Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of FDRā¦travels through the country during the Depression, and reports back to her husband Franklin, the President.
Sheās driving her own car by herself btw.
think about it: the First Lady, driving through back country roads, refusing secret service. (They gave her a gun, insistent on it. She kept it unloaded in her glovebox.)
I mean women only got the vote in this country in 1920, when Eleanor was 36 (and a mother to 5 kids). This was less than 15 years later.
Eleanor didnāt always agree with Franklin on policies. She made that pretty clear. And even if he didnāt agree, he respected her opinions. They may not have been a great love story but they were a good partnership.
When Eleanor and Franklin, both from very wealthy families (technically the same extended family), were courting, she introduced him to the realities of poverty. She volunteered from early on to do charitable work for people.
He witnessed her assisting malnourished inner city families. He told Eleanor he āhad no idea people lived like thatā. Before polio (and time and wisdom Iām sure) humbled him a little, no one was more condescending than Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
He literally looked down his nose at people as a young man. But as president during the Great Depression and WW2, he put his energy into being the most positive in the room (along with Eleanor).
Eleanor grew up in āpeculiar wayā, niece to president Theodore Roosevelt yet orphaned and lonely, always trying not be a burden and told she was ugly her whole life, taking on everyoneās problems.
They were good partners, (if not great at being married) and I think in a leadership position such as President of the United States, a person (like Eleanor) who can give balance and support but not just say āyes sirā all the time is needed.
Oh and āHickā was Lorena Hickok, hard boiled reporterā¦
ā¦.and Eleanor Rooseveltās lover and companion. But thatās a different story.
Reminds me, I need to add this to my reading list:
{The excerpts at the top of the page are from the biography āEleanorā, by David Michaelis (2020) }
All this to sayā¦ Eleanor Roosevelt has always been a fascinating person to me and even with all her flaws, Iām reading the story of her life with a bit of longing for this kind of person in the White House.
