Life in the White House

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Franklin became president in 1933. Eleanor kind of knew how it was to be the first lady because she had seen her aunt Edith with her uncle Theodore. She really worked with her husband to make the nation right. She made endless efforts to make things right. She came out of under the shadow of her husband and mother-in-law. She held press conferences, traveled to all parts of the country, gave lectures and radio broadcasts, and expressed her opinions in a newspaper column called, "My Day." She was the first First Lady to take action while her husband was in office.

She made many organizations to help the people. She actually cared and worked to help the people. She didn’t only try and help people in the United States she wanted to help everyone in the world. That’s why it resulted that she was actually one of the co founders of the United Nations. She spoke out for the black people, poor people, working women, migrant workers, and dissatisfied students. In 1935 she wrote her autobiography. Her column on the newspaper was what inspired her to write it. She had her own radio program where she expressed what she’ll be doing for the nation all the updates. The White House was never so busy until Eleanor arrived. So, many guests would go meet with her and Franklin. As a democrat Eleanor was a great example of what the First Lady should do to back up her husband. Even though she didn’t really want to be First Lady but she backed up her man with all his campaigns and she changed the whole nation.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/ar32.html
http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=33

Marriage

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Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt married on March 17 of 1905. For about the first ten years of their marriage Eleanor was either giving birth or getting over giving birth. They lived in New York. Franklin went to school at Columbia University and studied law. She had Anna, James, and Franklin all in a four year time period. Franklin Jr. sadly didn’t make it past a couple of months. Her mother-in-law wasn’t much help at that time of grief. She basically added to the pain, she dominated all their lives. Then after from the time period of 1910-1916 Eleanor had Elliot, Franklin Jr., and John.

Their relationship was basically like a roller coaster. It had its ups n downs. Her mother-in-law caused a lot of their problems because she never really approved of their marriage. Eleanor suspected that he was cheating but never had any proof. In 1918, she found love letters between Franklin and Lucy Mercer, Eleanor’s social secretary. She as any woman would be was so furious. She threatened to divorce Franklin if he didn’t promise to end the affair and never see her again. They stayed together for the sake of their five children and his political career. A divorce would’ve looked really bad on his part. But after that incident their marriage wasn’t the same as before. She was more distant and didn’t feel the love. It was said that Franklin did keep up with his affair all the way till his death.

http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blbio_roosevelt_eleanor.htm
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eleanor/peopleevents/pande01.html

Teenage years

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After the death of both her parents Eleanor went to live with her grandmother. Shortly after moving in with her, she sent Eleanor to boarding school in France. There Eleanor grew to love Europe. While growing up she didnt really have the glamorous life everyone would assume. She was really akward looking. She wasnt as beautigul as her mother. She was knobby kneed and buck toothed. She was always taller then all the other girls. And just like most girls in their teens hopeing to be like everyone else and not different. She faced those times almost every girl experiences when they feel as the ugliest girl alive. Her mother was so beautiful and she longed to have her good looks.

In 1902, at the age of 17 Eleanor returned to the United States. Shortly after her arrival she met a distant cousin Franklin D. Roosevelt which she became intrested in. They slowly got to know each other more and spent alot of time toghether and became engaged in 1903.They kept it on the low for a while. Franklin's mother wasn't really thrilled with them dating so they didn't announce their proposal until they married on St.Patrick's day two years later in a townhouse on Fifth Ave. The marriage of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt resulted in six children. They were Anna, Franklin Jr. (died in infancy), James, Elliott, Franklin Jr. and John.

http://willswift.com/eleanor_roosevelt.htm

http://www.teenink.com/Poetry/article.php?link=Past/2001/January/Books/Eleanor.xml

Early years of Eleanor

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Eleanor Roosevelt was born as Anna Eleanor Roosevelt. The date was October 11th of the year 1884 at 56 West 37th Street in our very own New York City. Her parents were Elliot Roosevelt and Anna Hall Roosevelt. Weird because later in life her husband had the same last name which we know later on in her life that they were related in some way. Eleanor preferred to be called by her middle name instead of Anna. She had two younger brothers Elliot Jr. and Hall. She also had a half brother by her father and one of the young servant girls: Elliot Roosevelt Mann. Eleanor had the privilege to be in the high society because her family was indeed very wealthy. Despite all the wealth her life wasn’t all of a fairy tale. By the age of six she had to care for her sick mother and younger brothers.

When Eleanor was eight she had the misfortune of losing her mother to diphtheria which is an upper respiratory tract illness characterized by sore throat and low fever. When that happened her father became very depressed. He began drinking and wouldn’t go home for days in count. Since her mother wasn’t around Eleanor became very attached to her father and wasn’t really happy with his depression and addiction. About two years later her father Elliot also died. He died of depression and alcholism. By the age of ten Eleanor was an orphan. Her grandmother Mary Ludlow Hall then became her and her brothers legal gaurdian.

http://www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/abouteleanor/erbiography.cfm

picture link:http://www.lwvmanitowoc.org/images/EleanorRoosevelt.jpg





Eleanor Roosevelt is one of the most influential women in American history. She was the wife of the Franklin D Roosevelt. She was one of the first, First Ladies that actually took action in poltics. She worked beside her husband and supported all his decisons for the nation. She worked to enforce "The New Deal"program. The new deal was the goal of giving relief, reform, and recovery to the people and economy after The Great Depression. In the 40's she was one of the founders of Freedom House and the UN Association of the United States. While she served her time at the UN she chaired the committee that drafted and approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. President Truman called her "TheFirst Lady of the World" in tribute to her human rights achievements and all the differnce she was making in the world.


"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world."Does are the famous words of Eleanor and I couldn't have said it better myself. From her words you could tell she really believd in human rights. Everyone had the right to their own opinion of what human rights means to them and Eleanor enforced that right and made the human rights movement possible.
http://www.udhr.org/history/Biographies/bioer.htm