EARLY LIFE
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born on October 11, 1884 at 56 West 37th Street, New York City, New York.
She was born into one of richest and most influential families in New York Her father was Elliott Roosevelt the brother of Theodore Roosevelt (who later became the 26th president of the United States), and her mother Anna Hall Roosevelt.
She was a favorite niece of Theodore Roosevelt.
Eleanor's father, Elliott Roosevelt, doted on his daughter and called her "Little Nell," after the character in Charles Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop . Unfortunately, Elliott suffered from a growing addiction to alcohol and drugs, which ultimately destroyed him and his family.
In 1890, when Eleanor was about six years old, Elliott separated from his family and began receiving treatments in Europe for his alcoholism. At the behest of his brother, Theodore Roosevelt, Elliott was exiled from his family until he could free himself from his addictions.
Anna Hall Roosevelt, was considered a great beauty; while Eleanor herself was definitely not, a fact Eleanor knew greatly disappointed her mother.
In 1892, Anna went to the hospital for a surgery and afterwards contracted diphtheria; she died soon after, when Eleanor was just eight years old.
Just months later, Eleanor's two younger brothers came down with scarlet fever. Baby Hall survived, but 4-year-old Elliott Jr. developed diphtheria and died in 1893.
With the deaths of her mother and young brother, Eleanor hoped that she would be able to spend more time with her beloved father. Not so. Elliott's addictions got worse after the deaths of his wife and child and confined to a sanitarium, he died on August 14, 1894 after jumping from a window during a fit of delirium tremens. He survived the fall but died from a seizure.
Eleanor was just ten years old and an orphan. Eleanor and her brother Hall went to live with their very strict maternal grandmother, Mary Hall, in Manhattan.
Eleanor's childhood losses left her prone to depression throughout her life.
Eleanor spent time in a girls’ boarding school at Allenswood, outside London between 1899 to 1902. Mademoiselle Marie Souvestre was her headmistress. Later Eleanor would recall that Souvestre was one of the three main persons to influence her life.
Eleanor doted on her younger brother Hall, and when he enrolled at Groton School in 1907, she accompanied him as a chaperone.
Most of her mother’s family members tended to look down at Eleanor, perhaps because of her plain looks and six-foot tall frame.
RELATIONSHIP WITH FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT
In 1902 Eleanor was formally introduced to her future husband Franklin Roosevelt on a train to Tivoli, New York when he was a Harvard student. (They had previously met as children, but this was their first serious encounter.)
Eleanor was a fifth-cousin, once removed of Franklin Roosevelt.
They were married on March 17, 1905, in a wedding officiated by Endicott Peabody, the groom's headmaster at Groton School.
The newly-wed Eleanor and Franklin moved into a house bought for them by Franklin's controlling mother, Sara who became a frequent house-guest, much to Eleanor's mortification.
Eleanor was painfully shy and hated social life, and at first she desired nothing more than to stay at home and raise Franklin's children, of which they had six in rapid succession: Anna (1906–75), James (1907–91), Franklin Jr (March to November 1909), Elliott (1910–90), a second Franklin Jr. (1914–88), and John (1916–81).
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| Eleanor and Franklin with their first two children, 1908 |
Franklin Roosevelt was a charismatic, handsome and socially active man, while Eleanor was shy and retiring, and furthermore was almost constantly pregnant during the decade after 1906.
Roosevelt soon found sexual outlets outside his marriage. One of these was Eleanor's social secretary Lucy Mercer, with whom Roosevelt began an affair soon after she was hired in early 1914.
In September 1918 Eleanor found letters in one of Franklin's suits which revealed the affair. Eleanor was mortified and confronted him with the correspondence, demanding a divorce. Sara Roosevelt argued that a divorce would ruin Roosevelt's political career, and pointed out that Eleanor would have to raise five children on her own if she divorced him. Since Sara was financially supporting the Roosevelts, this was a strong incentive to preserve the marriage.
A deal was struck. The facade of the marriage would be preserved, but sexual relations would cease. Sara would pay for a separate home at Hyde Park for Eleanor, and she would also fund Eleanor's philanthropic interests. Eleanor accepted these terms, and in time Franklin and Eleanor developed a new relationship as friends and political colleagues, while living separate lives. Franklin continued to see various women, including his secretary Missy LeHand.
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| Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt in August 1932 |
PUBLIC LIFE
In August 1921, while the Roosevelts were vacationing at Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Franklin Roosevelt was stricken with polio. The result was total and permanent paralysis from the waist down and Eleanor Roosevelt began giving speeches and appearing at campaign events in her husband's place.
When Franklin became president, Eleanor did a lot of his travelling and visiting for her husband. In 1933-34 she averaged 40,000 miles a year.
Eleanor Roosevelt was a civil rights activist with a puritan ethic winning the votes of the black population who since Lincoln's time had voted Republican.
She was one of the first post suffragette feminists, who campaigned against fascism in Spain and Germany and was involved with every progressive issue of the time back home (League of Women Voters, Women’s Trade Union League, Birth Control League).
FIRST LADY
Eleanor became First Lady of the United States when Franklin Roosevelt was inaugurated on March 4, 1933.
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| Roosevelt in 1932 |
Eleanor Roosevelt was the longest-serving First Lady of the U.S.
The tall, regal first lady was the first presidential spouse to hold regular press conferences and in 1940 became the first to speak at a national party convention.
Eleanor Roosevelt wrote a daily popular column, "My Day", that featured in scores of newspapers, another first for a presidential spouse. She was also the first First Lady to write a monthly magazine column and to host a weekly radio show.
She appeared in adverts for mattresses and hot dog buns and air travel during her years in the White House.
