Eleanor Roosevelt Essay

Eleanor Roosevelt will always be remembered in history as the first woman to make a difference in the status of first lady. She was born in 1884 and died in 1962 and all through her life showed tremendous courage in facing what happened to her. Her childhood may be seen as having influenced her later life. It is considered to have been influential in shaping her life and her approach towards the problems evident in society. She was born in a very wealthy family because both sides of her family were very wealthy and also renowned families. However, her adult life defied the expectations of her class in society. She did not behave as the rest of her class members did. She did what they would not do due to their status in society. She was born Anna Eleanor Roosevelt in 1884 to Anna Hall and Elliot Roosevelt in New York. Her mother was famous for her beauty and was disappointed in Eleanor’s looks because she was not as beautiful or graceful as she wanted her to be. As a result, they did not become close in the short time they spent together. Her father was the younger brother to President Theodore who later actually gave Eleanor in her wedding since her parents were already dead by then (http://www. pbs. rg). Her mother died in 1892 when Eleanor was only 8 years old. Her relationship with her father was a bit better because he did not criticize her looks. They were however not very close because of marital problems experienced between him and Anna and hence ended up not communicating a lot with Eleanor. After the death of her mother, she moved in with her maternal grandmother and hence, instead of closing the rift between her and her father this ended up widening it. He died in 1894 when she was 10 years old due to drinking related problems. His behavior had led to his being disowned by his family. She had private tutors until the age of 15 when she joined Allenwood a finishing school where she met her mentor Madame Marie Sourvesre. She traveled all over Europe with her and she was the one who taught Eleanor â€Å"the lifestyle of an independent woman† (PBS 1999). She returned to New York at the age of 18. She became a social worker and it is at this time that she met Franklin Delano Roosevelt who was her fifth cousin. She got married in March 17, 1905 to Franklin D. Roosevelt. She introduced him to the world of poor people during their courtship when she was working as a social worker. Due to her the emotional problems she faced in her childhood as a result of the lack of affection from both her mother and father, she was able to give unto others unconditional love regardless of their status in life. She was also greatly affected by the constant reference people made in regards to beauty and the fact that she knew she was not a great beauty. This was carried on even in her engagement where she was not sure if she could maintain a marriage to her husband who was handsome where she whereas she was plain (http://www. drlibrary. marist. edu). She had very many accomplishments that started early in life even before her status as first lady. Although earlier in life she had not been interested in politics, she later became interested because she did not want to seem ignorant among her peers. The presence of her domineering mother-in-law led to her having more time to dedicate to her functions because her 6 children were watched by Sarah the mother-in-law. She wanted to continue having the status that she had achieved under the tutelage of Madame Souvestre. She felt that as long as she was around Sarah she would not be able to accomplish what she wanted to and so would involve herself in many activities in order to escape her (http://www. fdrlibrary. marist. edu). During World War 1, she volunteered both in the American Red Cross and also in the Navy hospitals. She worked tirelessly to help those afflicted by the war even though she did not like the war or even the idea of war. In 1920, she became an active member of the women’s suffrage movement. In an effort to fight for women and also enlighten them on their rights, she joined the League of Women Voters and became the vice president of its New York branch. In this group, she was able to encourage women to become voters and fought for the right of women to vote. The law allowing women to vote was passed in 1920. This was also made possible by the Women’s Division of the Democratic Party of which she was also a member. She was also a member of the Women’s Trade Union League which looked into the working conditions of women and fought for the improvement of the same. It also fought for the acceptance of women in the employment field. She was very concerned about women issues and would fight for them in any way possible. She also went ahead to establish Todhunter which was a private school for girls only. She co-owned it with her friend and became its assistant principal and also a teacher of history yet she had no formal certificate. She did this because she had admired Souvestre and wanted to follow in her footsteps. This happened in 1927. In 1918, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was discovered by Eleanor to be having an affair with her social secretary Mercer. She discovered love letters between the two. She threatened him with divorce if he did not end the affair. He promised he would and hence saved the marriage albeit his mother was involved. Although the marriage was saved, Eleanor became