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Tags: United States, Social Science, History, Biography & Autobiography, 20th Century, Biography, womens studies, Women, Married People, Presidents & Heads of State, Presidents - United States, Presidents, Presidents' spouses, Power (Social sciences), Political activity, Presidents' Spouses - United States - Political Activity, Married People - United States, United States - Politics and Government, Power (Social Sciences) - United States
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see her husband’s vision vindicated by the creation of the United Nations. She had shared but nine of her eighty-nine years with him, four of them more as nurse than wife. Until her last breath, she was convinced she had done the right thing, enabling her husband to hold on to the presidency.
In retrospect, it is astonishing to realize how great her powers were in the last eighteen months of Wilson’s presidency. A woman with two years of formal education, bred for the drawing room, opposed to women’s suffrage, had not only assumed most presidential powers but the control of the flow of information to the country. It was an unprecedented situation for this or any other democracy.
It is doubtful any first lady will ever again wield the power Edith did. The Twenty-fifth Amendment assures a smooth succession in case ofpresidential illness or incapacity. Moreover, one of the benefits of modern media scrutiny is that it forces the government to be open, even in times of crisis. Woodrow Wilson’s gaunt White House portrait has continued to remind succeeding residents of the sometimes high cost of the presidency, and the potential risk of a commander in chief who falls in love while in office. It is supremely ironic that the man forever associated with open diplomacy clung to power through a cover-up.
C HAPTER 2
E LEANOR AND F RANKLIN R OOSEVELT
T HE P ARTNERSHIP T HAT C HANGED THE W ORLD
No one who ever saw Eleanor Roosevelt sit down facing her husband, holding his eyes firmly and saying to him, “Franklin, I think you should … Franklin, surely you will not …” will ever forget the experience …. It would be impossible to say how often and to what extent American government processes have been turned in a new direction because of her determination.
— REXFORD TUGWELL,
member of Franklin Roosevelt’s brain trust
He might have been happier with a wife who was completely uncritical. That I was never able to be, and he had to find it in some other people. Nevertheless, I think I sometimes acted as a spur, even though the spurring was not always wanted or welcome. I was one of those who served his purposes.
— ELEANOR ROOSEVELT
THOUGH LESS THAN A DECADE AND A HALF SEPARATES THE WILSONS AND the Roosevelts, the journey takes us from the most private couple to occupy the White House in the twentieth century to one of the most public. Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt redefined the roles of president and first lady; he with his buoyant, expansive, imaginative leadership,she with the power of her moral force. Through their example, their leadership and FDR’s legislative record, it is no exaggeration to say that together they transformed the nation. All their successors have been measured against them.
Franklin and Eleanor constructed brave and rich lives for themselves and, in the process, touched millions of people. Each redefined the office they held and left it permanently altered. Franklin transformed the Democratic Party and the country’s political culture. This High Church Episcopalian saw that the tradition of self-reliance did not work when too many were hungry and unemployed. He acted on his belief that the government of a modern industrial state must provide food for the hungry and jobs for those who want to work. It is impossible to measure the exact impact of Eleanor’s compassionate spirit and obstinate prodding on the New Deal. No one, however, can doubt her role in Franklin’s personal and political evolution.
More has been written about this couple than any other in presidential history. Every facet of their lives has been documented, analyzed and held up for public scrutiny. Yet succeeding generations must study the Roosevelts to test their own notions regarding the intersection of marriage and power. By contemporary standards, theirs was not a “good” marriage. Still, for most of their tenure, they thrived in the White House—and the nation was enriched by the presence there of these two
In retrospect, it is astonishing to realize how great her powers were in the last eighteen months of Wilson’s presidency. A woman with two years of formal education, bred for the drawing room, opposed to women’s suffrage, had not only assumed most presidential powers but the control of the flow of information to the country. It was an unprecedented situation for this or any other democracy.
It is doubtful any first lady will ever again wield the power Edith did. The Twenty-fifth Amendment assures a smooth succession in case ofpresidential illness or incapacity. Moreover, one of the benefits of modern media scrutiny is that it forces the government to be open, even in times of crisis. Woodrow Wilson’s gaunt White House portrait has continued to remind succeeding residents of the sometimes high cost of the presidency, and the potential risk of a commander in chief who falls in love while in office. It is supremely ironic that the man forever associated with open diplomacy clung to power through a cover-up.
C HAPTER 2
E LEANOR AND F RANKLIN R OOSEVELT
T HE P ARTNERSHIP T HAT C HANGED THE W ORLD
No one who ever saw Eleanor Roosevelt sit down facing her husband, holding his eyes firmly and saying to him, “Franklin, I think you should … Franklin, surely you will not …” will ever forget the experience …. It would be impossible to say how often and to what extent American government processes have been turned in a new direction because of her determination.
— REXFORD TUGWELL,
member of Franklin Roosevelt’s brain trust
He might have been happier with a wife who was completely uncritical. That I was never able to be, and he had to find it in some other people. Nevertheless, I think I sometimes acted as a spur, even though the spurring was not always wanted or welcome. I was one of those who served his purposes.
— ELEANOR ROOSEVELT
THOUGH LESS THAN A DECADE AND A HALF SEPARATES THE WILSONS AND the Roosevelts, the journey takes us from the most private couple to occupy the White House in the twentieth century to one of the most public. Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt redefined the roles of president and first lady; he with his buoyant, expansive, imaginative leadership,she with the power of her moral force. Through their example, their leadership and FDR’s legislative record, it is no exaggeration to say that together they transformed the nation. All their successors have been measured against them.
Franklin and Eleanor constructed brave and rich lives for themselves and, in the process, touched millions of people. Each redefined the office they held and left it permanently altered. Franklin transformed the Democratic Party and the country’s political culture. This High Church Episcopalian saw that the tradition of self-reliance did not work when too many were hungry and unemployed. He acted on his belief that the government of a modern industrial state must provide food for the hungry and jobs for those who want to work. It is impossible to measure the exact impact of Eleanor’s compassionate spirit and obstinate prodding on the New Deal. No one, however, can doubt her role in Franklin’s personal and political evolution.
More has been written about this couple than any other in presidential history. Every facet of their lives has been documented, analyzed and held up for public scrutiny. Yet succeeding generations must study the Roosevelts to test their own notions regarding the intersection of marriage and power. By contemporary standards, theirs was not a “good” marriage. Still, for most of their tenure, they thrived in the White House—and the nation was enriched by the presence there of these two
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