Eleanor Roosevelt gave a $35,000 fee for a margarine ad to charity and was inundated with letters after it aired. "The mail was evenly divided," she said. "One half was sad because I had damaged my reputation. The other half was happy because I had damaged my reputation."
Hot dogs gained an international reputation when the Roosevelts served hot dogs to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on their 1939 American tour.
Eleanor Roosevelt ate three chocolate covered garlic balls every morning. Her doctor prescribed this diet to improve her memory.
Eleanor Roosevelt regularly refused Secret Service protection, and instead traveled with a .22 Smith and Wesson on her person.
Her final home was at 55 East 74th Street on the Upper East Side in New York City.
Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart were very close friends. One time, they sneaked out of the White House to go to a party together. After flying with Earhart, Roosevelt obtained a student’s permit to fly, though didn't pursue this further since her husband didn't want her to be a pilot.
First Ladies Eleanor Roosevelt and Jackie Kennedy both lived on East 74th Street .
Fala (April 7, 1940 – April 5, 1952), a Scottish Terrier, was the dog of Franklin and Eleanor during their time in the White House. One of the most famous presidential pets, Fala's antics were widely covered in the media and often referenced by the Roosevelts.
Fala was so well known to Americans during his presidency that American soldiers during the Battle of the Bulge would ask each other what the president's dog was named in order to prove that they weren't Germans in disguise.
Franklin Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945 after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage at the Little White House in Warm Springs, Georgia. Eleanor later learned that her husband's mistress Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd had been with him when he passed away.
After the death of her husband in 1945, she started her career, as an author, speaker and spokesperson for human rights.
In December 1945, President Harry S. Truman appointed Eleanor as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly. In January 1947 she was appointed chairperson of United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Along with René Cassin, John Peters Humphrey and others, she played an instrumental role in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt wrote 27 books, including an advice tome for American ladies called It’s Up to the Women.
Eleanor Roosevelt was diagnosed with aplastic anemia soon after being struck by a motor vehicle in New York City in April 1960.
In 1962, she was given steroids, which activated a dormant case of tuberculosis in her bone marrow,and she died of resulting cardiac failure at her Manhattan home at 55 East 74th Street on November 7, 1962, at the age of 78.
Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs Robinson" was originally called "Mrs Roosevelt," after Eleanor Roosevelt. It became "Mrs Robinson" when it was considered for use in the movie The Graduate.
President Harry S. Truman called Eleanor Roosevelt the First Lady of the World, in honor of her many travels to help promote human rights.
Sources Food For Thought by Ed Pearce, Daily Mail, ThoughtCo
The tall, regal first lady was the first presidential spouse to hold regular press conferences and in 1940 became the first to speak at a national party convention.
Eleanor Roosevelt wrote a daily popular column, "My Day", that featured in scores of newspapers, another first for a presidential spouse. She was also the first First Lady to write a monthly magazine column and to host a weekly radio show.
She appeared in adverts for mattresses and hot dog buns and air travel during her years in the White House.
Eleanor Roosevelt gave a $35,000 fee for a margarine ad to charity and was inundated with letters after it aired. "The mail was evenly divided," she said. "One half was sad because I had damaged my reputation. The other half was happy because I had damaged my reputation."
Hot dogs gained an international reputation when the Roosevelts served hot dogs to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on their 1939 American tour.
PERSONAL LIFE
Eleanor Roosevelt ate three chocolate covered garlic balls every morning. Her doctor prescribed this diet to improve her memory.
Eleanor Roosevelt regularly refused Secret Service protection, and instead traveled with a .22 Smith and Wesson on her person.
Her final home was at 55 East 74th Street on the Upper East Side in New York City.
Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart were very close friends. One time, they sneaked out of the White House to go to a party together. After flying with Earhart, Roosevelt obtained a student’s permit to fly, though didn't pursue this further since her husband didn't want her to be a pilot.
First Ladies Eleanor Roosevelt and Jackie Kennedy both lived on East 74th Street .
Fala (April 7, 1940 – April 5, 1952), a Scottish Terrier, was the dog of Franklin and Eleanor during their time in the White House. One of the most famous presidential pets, Fala's antics were widely covered in the media and often referenced by the Roosevelts.
Fala was so well known to Americans during his presidency that American soldiers during the Battle of the Bulge would ask each other what the president's dog was named in order to prove that they weren't Germans in disguise.
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| Roosevelt with her dog Fala in 1951 |
YEARS AFTER THE WHITE HOUSE
Franklin Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945 after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage at the Little White House in Warm Springs, Georgia. Eleanor later learned that her husband's mistress Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd had been with him when he passed away.
After the death of her husband in 1945, she started her career, as an author, speaker and spokesperson for human rights.
In December 1945, President Harry S. Truman appointed Eleanor as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly. In January 1947 she was appointed chairperson of United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Along with René Cassin, John Peters Humphrey and others, she played an instrumental role in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
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| Roosevelt speaking at the United Nations in July 1947. |
Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt wrote 27 books, including an advice tome for American ladies called It’s Up to the Women.
DEATH AND LEGACY
Eleanor Roosevelt was diagnosed with aplastic anemia soon after being struck by a motor vehicle in New York City in April 1960.
In 1962, she was given steroids, which activated a dormant case of tuberculosis in her bone marrow,and she died of resulting cardiac failure at her Manhattan home at 55 East 74th Street on November 7, 1962, at the age of 78.
Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs Robinson" was originally called "Mrs Roosevelt," after Eleanor Roosevelt. It became "Mrs Robinson" when it was considered for use in the movie The Graduate.
President Harry S. Truman called Eleanor Roosevelt the First Lady of the World, in honor of her many travels to help promote human rights.
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| Portrait of Roosevelt purchased by the White House |
Sources Food For Thought by Ed Pearce, Daily Mail, ThoughtCo
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