"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.
Do the thing you think you cannot do."
Eleanor Roosevelt
This quote is one of my favorite mottoes. When I think about the message and the tenacity and influence of the woman who spoke those words, it enhances my determination to choose the courageous, perhaps even the more daring, approach to handling a challenge or a problem. When faced with the new and unfamiliar, the threatening, the upsetting, the downright scary, I will actually tell myself that I must persevere, no matter what --- sometimes even saying the words out loud. I will take a deep breath, square my shoulders and hunker down for a full on surge of research, planning and effort to improve my understanding of the situation. I am doggedly determined to find solutions and act on them. I keep telling myself, "You can
do it." It is our actions that define us.
It could be said that former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt's strength was
born out of her husband's weaknesses: first, after she discovered an
extra-marital affair early in their marriage, she resolved to live on
her own terms — not merely as an accessory to her powerful husband.
Later, as first lady, Eleanor took 'fact-finding' trips for her
husband who lost the use of his legs after contracting
polio in 1921. She spoke fiercely and freely about racism, poverty and
sexism in a way that would have been impossible for a sitting president
at the time.
Eleanor Roosevelt was a distinguished
public figure in her own right. A humanitarian, diplomat, social reformer,
and author, her work on behalf of youth, blacks, the poor, women, and
the United Nations surpassed her twelve years as first lady in establishing
her as one of the most important women of the 20th century.
Excerpted from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
web site:
"The Early Years
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York City on October 11, 1884. Her father was
Elliott Roosevelt, President Theodore Roosevelt's younger brother and her mother was
Anna Hall, a member of the distinguished Livingston family. Both her parents died
when she was a child, her mother in 1892, and her father in 1894. After her mother's
death, Eleanor went to live with her grandmother, Mrs. Valentine G. Hall, in Tivoli,
New York. She was educated by private tutors until the age of 15, when she was sent
to Allenswood, a school for girls in England. The headmistress, Mademoiselle Marie
Souvestre, took a special interest in young Eleanor and had a great influence on her
education and thinking. At age 18, Eleanor returned to New York with a fresh sense
of confidence in herself and her abilities. She became involved in social service
work, joined the Junior League and taught at the Rivington Street Settlement House.
On March 17, 1905, she married her fifth cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and between
1906 and 1916, they became the parents of six children: Anna Eleanor (1906-75), James
(1907-91), Franklin Delano, Jr. (1909), Elliott (1910-90), Franklin, Jr. (1914-88)
and John (1916-81). During this period, her public activities gave way to family concerns
and her husband's political career. However, with American entry in World War I, she
became active in the American Red Cross and in volunteer work in Navy hospitals. In
1921, Franklin Roosevelt was stricken with polio causing Mrs. Roosevelt to become
increasingly active in politics in part to help him maintain his interests but also
to assert her own personality and goals. She participated in the League of Women Voters,
joined the Women's Trade Union League, and worked for the Women's Division of the
New York State Democratic Committee. She helped to establish Val-Kill Industries,
a non-profit furniture factory in Hyde Park, New York, and taught at the Todhunter
School, a private girls' school in New York City.
The First Lady
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, Mrs. Roosevelt 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. In 1939, the Daughters
of the American Revolution (DAR) refused to allow Marion Anderson, an African American
singer, to perform in their auditorium. In protest, Mrs. Roosevelt resigned her membership
in the DAR.
Throughout Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency, Eleanor traveled extensively around
the nation, visiting relief projects, surveying working and living conditions, and
then reporting her observations to the President. She was called "the President's
eyes, ears and legs" and provided objective information to her husband. When the Japanese
attacked Pearl Harbor and the United States entered WWII, Mrs. Roosevelt made certain
that the President did not abandon the goals he had put forth in the New Deal. She
also exercised her own political and social influence; she became an advocate of the rights and needs of the poor, of minorities, and of
the disadvantaged. The public was drawn in by the First Lady's exploits and adventures
which she recounted in her daily syndicated column, 'My Day'. She began writing the
column in 1935 and continued until her death in 1962.
During the war, she served as Assistant Director of Civilian Defense from 1941 to
1942 and she visited England and the South Pacific to foster good will among the Allies
and to boost the morale of U.S. servicemen overseas.
The 'First Lady of the World'
After President Roosevelt's death on April 12, 1945, Mrs. Roosevelt 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 1953, Mrs. Roosevelt dutifully resigned from the United States Delegation to the
United Nations, so that incoming Republican President Dwight Eisenhower could fill
the position with an appointee of his own choosing. She then volunteered her services
to the American Association for the U. N., and was an American representative to the
World Federation of the U. N. Associations. She later became the chair of the Associations'
Board of Directors. She was reappointed to the United States Delegation to the U.
N. by President Kennedy in 1961. Later he appointed her to the National Advisory Committee
of the Peace Corps and chair of the President's Commission on the Status of Women.
Mrs. Roosevelt became a recognized leader in promoting humanitarian efforts.
She was in great demand as a speaker and lecturer. Like her husband had done with
radio, she also made effective use of the emerging technology of television. She was
a prolific writer with many articles and books to her credit including a multi-volume
autobiography.
In her later years, Mrs. Roosevelt lived at Val-Kill in Hyde Park, New York. She also
maintained an apartment in New York City. She died on November 7, 1962, and is buried
alongside her husband in the Rose Garden of their estate at Hyde Park, now a national
historic site."
For a more colorful and less "white-washed" appreciation of Eleanor's life,
this essay provides more nuanced insights into her lonely childhood, her cruel mother, her domineering mother-in-law and her personal quest for excellence.
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