The Savvy, Salty Political Saint

As her papers reveal, as Eleanor rode down in the "old cage-like White House elevator" for the last time in 1945, she pondered what she could accomplish in her own right: "Franklin's death ended a period in history and [many who lived in his shadow] have to start again under our own momentum and wonder what we can achieve." When she arrived at her New York apartment, she told reporters, "The story was over."

Clearly it was not. She was repeatedly asked if she would like to stand for office. She continued to make her views known in letters to the chair of the Democratic National Committee, Robert Hannegan, and columns on New York politics. In December 1945, President Truman appointed Mrs. Roosevelt as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly. And so she strode across the globe, into a punishing schedule of speeches and meetings, while continuing to peel off columns and letters, declaring happily "for the first time in my life I can say just what I want."

As the chair of the United Nations commission drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Eleanor played a crucial role in its passage, uniting countries and brokering compromise. When she debated Soviet delegate Andrei Vyshinsky—without notes—on refugee policy, her victory was front-page news around the world. She penned furious letters about her own government's tepid commitment, writing to the assistant secretary of State: "I know full well the lack of importance you give human rights in the State Department." In 1947, she also wrote a strong letter to President Truman about the State Department's loyalty oaths, which she considered a Soviet-style capitulation to fear of communism.

This work earned Eleanor international respect. Historian Geoffrey Ward says: "She showed how representatives of great power could work with representatives of no power and not be resented. We can learn from her inner sense of the dignity of other people." With time, Ward says, she has "become everybody's grandmother. [But] she was very tough, very gutsy, politically savvy, uncompromising."

Eleanor was asked in 1934 if a woman would become president of the United States. She answered carefully: "I hope it will only become a reality when she is elected as an individual because of her capacity and the trust which the majority of the people have in her integrity and ability as a person." Seventy-four years later, another formidable former First Lady is seeking that trust. Hillary Clinton has long professed an admiration for Eleanor Roosevelt, even admitting to having imaginary conversations with her. Clinton tends to highlight Eleanor's toughness—frequently quoting her advice that women in politics need to develop a rhinoceros hide, as well as her belief that a woman is like a teabag: "You never know how strong she is until she's in hot water." This is one quality few seem to doubt in Clinton today—her mettle.

There were many dimensions to Eleanor Roosevelt. She was certainly a lot more fun than her stern photographs suggest. She loved pranks and ball gowns—and dictated a statement on refugee repatriation in 1946 while getting her hair and nails done. What we can be certain of is that she would have risen to speak often in recent years, particularly on war and the politics of fear. We are living in a world indelibly shaped by her. If we fail to recognize how much more than a "well-protected flower" she was, then she is simply continuing to outfox us all.

With Jennie Yabroff

© 2007