. Writes a daily newspaper column. Hosts a weekly radio show. Speaks at the national convention. Publicly disagrees with her husband's policies on occasion. Every one of these is a first.
Chairs the UN commission that drafts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. When the General Assembly adopts it, she receives a standing ovation. Truman calls her "First Lady of the World." She is 64 and no longer anyone's wife.
Dies at 78 in Manhattan. The New York Times calls her "the object of almost universal respect." Gallup named her the most admired woman in America thirteen separate years.
In Their Own Words (20)
We must know what we think and speak out, even at the risk of unpopularity. In the final analysis, a democratic government represents the sum total of the courage and the integrity of its individuals. It cannot be better than they are. … In the long run there is no more exhilarating experience than to determine one's position, state it bravely and then act boldly.
pp. 119–120, 1963
What we must learn to do is to create unbreakable bonds between the sciences and the humanities. We cannot procrastinate. The world of the future is in our making. Tomorrow is now.
p. 134, 1963
Life was meant to be lived, and curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.
Preface (December 1960) to The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt (1961), p. xix, 1961
One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. In stopping to think through the meaning of what I have learned, there is much that I believe intensely, much I am unsure of. In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And, the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.
Foreword (January 1960), 1960
You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along." … You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
p. 29–30, 1960
Artifacts (15)
Eleanor Roosevelt in school portrait - NARA - 197245
Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided
Eleanor Roosevelt and Rear Admiral
http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q110975090
Eleanor Roosevelt_x000D_ _x000D_ President Roosevelt being congratulated
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