Eleanor Roosevelt Volume 1

The first volume of Blanche Wiesen Cook's superb biography of Eleanor Roosevelt was greeted as one of the most significant biographies of the decade.

A candid and insightful look at an era and a life through the eyes of one of the most remarkable Americans of the twentieth century, First Lady and humanitarian Eleanor Roosevelt. The daughter of one of New York’s most influential families, niece of Theodore Roosevelt, and wife of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt witnessed some of the most remarkable decades in modern history, as America transitioned from the Gilded Age, the Progressive Era, and the Depression to World War II and the Cold War. A champion of the downtrodden, Eleanor drew on her experience and used her role as First Lady to help those in need. Intimately involved in her husband’s political life, from the governorship of New York to the White House, Eleanor would eventually become a powerful force of her own, heading women’s organizations and youth movements, and battling for consumer rights, civil rights, and improved housing. In the years after FDR’s death, this inspiring, controversial, and outspoken leader would become a U.N. Delegate, chairman of the Commission on Human Rights, a newspaper columnist, Democratic party activist, world-traveler, and diplomat devoted to the ideas of liberty and human rights. This single volume biography brings her into focus through her own words, illuminating the vanished world she grew up, her life with her political husband, and the post-war years when she worked to broaden cooperation and understanding at home and abroad. The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt includes 16 pages of black-and-white photos.

For a long time, the main role of First Ladies was to act as hostesses of the White House...until Eleanor Roosevelt. Born in 1884, Eleanor was not satisfied to just be a glorified hostess for her husband, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Eleanor had a voice, and she used it to speak up against poverty and racism. She had experience and knowledge of many issues, and fought for laws to help the less fortunate. She had passion, energy, and a way of speaking that made people listen, and she used these gifts to campaign for her husband and get him elected president-four times! A fascinating historical figure in her own right, Eleanor Roosevelt changed the role of First Lady forever.

"...A worthwhile and significant addition to any elementary collection." - School Library Journal

This illustrated, first of its kind collection of excerpts from Eleanor Roosevelt's newspaper columns, radio talks, speeches, and correspondence speaks directly to the challenges we face today. Acclaimed for her roles in politics and diplomacy, first lady Eleanor Roosevelt was also a prolific author, journalist, lecturer, broadcaster, educator, and public personality. Using excerpts from her books, columns, articles, press conferences, speeches, radio talks, and correspondence, Eleanor Roosevelt: In Her Words tracks her contributions from the 1920s, when she entered journalism and public life; through the White House years, when she campaigned for racial justice, the labor movement, and "the forgotten woman;" to the postwar era, when she served at the United Nations and shaped the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Selections touch on Roosevelt's early entries in women's magazines ("Ten Rules for Success in Marriage"), her insights on women in politics ("Women Must Learn to Play the Game As Men Do"), her commentary on World War II ("What We Are Fighting For"), her work for civil rights ("The Four Equalities"), her clash with Soviet delegates at the UN ("These Same Old Stale Charges"), and her advice literature ("If You Ask Me"). Surprises include her unique preparation for leadership, the skill with which she defied critics and grasped authority, her competitive stance as a professional, and the force of her political messages to modern readers. Scorning the "America First" mindset, Eleanor Roosevelt underlined the interdependence of people and of nations. Eleanor Roosevelt: In Her Words illuminates her achievement as a champion of civil rights, human rights, and democratic ideals.

Presents a breakthrough portrait of America's longest-serving first lady that covers her major contributions throughout critical historical events and her essential role in advancing international human rights.

Volume 1 chronicles Eleanor Roosevelt's development as diplomat, politician, and journalist in the years 1945-1948. It is filled with original writings and speeches that have been annotated and made easily accessible through a comprehensive index. This is part of the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project as the first of a five-volume set covering the years 1945-1962.

Although born to a life of privilege and married to the President of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt was a staunch and lifelong advocate for workers and, for more than twenty-five years, a proud member of the AFL-CIO's Newspaper Guild. She Was One of Us tells for the first time the story of her deep and lasting ties to the American labor movement. Brigid O'Farrell follows Roosevelt—one of the most admired and, in her time, controversial women in the world—from the tenements of New York City to the White House, from local union halls to the convention floor of the AFL-CIO, from coal mines to political rallies to the United Nations. Roosevelt worked with activists around the world to develop a shared vision of labor rights as human rights, which are central to democracy. In her view, everyone had the right to a decent job, fair working conditions, a living wage, and a voice at work. She Was One of Us provides a fresh and compelling account of her activities on behalf of workers, her guiding principles, her circle of friends—including Rose Schneiderman of the Women's Trade Union League and the garment unions and Walter Reuther, "the most dangerous man in Detroit"—and her adversaries, such as the influential journalist Westbrook Pegler, who attacked her as a dilettante and her labor allies as "thugs and extortioners." As O'Farrell makes clear, Roosevelt was not afraid to take on opponents of workers' rights or to criticize labor leaders if they abused their power; she never wavered in her support for the rank and file. Today, union membership has declined to levels not seen since the Great Depression, and the silencing of American workers has contributed to rising inequality. In She Was One of Us, Eleanor Roosevelt's voice can once again be heard by those still working for social justice and human rights.