Question

6

Eleanor Roosevelt

Violeta Morales

Chamberlain University

Contemporary History

Professor Goldberg

February 13, 2022

Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt was born in 1884 in New York. Her parents died before she reached 10 years and she went to live with her maternal grandmother. While studying in London, her school principal noticed her intellect, urged her to get politically, and socially involved. When she returned to the United States, her uncle President Theodore Roosevelt introduced her to politics. She married her distant cousin Franklin Roosevelt who later became the president of the United States. It was during the leadership of Franklin Roosevelt that America experienced the Progressive Movement, New Deal, the Women’s Movement, and the struggle for racial justice. Eleanor utilized her journalism skills to write opinion pieces, write articles, and give speeches advocating for the equality and rights of women. Moreover, she leveraged her political network and liberal ideologies to voice issues in the White House. Eleanor championed numerous issues like gender equality, youth concerns, minority issues, employment of women in key positions, and the plight of the unemployed. During and after WW II, Eleanor actively supported women's networks and played an active role in European refugee programs. After the death of her husband, she continued to engage in social reforms, was appointed as the chairperson of the UN, and helped in creating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Eleanor actively campaigned for the rights of women, minorities, and children. She encouraged people through her public utterances to contribute towards the achievement of peace and take an active role in politics (Luscombe & Fazzi, 2017). Her astute view on the significant role of various media and communication channels like books, speeches, columns, television, and radio to educate the public while creating a shared identity in the United States and between the other US and other nations. She used her skills in journalism to give speeches and lectures, write opinion pieces, and broadcast, through which she urged her female listeners to actively engage in politics and bring leaders to accountability to enhance global peace (Luscombe, 2018). Women’s right was a major topic of discussion during her time as they dominated all aspects of life. She joined the New York State League of Women Voters and encouraged women to actively engage in politics. Through the league, she had the opportunity to meet professional women who were highly engaged in politics (Luscombe & Fai, 2017). Moreover, Eleanor joined the Women’s Trade Union League where she developed close relationships with other women in politics (Tabors, 2018). Women were among the most active members of the American peace organization. Struggle for peace meant that women had the opportunity to improve their lives and break the prevailing barriers (Fazzi, 2017). Eleanor continually engaged in reforms and worked with women groups to set goals to prioritize policies. 

For decades, minority people in the United States fought for recognition and equality. Eleanor was the first First Lady in the world to use her position to support numerous courses. Eleanor joined the Washington chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Urban League where she advocated for the integration of blacks in the American military and invited activists to the White House (Luscombe, 2018). As a humanitarian, she promoted minority rights by advocating for the inclusion of other races into the American military. She brought attention to the efforts of Tuskegee Airmen to become the first African-American combat pilots. She openly confronted those who advocated for white supremacy and discriminated against other races. Her stance on civil rights issues attracted a lot of criticism from commentators and politicians. 

Eleanor aggressively defended her engagement with the poor and minority in her articles (Black, 2010). She increased her civil rights activism was highly outspoken on anti-lynching legislation and pressured FERA administrators to practice equal pay for all races.

Eleanor was instrumental in the development of political and social conscience by advocating for the plight of the vulnerable. She strived to find a political and legal solution to the existing social problem. Eleanor was introduced to political life by his uncle from an early age. Moreover, her school principal encouraged her to be politically and socially involved. At 20 years, she married Franklin Roosevelt and dislikes the social duties imposed on her as a wife of a politician (Luscombe, 2020). Eleanor became the vice president of the Democratic Women’s Committee and an editor of the Women’s Democratic News. By the 1940s Eleanor was a skilled politician and successfully combined pacifist stances with national security exigencies (Fazzi, 2017). She worked towards enhancing improving the involvement of the United States in European and global affairs. Moreover, she strived to fulfill the ideologies of equality and freedom in the national and global preservation of human dignity. Eleanor played a key role in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (Facing History and Ourselves, 2010). She is renowned for her contribution to universal democracy and human rights.

Eleanor Roosevelt took an ambivalent and complex approach in fighting for social reforms. Her peace activism was highly intertwined with her quest for social justice. Moreover, her noticeable pacifism coupled with her unmatched ability to handle social media challenges of her time and unremitting social activism rendered her a perfect candidate for interceding between American pacifism and political elites. 

References

Black, A. M. (2010). Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962): First Lady, Social Welfare Advocate, Human Rights Leader, Social Welfare History Project.

Facing History and Ourselves (2010). Fundamental freedoms: Eleanor Roosevelt and the universal declaration of human rights. www.facinghistory.org/fundamentalfreedoms.

Fazzi, D. (2017). Eleanor Roosevelt’s Peculiar Pacifism: Activism, Pragmatism, and Political Efficacy in Interwar America. European journal of American studies, 12 (1), 10.4000/ejas.11893.

Luscombe, A. (2018). Eleanor Roosevelt: A crusading spirit to move human rights forward. Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, 36(4), 241–246. https://doi.org/10.1177/0924051918801610

Luscombe, A, (2020) Eleanor Roosevelt and radio in early Cold War France, Women's History Review, 29(2), 215-230, DOI: 10.1080/09612025.2019.1600646

Luscombe, A. & Fai, D. (2017). Eleanor Roosevelt and diplomacy in the public interest. European Journal of American Studies, 12(1), 1-6.

Tabors, C. (2018). A voice for the “Least of these;” Eleanor Roosevelt’s servant leadership. Servant Leadership: Theory & Practice, 5(1), 13-24.

Von Bernstorff, J. (2008). The changing fortunes of the universal declaration of human rights: Genesis and symbolic dimensions of the turn to rights in international law. The European Journal of International Law, 19(5), 903-924.