Eleanor Roosevelt's Influence On Society

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Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the most controversial First Lady in United States History. Throughout her life she was very determined and courageous, Eleanor was a staunch activist in her fight for the civil and women's rights movements. Eleanor Roosevelt’s life was full of controversy and compromise; power and action. She was a devoted wife and mother, but between Eleanor and Franklin there was often conflict and confrontation because she was so determined to fight for her ideals. Franklin encourages his wife to “warm up” (Cook 5) to ideas that were not so popular and he would demand her silence on highly controversial political issues. However, he allowed her to stand up for her ideals assuming they did not compromise his political life.…show more content…
As his polio worsened, he would send her into the buildings to act as his "eyes and ears" during inspection tours of hospitals, asylums and prisons. At first, Eleanor's reports were highly unsatisfactory for Franklin. However, as she continued to help she began to learn what to look for. "I learned to look into the cooking pots on the stove to find out if the contents corresponded to the menu. I learned to notice whether the beds were too close together, and ...to watch the patients' attitude toward the staff, and before the end of our years in Albany, I had become a fairly expert reporter on state instructions" (Freedman 87). Eventually, Eleanor became known as the First Lady who cared about people's problems and tried to…show more content…
She thought her story was over; little did she know there was much more to be written. President Harry Truman strongly valued Eleanor’s opinions, he wanted her at his side as he attempted to fill Franklin’s shoes. Truman requested she serve as one of the five American delegates in the first meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. Eleanor accepted Truman’s request, mainly because she believed the United Nations was Franklin’s most important legacy. Eleanor was assigned to Committee Three, which dealt with humanitarian, educational and cultural

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