a different woman who channeled her energies to many situations that both took her time and also enlightened her more to women’s independence. It is also at this time that she joined the various women organizations and became very close to the women she was working with. In 1921, Franklin suffered from poliomyelitis which left paralyzed in both legs and his mother advised him to become a recluse. She wanted him to remain in Hyde-Park but Eleanor encouraged him to keep interested in politics. He took her advice and Eleanor would act as his informant gathering information from the citizens and giving it to him and discussing the various issues with him. He appeared in public on crutches in 1924 to nominate Governor Alfred E. Smith for president. This was all Eleanor’s doing because she was the one who encouraged him (Lash J. P. Eleanor 1972 pg 550-680). In the process of becoming his eyes and ears, on the ground, she ended up becoming an independent woman and this helped her deal with the hurt of her husband’s infidelity. She realized there was a problem of unemployment and this led her to form the Val-Kill furniture factory. This was in New York and its aim was to provide employment especially to those who were suffering from unemployment yet could learn skills that would provide an income for them. Later on the industry widened its activities to involve weaving and also pewter work. This impressed her husband very much and in the long run encouraged her to spend more and more time there. Franklin through her encouragement ran for governorship of New York and he was elected in 1928. He served in office up to 1933. In all this time, Eleanor would help him make legislations that were progressive. She did this by ensuring that she corresponded with the New York residents an understood their problems. She would also travel very much and in these travels would inspect the state institutions and report to Franklin what was going on and in what ways the issues could be resolved. Her work is what led to the re-election of her husband as a governor for a second term and also his nomination to become president. This is because he sued the information she had gathered to help improve the lives of the common people. Franklin became president in March 4 1933 and consequently Eleanor became America’s first lady. She did not approach this situation confidently since she was apprehensive on its impact in her life as an independent woman. Despite this, she adapted to the role quickly and actually went down in history as the longest serving first lady because Franklin was president from 1933-1945. Once she became first lady, she continued providing various opportunities for women she did this by holding press conferences where only female reporters were invited. It is through these conferences that she kept the public informed about the policies in the white house especially the New Deal which was supposed to help in the recovery from the depression (http://www. lkwdpl. org). In line with the effects of the depression, she persuaded FDR to create the National Youth Administration. This organization was supposed to help young people who due to the effects of the depression could either not join or complete their studies. They could only manage to do this if they had jobs which in turn affected their studies. She became the adviser to those who held the administration posts and also spoke on behalf of the program. She was also involved with the American Youth Congress which was also concerned with matters of the youth. She got involved with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. This is because she no longer held the view of white supremacy and viewed everyone as equals. She understood the plight of the black people in America and worked hard to ensure their rights were recognized and respected. She also worked with the National Council of Negro Women to help the black women. Her stand was made clear when she resigned from being a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1939 because they had refused to allow Marian Anderson, who was a musician, to perform at Constitution Hall (http://www. pbs. org). At this time, the Second World War was starting off and although she detested war, she became involved in it because her sons were fighting in the war. During this time, she made numerous visits to England and also to the South Pacific. This she did in order to promote the good-will that was there among the allies. She also visited the United States troops that were abroad in order to boost their confidence and lift their spirits. She worked to rally civilian volunteerism to which she had been appointed as assistant director of the Office of Civilian Defense (OCD) a post to which she had been appointed by Franklin. She however resigned from it later on due to complaints made about the people she appointed to work with her. FDR died in April 12 1945 and although she had assumed that her public life was over, she was proved wrong by the then president Harry S. Truman. He appointed her as a delegate in the United States Delegation to the United Nation’s General Assembly. In this capacity, she worked hard to ensure that the issues that pertained to social, humanitarian and cultural issues were dealt with. She held this position up to 1953 when she resigned. In this period, she was also the chairman of the Human Rights Commission and it is during her tenure that the Declaration of