FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES (1933-1945)

Political Influence.

Though not an elected or appointed governmental official, Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was a towering figure in the politics of her day. In her travels, lectures, and writing, she promoted a liberal political agenda. Her discussions with her husband and her reports to him on what she had seen and heard on her travels were important in determining Roosevelt's political strategies. James Farley, an important adviser and campaign manager to Roosevelt, called her "the most practical woman I've ever met in politics."

Background.

A distant cousin of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born into a patrician family whose history stretched back to the colonial era, but her early life was not an easy one. Both of her parents died when she was a young girl. In 1899 she was sent to London, England, to study at...