The True First Lady: Eleanor Roosevelt

The True First Lady

The year is 1884, and young Eleanor Roosevelt is being brought up in world that is very different than it is today. Women did not have the rights to vote, African Americans were not allowed to positions in the government, and the Panic of 1884 was strongly affecting New York. As Eleanor got older, many of these things did not change. Although the Panic of 1884 ended, Women and African Americans were still being treated as minorities. In her life, she knew wanted to make a difference.

Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York City on October 11 of 1884. She grew up in a well off family, but had the devastating childhood of losing both of her parents before the age of ten. As a teenager, she was sent to England to attend Allenswood, a private school for girls. This experience greatly shaped her and influenced her ideas of education and thinking. Later on, she married her fifth cousin, Franklin Roosevelt, and both of their lives were changed when he became president of the United States. But what were the impacts that made her such memorable woman in our country’s history? Overall, Eleanor Roosevelt was a significant person in American History because she revolutionized the role of the First Lady, her social work both nationally and internationally, and because she was a strong civil rights activist.

Eleanor Roosevelt is a significant person in American History because she forever changed the role of the First Lady. Eleanor Roosevelt served as First Lady longer than any other First Lady has to this day: twelve years, one month, one week, and one day, ("First Lady Biography"). During her time as First Lady, the United States experienced the Great Depression and World War II, two traumatic and discoura...

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...Eleanor Roosevelt’s life will be forever remembered for her role as a First Lady, her dedicated work towards social reforms, and her strong support for both African American’s and women’s rights. She helped our nation in times of struggle, she helped our soldiers in times, of devastation, and she changed the way we all picture the First Lady. When Eleanor died in 1962, a New York Time’s headline stated, “She Was the Symbol of the New Role Women Were To Play In The World,” (Winfield). Not many people can think of someone who has done so many things in their life and was so dedicated to what she believed in, as Eleanor Roosevelt. As stated by an impressed reporter, “[Eleanor’s] persistent twinkle in her blue eyes, cannot be transferred into lines of cold type… Gracious, charming, patient, serene, but efficient and plainly the devoted helpmate,” (Youngs, 170).