Eleanor Roosevelt: The Defining Years: Volume Two 1933-1938

"Cook has dedicated much of her scholarly life to a three-volume biography of Eleanor Roosevelt. Since I’ve been involved with what I call the world of the Roosevelts, I turned to this book for the granular view of what was going on with Mrs. Roosevelt. Blanche helps readers see the ways in which Eleanor advanced progressive causes, publicly and privately. Eleanor made contributions, both from the sidelines and out front—visiting coal mines, impoverished communities, and New Deal projects. She traveled all over the country speaking on issues of importance not only to FDR’s presidency, but on issues she wished to advance. She became increasingly involved with civil rights as the 1930s wore on. It’s a story of Eleanor’s awakening and how she brought Franklin along. Franklin’s presidency would not have been what it was, by any measure, if it weren’t for the contributions that Eleanor was making. Eleanor was pretty much a 180-degree reversal of the traditional role. She didn’t want to be a White House hostess. She had seen the role of the first lady up close during Woodrow Wilson’s administration and during her uncle Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency. Eleanor also did not want to return to Washington because she had developed a very independent life during the 1920s. She was teaching, working on women’s labor issues and with Val-Kill Industries (a workers cooperative she founded with two friends on the Roosevelt estate), and was active in politics as the chair of the Women’s Committee of the Democratic Party. Blanche Wiesen Cook has called her the most important woman in national politics in the late 1920s. Mrs. Roosevelt changed the role of First Lady. In partnership with the reporter Lorena Hickok—who was, perhaps, her lover—she began women-only press conferences where, mixed in with “women’s issues,” she often addressed national policy. She continued to write a column, which was a homely mixture of what her family was up to and what she was interested in in terms of national issues. She shared insights into the private life of the Roosevelt family, making them familiar figures to Americans and the president and his policies more accessible. She was public facing in a way that I don’t think any other First Lady has ever been. His guile contributed to his greatness. FDR called himself the juggler because he had to keep so many things going at the same time. For instance, he wanted to stop lynching but knew that he couldn’t get an anti-lynching bill through Congress without antagonizing the southern wing of the Democratic Party—which would have ended the New Deal. He was willing to try guile and charm rather than turning to confrontation. FDR is criticized for trusting Stalin too much. I don’t think he trusted Stalin, but he was optimistic enough to believe he could use his charm to find common ground in the search for a peaceful world. He didn’t let people know what he was thinking. He was manipulative in a way that moved his policies forward. Guile—used in service to the New Deal, winning World War II, and planning for peace—was key to his success in many ways. More American history book recommendations"