Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt was the first lady to the thirty-second president of
the United States Franklin Roosevelt. When Mrs. Roosevelt came to the
White House in 1933, she understood the situation of the United States more
than previous first ladies and changed this role for the better.
Eleanor was a shy, awkward child who grew into a woman with great
sensitivity to the underprivileged of all creeds, races, and nations. She was
born in New York City on October 11, 1884 to Anna Hall and Elliott
Roosevelt, younger brother of Theodore Roosevelt, the twenty sixth
president.
In her circle of friends was a distant cousin, handsome young Franklin
Delano Roosevelt. They became engaged in 1903 and were married in 1905,
with her uncle the president giving the bride away.
In Albany, where Franklin served in the state Senate from 1910 to
1913, Eleanor started her long career as political helpmate.
When the Roosevelts moved to the White House in 1933, Eleanor
started her job as Franklins first lady helping him through the Great
Depression and the Second World War.
After the presidents death in 1945 Eleanor returned to a cottage at
their Hyde Park estate where she told reporters “the story is over.” Within a
year she began her service as American spokesman to the United Nations.
In 1962 she died and was buried at Hyde Park beside her husband.
Her constant work made her one the most loved and respected women
of her generation.