Eleanor Roosevelt, on of the most influential political, activist figure of the 20th century. She paved the way for women in politics, supported the fight for civil rights, and lobbied for may issues dear to her. Some of these issues included: Civil Rights for African Americans, woman’s rights, the poor and young, and artists and writers. She also wrote her own newspaper column titled “My Day”, from December 1935 up until her death in 1962. Eleanor is the longest serving First Lady in United States history, from March 1933 to April 1945. Eleanor is quoted to have said “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams”. In her life this quote is adequately portrayed in the ways she lobbied for important issues in our country and influenced the New Deal.
Eleanor Roosevelt was born on October 11, 1884, in New York City, New York. Her uncle, the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, played a part in influencing her political passions throughout her life. After finishing her strenuous education at Allenswood Academy, a school for girls in England, she returned home to New York City and joined the National Consumers League and the Junior League for the Promotion of Settlement Movements.
These activities drew attention to Eleanor, making her a well-known figure in the New York City area. The summer after returning home from Allenswood Academy in England, Eleanor Roosevelt and her cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt met by happenstance on a train ride to Trivoli. Soon after, the pair became involved with one another and were engaged on November 22, 1903. They were married on March 17,1905 at the ages of twenty and twenty-two.
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“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people” said by Eleanor Roosevelt, is a way to describe her and Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s appearance to the public stage and rise to the White House. World War I cleared the way for existing social issues to be challenged and reformed in an acceptable manner.
This was an area for Eleanor Roosevelt to swoop in and take control of, which is exactly what she did. It allowed her to leave the restrictions that the high society of Washington D.C. held her to and dive head first into war time relief. This was the first time the Eleanor Roosevelt realized the valuable services she was able to contribute to she had passions for, and that her political career didn’t have to center around her husband’s political career. Eleanor Roosevelt would soon become the initial woman to spearhead the tradition of a having a more influential role in the White House as the First Lady, other than just following the agenda of the President.
In 1933, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected as the 32nd President of the United States of America, Eleanor held no defined role in politics. Even her small request at being her husband’s “secretary” was rejected. It took and interview on the day of the inauguration for the press to realize that Eleanor Roosevelt was just a “newsworthy” as before Franklin Roosevelt’s election. It is interesting to contemplate not only the political influence Eleanor Roosevelt had at this time period, but also the entertainment and moral strength she gave the country at such a difficult time in American history.
On September fourth, 1929, stock prices in the United States fell dramatically, beginning what would be the worldwide Great Depression. The Great Depression lasted throughout the 1930s, the majority of the time Franklin Delano Roosevelt served as the President of the United States. In most countries though, it lasted right up until World War II. Profits, prices, personal income, and tax revenue dropped. Unemployment rose. Industrial and rural communities struggled.
After his election, Franklin Delano Roosevelt came up with a plan to help restore the economy and end the crisis with the United States. The New Deal was introduced. It was a series of programs, public works projects, financial reforms and regulations responding to the needs of relief, reform, and recovery from the Great Depression. During this time, Eleanor was a major information source to Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
The programs included: The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Farm Security Administration (FSA), the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 (NIRA), and the Social Security Administration (SSA). Eleanor Roosevelt was a major influence on Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal, saying “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. “You must do the thing which you think you cannot do”. This quote captures what the mindset of the United States of America during the trying period of the Great Depression.
One of the biggest ways Eleanor Roosevelt influenced the New Deal was the way she empowered the women of the United States. Eleanor new that working women especially suffered during the Great Depression. Because of being widowed or abandoned but their husbands, women were often the sole providers for their families. It was especially difficult for many women to find employment because the standard at that time was to give paying jobs to the men that needed them before women. These women went unrecognized not only by the government, but by the majority of the public as well. Eleanor Roosevelt lobbied for the women of the United States to have the same opportunities that men had. Because of her efforts, Harry Hopkins created a special woman’s division within the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Works Program Administration. Within these programs he also appointed women to head them. Following, each state was required to appoint a woman who was qualified to dedicate herself to the woman’s program full-time.
Even with all of the progress made in the way of women, only seven percent of the jobs that were created by the Civilian Works Administration went to women. Twenty-five percent of working women were receiving minimum wage at a lower rate than men for the same work. Fortunately, in 1935, the establishment of the Works Program Administration improved the employment benefits for women. At the height of its program in 1936, the Works Program Administration employed 460,000 women. The New Deal reforms, the Fair Labor Relations Act and the Fair Labor Standard Act, extremely benefited women, all due to Eleanor Roosevelt. These accomplishments set the precedent that working women must be included in any state and national relief effort.
Also unprecedented were the New Deal opportunities for women to hold high ranks in the federal government. These included: The Secretary of Labor, the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, the Directors of Workers Education within the Works Program Administration, the Associate Director of the Division of Labor Standards, and the head of the Division of Negro Affairs in the National Youth Administration. Eleanor Roosevelt and the New Deal paved new roads for the woman in the United States.
With the same passion she held for woman’s rights, she advocated for unemployed youth and the hardships they endured. Some saw the youth of America as a means for revolutionary politics, while others saw them as an apathetic disillusionment. Eleanor Roosevelt did not believe that camps in the Civilian Conservative Corps met their needs. She thought that specially programmed camps, adequately tailored to their needs and focused more on social needs more than a militaristic focus. Eleanor Roosevelt hoped that the program would address the problems facing America’s youth that needed to be addressed.
She believed the camps needed to provide education and job skills to the youth and that they would also establish civic awareness. She presented the idea to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. She wrote “One of the ideas I agreed to present to Franklin was the setting up a national youth administration….It was one of the occasions on which I was very proud that the right thing was done regardless of political consequences.” Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed an executive order on June 26, 1935 that established the authorization the administering of programs of work projects, vocational guidance, apprenticeships training, educational and nutritional guidance camps for unemployed women, and student financial aid.
Eleanor Roosevelt was more important to the New Deal as a political influence on her husband than as a role model during this time period. Overall, her legacy reflects the amazing example that she set for people, especially women. She once said, “Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you will be criticized anyway. You will be ‘darned’ if you do, and ‘darned’ if you don’t.” This quote reflects her attitude as a political influence and as a role model. The role she played in the success of the New Deal is one that is immeasurable; and surely there were actions, not recorded in history, that she did that played significant parts in the Deal’s success as well. Eleanor Roosevelt set many standards and broke numerous precedents that had been holding back the growth of the country, especially within the parameters of the New Deal.
