Meet the First First Lady
With grace and the voice of a caring mother, Eleanor
Roosevelt greeted each wounded soldier as if he were the first and only soldier
she had come to see. Not content with
remaining in the White House as a simple hostess, Eleanor Roosevelt traveled to
the South Pacific during World War II to interact with those serving their
country. This is just one example of how
we meet the first First Lady in J. William T. Youngs’ Eleanor Roosevelt: A Personal and Public Life. From before her birth to the time beyond her
death, the author describes how she overcame hardship and loss and came out
stronger each time, and in the end, redefined the role of the First Lady.
Youngs’ biography is successful in hitting all of the main
points of Eleanor Roosevelt’s life and accomplishments from her birth to her
death and beyond. It portrays a real
look at the amazing woman she was and her many accomplishments. It details her overcoming loss, such as losing
her parents and brother, all within two years.
She is portrayed as an amazing woman, way ahead of her time. Youngs creates this easy read in a focused
manner which begins and ends as it should, not skipping around. Although it is a historical and factual
novel, it reads more as a work of fiction where the characters come to life and
are relatable to current times. The
reader is educated beyond the normal facts known regarding Mrs. Roosevelt, such
as her feminist views she shared with her husband and how they influenced her
work; her disagreements with some of his policies, which she make public; her
grief when she discovers his ongoing affair with her friend; her struggle with
his polio causing him to be wheelchair bound; her making public appearances and
speaking on his behalf after he became ill; and how she continued to support
her husband all the way to becoming president despite all of his downfalls in
their marriage. It appears the more he
fell down on his duties, the stronger she became politically and personally. She maintained a positive outlook despite all
of the challenges in her life, termed an “American saint” by the author. This shows how he viewed her, as well as how
she was admired by Americans at the time.
She became the “mother” of America.
Not just the First Lady, she performed way beyond her basic duties. She was the first spouse to speak at a
national political convention! In a time
when women were socially to remain in the background, she rose to the front and
recruited other women to join the Democratic Party. She wrote for a newspaper and was paid to
speak as a lecturer, two roles never heard of for women at that time. Even after her husband’s death, she didn’t
fade into the background. She remained
active in the political arena, serving on a panel in the Kennedy administration
and worked closely with the United Nations.
She was thought of as one of the most influential and respected women of
the 20th Century.
As a book
in a series, formatting decisions must remain the same throughout all of the
books. This formatting may not be
appealing to the reader, as well as how the footnotes are structured. As a short read, if more in-depth information
is needed as to any aspect of the life of Eleanor Roosevelt, a reader would
have to seek additional reading material.
This book would be suited more as a great supplement to a history class
where the series is utilized to explore biographies of figures in American
history.
A brief biography focusing on a person whose ideas, actions,
and refusal to fade into the normal role as those before her, the author
provides a wonderful look at a First Lady who redefined that role and set the
standard for those who followed. While
it is a brief peek, a reader wanting more in-depth knowledge regarding her life
would need to seek other reading material to supplement the information
provided. However, this book is a great
start and overview of very interesting facts regarding her life which may have
not been shared in other writings. Youngs
described how she influenced the course of American history in many ways
through her outreach and asserting herself publicly in the political
arena. He describes her roles throughout
her life in a broader sense as to how she was involved in each change presented
and in the lives of Americans. He paints
her as being almost a hero and worshiped by Americans as a mother figure,
which she instilled in herself through her actions. This book is strongly recommended for anyone
wanting to finally meet the real first First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt.
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