Eleanor Roosevelt

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From the course by Universiteit Leiden

The Rooseveltian Century

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Universiteit Leiden

The Rooseveltian Century

43 ratings

This course uses the lives, ideals and achievements of Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor Roosevelt to create the idea of a Rooseveltian century. It is about doing research, analyzing primary sources, and connecting all this information with a coherent and logical interpretation. It is an invitation to think critically and historically, and it wants to give you a glimpse of what it means to be a historian at work. We are convinced that the three Roosevelts – the 3Rs, as we will refer to them throughout this course – profoundly shaped the twentieth century. This course shows you why we think so and which paradigms, ideas, and sources we use to uphold our claim. But this course also asks you to give your opinion, and ground it on your own research findings. The structure of the course is straightforward: - An introductory module gives you the biographical information you need to connect the personal stories of the 3Rs with the major events of the twentieth century; - Module 2 explains how the 3Rs reframed our thinking on security, broadening its meaning and reconfiguring the government’s role in providing it; - Module 3, focusing on equality, shows how the 3Rs changed the relationship between leaders and led, rejected laissez-faire economics, and supported a politics of intervention to overcome the inequalities that undermined social cohesion; - Module 4 describes how the 3Rs promoted and protected the freedom of ordinary citizens, and communicated that as one of their central political goals; - Module 5 summarizes the long-lasting legacies of the 3Rs, and asks for your opinion on the Rooseveltian century. Do you agree with this interpretation of our recent past – and our possible futures? The five modules contain quizzes to test your knowledge and understanding, discussion prompts to stimulate your creativity, and research guidance and assignments to sharpen up your historical skills. We hope you will enjoy this intellectual journey!

From the lesson

Introduction

This module focuses on the foundational elements of this course. It explores the biographies of the 3Rs, their public achievements, and what motivated them to become the major public figures that we recognise today. The overall learning goal is to make students aware of the connections between the bios of the 3Rs and the rise of the U.S. as a global power in the twentieth century.

The Rooseveltian Century5:13

Theodore Roosevelt4:32

Franklin D. Roosevelt5:54

Eleanor Roosevelt5:22

Meet the Instructors

Giles Scott-Smith
Prof. dr.
History, Faculty of Humanities

Welcome back, let's consider now our third Roosevelt, Eleanor.

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York City on October 11th, 1884.

Her father was Elliot, 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, and

Eleanor spend most of her childhood with her grandmother.

She received a very traditional education and at the age of 15,

she was sent to Allenswood, a girl's school in England.

She learned to speak French fluently, and gained the social skills and

self-confidence that she employed once back in New York at age 18.

In social service work and small scale political activities.

Soon, however, as to contemporary etiquette prescribe.

She gave her public activities for family concerns and

her husband's political career, although she did volunteer for

the American Red Cross when the United States entered World War I.

After Franklin was stricken with polio in 1921,

Eleanor increased her political activism to both help him maintain his interest and

to assert her own personality and goals.

In this period she pursued many of the interests

that would characterize her entire life.

Participating in the League of Women Voters, the Women's Trade Union league,

and the women's division of the New York State Democratic Committee.

When her husband won the presidency

ER feared a new life of endless receptions and ceremonial duties.

Instead, her unique qualities allowed her to both play the first lady role with

impeccable style and know how, and revolutionize the world's public presence.

She was the first first lady to hold her own female only press conferences.

To criticize American private organizations and public agencies for

their racial discrimination and to actively pursue her own political agenda

focused on the advancement of women's, worker's, and civil rights.

Throughout FDR's presidency Eleanor traveled extensively around the nation.

Visiting relief projects, surveying working and living conditions, and

reporting her observations to the president.

She was called the president's eyes, ears, and

legs, a source of first hand information for FDR.

Eleanor involved the public in her exploits and

adventures through her daily syndicated column, My Day,

which she wrote continuously from 1935 until her death in 1962.

During World War II she served as assistant director

of the Civilian Defense Program from 1941 to 1942.

And she visited Europe and

the South Pacific to foster good will among the American allies.

And to boost the morale of US servicemen overseas.

In doing so, she gained widespread popularity at home and

international prominence abroad.

After FDR's death in April 1945,

despite some initial doubts, she continued to be an active public figure.

President Truman appointed her to represent the United States

in the United Nations General Assembly,

where she served as chair of the Human Rights Commission, and

worked tirelessly to draft the Universal Declaration of Human rights.

In her opinion, the U.N represented the best guarantee of world peace and

stability.

She thought the U.N mission to be so important that, as she put it in 1954,

the mobilization of world opinion and methods of negotiation should

be developed and used by every nation in order to strengthen the United Nations.

She worked tirelessly to enhance multilateral diplomacy.

To solve the European refugee crisis and to fight poverty and starvation, and

above all, to improve global educational standards.

At home, she worked very hard to keep the reforming spirit of FDR's New Deal alive.

In particular, she grasped the potential of the mass media

as a way to reach out and inform her fellow citizens.

In great demand as a public speaker.

She hosted her own radio and tv shows, and

was an incredibly prolific writer with thousands of articles and

dozens of books to her credit, including a popular multi-volume autobiography.

Nobody was surprised when President Kennedy reappointed her

to the United States delegation to the United Nations in 1961.

Even though she was aged 77.

Under the young democratic president, she also served as a member

of the National Advisory Committee for the Peace Core.

And chair of the president's commission on the status of women.

Her unceasing lifelong commitment to human rights induced Harry Truman to refer

to her as the First Lady of the world at her funeral in November 1962.

There were few women in the history of the U.S.

who had worked for and inspired others as much as Eleanor had.

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