THE REAL MRS. ROOSEVELT

New Zealand Listener, Volume 7, Issue 179, 27 November 1942, Page 8

THE REAL MRS. ROOSEVELT

Presidential Adviser in- Chief

LEANOR ROOSEVELT has given the lie to the old saying that beauty is woman’s strongest weapon. Beauty is the one attribute she lacks, and nobody is more conscious of this than Mrs. Roosevelt herself. In one place in her autobiography she says: "X told me quite frankly that I would never have the beaux the rest of the women in the family had had, because I was the ugly duckling." In another, describing her coming-out dance: "My aunt bought my clothes in Paris, and I imagine that I was well dressed, but therc was absolutely nothing about me to attract anybody’s attention." Yet in spite of her absence of conventional good looks, Eleanor Roosevelt is to-day one of the most influential women in the ‘world. Not only becatise she is th. wife of the President of the United States, but because ‘of her own character and ability she has helped to weave the pattern of America’s destiny both at home and abroad. « Conventional Pattern Eleanor Roosevelt’s mother was a Miss Hall, her father Elliott Roosevelt. On both Sides of her family she comes from a class corresponding to the English landed gentry. In Mrs. Roosevelt’s own words: "In that society you were kind to the poor, you did not neglect your philanthropic duties in whatever community you lived, you assisted the hospitals and did something for the needy. You accepted invitations to dine and dance with the right ‘people only. You thought seriously about your children’s education, you read the books everybody _ read, you were familiar with good literature. In short, you conformed to the conventional pattern.’ And so, superficially, at least, did Eleanor. After two years at an English’ finishing school she returned to America, and in 1901 made her début. Her first season, such grand fun for the average American girl, was an ordeal for her. In her second season, she decided sHe could not bear a purely butterfly existence, and began to take an interest in social work. She taught evening classes in the poorer quarters of New York, became a member of the Consumers’ League, and devoted considerable time to investigating work and health conditions in factories and shops. But

before she could develop her real interest in social work, she got married: Marriage and Children It is typical of Eleanor Roosevelt’s honesty to say of her engagement: "I had a_ great curiosity about life and a desire to participate in every experience that might be the lot of a woman. There seemed to me to be a necessity for hurry; without rhyme or reason I felt the urge to be part of the stream of life, and so in the autumn of

ed 1903, when Franklin Roosevelt, my fifth cousin once removed, asked me to marry him... . I solemnly answered ‘yes.’ And yet I know now that it was years later before I understood what loving or being in love really meant." The marriage of Franklin and Eleanor was a tremendous affair. She was given away by her uncle, President Theodore Roosevelt, and she afterwards writes that the wedding guests all crowded round the Great Man, leaving her and Franklin to stand alone. Then came children-seven of them, and for many years their health, their education, their development, and the care of her household were her only concerns. In 1910, Franklin was elected to the New York Senate, but. still Eleanor was completely detached from the political scene, and regarded smooth housekeeping as her only contribution to her husband’s career. Franklin's appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Navy was Eleanor’s first introduction to Washington.’ Political Awakening The third year of the last world war shook her out of her routine existence, * and the trip with her husband to Europe during the Peace Conference further widened her outlook, She and Franklin met in Paris all "the outstanding politicians of the day, and she could not help feeling some contagion from the political excitement around her. But it was not till the presidential campaign of 1919, when President Wilson and the League of Nations were turned down by the American Electorate, that Eleanor Roosevelt woke up, politically, and began her career of political activity. The most tragic experience of Eleanor Roosevelt’s life, and the one which sealed her maturity, occurred in 1921, Franklin Roosevelt came back from a fishing trip tired and feverish. Three days later, he was unable to move his legs. The specialist diagnosed infantile paralysis. Dark weeks followed. Eventually, he could be moved from hospital, but there was no hope of recovery. It was then that Eleanor fought her toughest battle. She was determined that Franklin should lead a normal life, and eventually go back to politics. This battle she won. Though in Franklin Roosevelt she had a powerful ally, it was her struggle. When it was all over, and Franklin Roosevelt was

nominated for the Presidency in 1931, she knew that never again would she be shy or diffident. Her Husband Takes Her Advice When the handsome Franklin Roosevelt married his plain cousin Eleanor, many members of New York society were surprised. Few of them realised that behind her solemn, serious, and so painfully dutiful attitude he sensed her enterprising spirit, her keen mind and her sterling character. . It is the gossip of Washington that the President takes advice from two persons only, his wife and Mr. Harry Hopkins. He listens to many, and accepts their views within the radius of their activities. But when it comes to a decision on fundamental issues, only Eleanor and Harry are in his counsels,

It is a completely new departure that the wife of the President of the U.S.A. should lecture up and down the country, publish her daily diary, broadcast for industrial interests, and in every way go on record about internal and external politics. But it is by her constant travel and flow of correspondence that she keeps in touch with the pulse of the American public, and makes her influence felt in internal affairs. In Love With Life Eleanor Roosevelt is a wonderful example of what in our age a woman can achieve. She had a long way to travel from the conventional pattern. in which she. was brought up to the enlightened liberalism in which she now lives. She did not advance quickly. But when once her mind was made up, she took the plunge completely. At 58, Eleanor Roosevelt is in love with life, much more in love with it than she ever was in her youth, ~ ‘ No wonder then that so many, from her husband to solitary young women in America’s small towns, turn to her for advice and encouragement. She is a pioneer for the world-to-be and for the part intelligent women will play in it. That is why to-day her influence is great; why to-morrow her mark will be deeper.