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After her husband died in 1945, President Harry S. Truman appointed Roosevelt as delegate to the United Nations General Assembly. She became the first person, in April 1946, to chair the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
Eleanor Roosevelt (born Anna Eleanor Roosevelt) was the first lady of the United States during her husband Franklin Delano Roosevelt's service as the president from 1933-45. She was of Dutch, English and Irish ancestry. She was a vocal advocate for women's and civil rights, and, after she was widowed in 1945, she became a well-known author, speaker, politician and activist. She was also a co-founder of Freedom House and a supporter of the United Nations. During the John F. Kennedy administration, Roosevelt chaired the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women.
Roosevelt was born in New York City on Oct. 11, 1884 to Elliott and Anna (Hall) Roosevelt. She was the oldest of three siblings. Her family was one of great privilege and wealth. Roosevelt was orphaned at an early age; her mother succumbed to diphtheria when Roosevelt was 8, and her father, who suffered from alcoholism and was institutionalized, died not even two years later. After the death of her parents, Roosevelt's maternal grandmother, Mary Ludlow Hall, became her guardian.
Roosevelt was raised Episcopalian. She was privately tutored through most of her childhood, and attended school in Italy from 1890-91. She then attended the Allenswood Girl's Academy in London from 1898-1902, later referring to that time as &#quot;the happiest years of my life.&#quot;
Roosevelt met her future husband, who was her father's fifth cousin, in 1902. She was 17 and he was 20. The two began a courtship in January 1903, against the wishes of FDR's mother, Sara, who thought her son was too young to be committed to one woman. Roosevelt and FDR were engaged in November 1904. The Roosevelt's were married on March 17, 1905 in New York City. The bride was given away in marriage by her uncle, Theodore Roosevelt. After a three-month European honeymoon, the couple settled in New York City. They had six children: Anna Eleanor Jr., James, Franklin Delano Jr., Franklin Delano Jr., Elliott, Franklin Delano Jr. and John Aspinwall. The elder Franklin Jr. died in infancy.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt became ill in August of 1921, and this resulted in permanent paralysis of his legs. Roosevelt immediately took charge of her husband's medical care, supporting him as he sought new and different treatments. She was a realist, and encouraged her husband to accept the fact that he would likely never walk again. To help her husband, Eleanor began making appearances on his behalf when he was unable to do so. The Roosevelt's marriage was rocky in the years prior to their moving into the White House, largely due to FDR's infidelities. FDR became the governor of New York in 1928, and the Roosevelt's moved into the governor's mansion in Albany.
FDR was inaugurated president of the United States on March 4, 1933. As first lady, Roosevelt held weekly press conferences (348 total, to which men were not invited) and wrote &#quot;My Day,&#quot; a syndicated newspaper column. During her 12 years as a president's wife, Roosevelt traveled extensively and made numerous personal appearances. She became a supporter of the African-American civil rights movement.
Roosevelt teamed up in 1941 with Wendell Wilkie and other Americans devoted to eliminating threats to democracy and formed Freedom House. During World War II, she toured civilian and military centers. She went to the South Pacific in 1943, where she visited wounded soldiers. She toured Latin America in early 1944.
After her husband died in 1945, President Harry S. Truman appointed Roosevelt as delegate to the United Nations General Assembly. She became the first person, in April 1946, to chair the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. She served the commission in one capacity or another until 1953.
Many attempted to get Roosevelt to run for office, but she never did. Her supporters even urged Truman to name her as his running mate during the presidential election, but Roosevelt declined. During the 1950s, she worked as a public speaker, was still writing her newspaper column and made many appearances on television and radio programs.
After FDR's death, Roosevelt moved to Hyde Park, N.Y., where she would live for the rest of her life. She was a member of the board of trustees at Brandeis University. She was hit by a car in April 1960 and never fully recovered. She became afflicted with aplastic anemia and tuberculosis, and her health quickly declined. She died at home in Manhattan on Nov. 7, 1962. Her funeral was attended by First Ladies Bess Truman, Jacqueline Kennedy and Lady Bird Johnson. She was buried next to her husband on Nov. 10, 1962 in the Roosevelt family cemetery in Hyde Park.
In 1996, a memorial in Roosevelt's honor was dedicated in Riverside Park in New York. As of 2011, no first lady has ever been in the White House longer than Roosevelt was. Significant events during her time as First Lady included the Great Depression and World War II.
Chicago Sun-Times; February 10, 2012
The Washington Post; February 9, 2012
The Washington Post; February 8, 2012
Junior Scholastic; March 8, 2004
Junior Scholastic; March 2, 2009
Shofar; March 22, 2006
The Historian; March 22, 2010
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