proof/editing Review - Eleanor Roosevelt

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 20^th 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.