Our Presidents

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

-Eleanor Roosevelt

She was the niece of Theodore, and the wife of Franklin D., but in her own right, Eleanor was a Roosevelt of singular leadership and vision. 

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born 127 years ago, on October 11, 1884.  Her father was Elliott Roosevelt, President Theodore Roosevelt’s younger brother.    On March 17, 1905, she married her fifth cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and between 1906 and 1916, they became the parents of six children.   

With American entry in World War I, Eleanor became active in the American Red Cross and in volunteer work in Navy hospitals. In 1921, Franklin Roosevelt was stricken with polio causing Eleanor to become increasingly active in politics in part to help him maintain his interests but also to assert her own personality and goals.

Upon moving to the White House in 1933, Eleanor Roosevelt informed the nation that they should not expect their new first lady to be a symbol of elegance, but rather “plain, ordinary Mrs. Roosevelt.” Despite this disclaimer, she showed herself to be an extraordinary First Lady.

In 1933, Eleanor became the first, First Lady to hold her own press conference. In an attempt to afford equal time to women—who were traditionally barred from presidential press conferences—she allowed only female reporters to attend. 

Throughout FDR’s presidency, Eleanor traveled extensively around the nation, visiting relief projects, surveying working and living conditions - she was called “the President’s eyes, ears and legs.”  She became an advocate of the rights and needs of the poor, of minorities, and of the disadvantaged.

After President Roosevelt’s death on April 12, 1945, Eleanor continued in her public life. President Truman appointed her to the United Nations General Assembly. She served as chair of the Human Rights Commission and worked tirelessly to draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was adopted by the General Assembly on December 10, 1948. 

In her later years, President John F. Kennedy appointed Eleanor Roosevelt  to the National Advisory Committee of the Peace Corps, and as the first chairperson of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women.  She died in 1962 in New York City and is buried next to FDR in Hyde Park, NY.

Happy birthday Eleanor Roosevelt!

-More Eleanor from the FDR Library