Human Rights was drafted. The declaration was adopted by the General Assembly on 10th December 1948. Her greatest achievement can be said to be the Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration emphasized the equality of all people regardless of their race, creed, color or gender. It therefore protected the way people that Eleanor had spent her whole life trying to protect and also improve their lives. It declared the right to life, liberty and equality to all people. It therefore meant that the poor, minorities and the disadvantaged were to be treated the same as those who were previously deemed to be superior. Through it, she was able to help the blacks, the women and those who were poor (Lash J. P. Eleanor 1972 pg 550-680). In the same year of 1948, she helped in the establishment of the state of Israel. This she did because she had always been sympathetic to the experience of the Jews at the hands of Adolph Hitler during the Second World War. She did not harbor ill feelings towards the Jews as did the rest of the upper-class. She also provided her help because she viewed herself first and foremost as a United Nations delegate whose work was to promote peace the world over. As a UN delegate, she also tried to establish negotiations with the Soviet Union although she was very cautious. This failed because they did not respect the Human Rights Declaration. From 1953, she volunteered as a member of the American Association for the United Nations. She did this in the capacity of a representative to the World Federation of United Nations. Later on she became the chairman of the Associations’ Board of Directors. John F. Kennedy reappointed her to the United States Delegation to United Nation in 1961. He also appointed her as a member of the National Advisory Committee of the Peace Corps and also the chairman of the President’s Commission on the status of women. She took on these responsibilities gladly as she was well versed with the operations of each (http://www. bs. org). In her lifetime, she had been involved in writing a daily column in the paper, which started in 1935 up to a few days prior to her death in 1962. This column was called â€Å"My Day†. She also started some question and answer column in the newspapers. She managed to write several books during her lifetime which are: This Is My Story (1937), This I Remember (1950), On My Own (1958), and Tomorrow Is Now (1963). Her last book was produced post humously and in it she praised Franklin for the social reforms he had put in place. She died in Nov 7 1962 and thus did not see it published. She was a lady who affected the western civilization in many ways. She proved that a woman can be able to perform remarkably in politics while still maintaining her dignity. The fact that she was able to accept every person regardless of their status in life led to the formation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration opened the people’s eyes to the fact that all human beings are equal even if they come from different areas in life. She established that one has to be able to deal with what they cannot change and should not be judged by what is beyond their power to correct or change (Lash J. P.  Eleanor 1972 pg 550-680). She also exhibited that regardless of how high and mighty one’s family may be and also despite the wealth they have, anyone can be able to make a difference in the lives of those who are victimized and destitute. The western people held a lot of prejudice towards Jews and blacks and she went a long way to try and bridge the gap that existed by not having such prejudices. She also set the role that the other first ladies in America and world over ought to follow. They are not supposed to just sit back and watch what their husbands do but instead should get involved and learn as much as possible and help them out. On the question of how she affected the society, she did a lot to help women get the right to vote. She also encouraged the women to seek employment and provided any opportunity possible to women to ensure that they succeeded. She was also very concerned about the youth and their education. She valued education and ensured that through the formation of the National Youth Association that the American youth would be able to access quality formal education without the problems of having to search for a job. The various trips she made to meet the common man made her understand the problems that they faced everyday. She got to understand the impact of unemployment and also that of the Great Depression. She would give this information to Franklin and also suggest the various ways in which he could help solve the problems (http://www. pbs. org). The creation of the Val-Kill was intended to provide employment to those in New York who needed it yet could not get it. She therefore helped uplift the living standards of many Americans by providing employment and also avenues through which they could provide employment for themselves and for others. The face of the government changed from her time to include more women. The fact that women become voters meant that more women had chances of being voted in because they were voted in by their fellow women. She proved that women can be very good politicians and diplomats. As a U. N delegate she kept making attempts to bring about negotiations between America and the Soviet Union. Although she never succeeded in bridging this gap, she tried her best.