“A snub is the effort of a person who feels superior to make someone else feel inferior. To do so, he has to find someone who can be made to feel inferior.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt, at a White House press conference in 1935 – speaking of how a UC-Berkeley professor had refused to host an event where her husband’s Secretary of Labor gave a speech at the school’s Charter Day (often quoted as “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent”)
The longest-serving First Lady in American history …
She is the longest-serving First Lady in American history. Her famous husband was elected to four terms (even if he didn’t complete the last one), so she served for 12 years as First Lady – far longer than anyone else! This film is the longest PBS documentary to focus specifically on her life. She was also one of the three protagonists in Ken Burns’ “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History,” which I have not seen. But there were two other main characters in that series, which were Franklin Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt – the latter of whom was much earlier than either Franklin or Eleanor. Thus, to your pain or pleasure, the Ken Burns series focuses on others besides her. By contrast, this PBS documentary focuses entirely on her, and spends two and a half hours on her life story. There’s an advantage to their focusing entirely on one person, even if their coverage is still comparatively short in this regard.
She was already a Roosevelt before she ever married FDR
They talk a little about her early life, including her much-loved (but nonetheless absent) father. Her father struggled with alcoholism, and this was the cause of his frequent absenteeism. Incidentally, she was already a Roosevelt before she ever married FDR. They talk about her spending some time in Europe, and imply that she had some lesbian relationships there. It is true that she had close friendships with women, but I’m a little skeptical that these relationships ever became anything more than that. This seems like academics finding the result that they want, even if they have to stretch some things to do it. It is true, though, that she had friends who were lesbians, and that she was much more understanding of their situation than people typically were at that time. This much is supported by the evidence.
School photo of 14-year-old Eleanor Roosevelt, 1898
Eleanor’s discovery that Franklin was cheating on her, and how this changed their marriage
Eleanor was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt, and was sixteen when Theodore became president. But her life would instead be tied with that of her fifth cousin once removed: Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Their blood relationship was distant enough that it raised no eyebrows when they were married in 1905. Ironically, Franklin seems to have been quite taken with her at the time, and had six children with her. But Franklin’s mother controlled the family finances, and insisted on living next door to him. Thus, even when he became president, his mother still had the ability to interfere with the lives of both Franklin and Eleanor. This, by itself, would have created a strain on their marriage. But Eleanor also learned that Franklin had been cheating on her with another woman. This discovery changed the nature of their marriage. To put it politely, Franklin and Eleanor would never again know the intimacies of married life. Their relationship became more like a political partnership, or even a brother-sister relationship. They were still legally married to each other, but certain aspects of their prior relationship were no longer there.
Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt with their first two children, 1908
Her husband Franklin becomes president during the Great Depression …
Franklin Roosevelt was climbing the career ladder, imitating the career of his own fifth cousin Theodore Roosevelt. Like Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin served as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Like Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin served as Governor of New York. And like Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin was elected President of the United States – the most important office of his career. This meant that Eleanor was now the First Lady, and was now in a position of great importance. Franklin thought that some of her activism was a little unrealistic. But, in truth, the policies of Franklin himself could be the same way, with certain aspects of the New Deal being a classic example of this. Both Franklin and Eleanor supported the New Deal, and tried to help those whose lives had been upended by the Great Depression. Poverty was the order of the day, and more than one in four were unemployed. There was some real relief for the poor under Franklin and Eleanor, but one could argue that his policies prolonged the Great Depression further, and made the situation worse in other ways. More on that in a separate post. For now, let me focus on the joint tenure of both Franklin and Eleanor during this time. This was the longest part of the Roosevelt presidency, and left painful wounds upon the country – some of which were Franklin’s fault, and others of which were not.
Eleanor Roosevelt in July 1933
… and continues to be president during World War II, with Eleanor as his First Lady
When Pearl Harbor happened, Franklin became a wartime president, and managed to redeem himself for the damage caused during the Depression. World War II was the crucible of Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency, and Eleanor was fully behind the cause of fighting this war. She visited troops overseas, just as a wartime First Lady should do. Servicemen commented that they enjoyed meeting with Eleanor, and some had more respect for her than they did for her husband. She had an extraordinary ability to sympathize with their suffering, and did her best to increase their morale when meeting with them. At times, she gave more attention to perfect strangers than she did to her own children, which may be why she had strained relationships with a few of her children. Some of them were more sympathetic with Franklin’s second mistress than they were with their mother Eleanor, and helped to conceal their father’s cheating with this woman. This also contributed to Eleanor’s strained relationships with her children, since they had kept her in the dark about the continuation of these affairs. On the day that he died, Franklin was spending time with his former mistress, something that he had earlier promised never again to do. Thus, when Eleanor received the news of her husband’s death in 1945, she also received the news of his most recent betrayal. The new president, Harry Truman, thought that Eleanor needed some time to mourn her husband’s death. This meant that she also had some time to think about Franklin’s final betrayal. This was one of the saddest parts of the documentary for me, because it brought home the pain of her husband’s ongoing infidelity.
Eleanor Roosevelt visiting troops, 1944
Her tenure as an ambassador, and other parts of her later life
After the period of mourning was over, Harry Truman offered to have the prominent widow serve as an ambassador. Eleanor accepted. Thus, she now held political office in her own right, rather than simply by virtue of being married to an important statesman. She was instrumental in getting the United States to found the United Nations, a place where nations could talk out their differences. She had some real accomplishments in the United Nations, such as overseeing the drafting of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. The Soviet Union was reluctant to agree to this Declaration, but Eleanor put considerable pressure on them to do so. Thus, the Soviet Union eventually caved to the pressure, and the Declaration was ratified in 1948. President Harry Truman was on board with all of this. The documentary briefly spends some time on Eleanor’s unrequited feelings for various men, many of whom were much younger than she was. Old age can be a lonely time, particularly for the widow of a long-serving president. It was the first time that Eleanor admitted that she was tired, and she soon passed away in 1962 – with her presence being missed by many.
Eleanor Roosevelt speaking at the United Nations in July 1947
Conclusion: A great introduction to Eleanor’s life, despite a few unsupported claims
Again, I have not seen Ken Burns’ “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History,” so I don’t know how this documentary’s coverage compares with that of Ken Burns. But I do know that it is an excellent introduction to Eleanor’s life, and has the virtue of being focused entirely on her. It’s only two-and-a-half hours long, and (as mentioned earlier) makes some unsupported claims about her sexual orientation. But it would be hard to imagine a better television introduction to her life. Whatever one’s disagreements with her, Eleanor was a classy lady, and had an extraordinary ability to care for the suffering of others. This documentary is much recommended to anyone interested in her life, and tells the story of one of the greatest humanitarians of the twentieth century, whose contributions are still relevant today.
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