welcome back to the ancestral findings podcast
Eleanor Roosevelt was more than just the 32nd first lady of the United States
she was a force of nature from her hard childhood to the unconventional nature of her relationship
with her husband Eleanor redefined what it meant to be first lady here is her story
our 32nd first lady had the same maiden name as her married name born Anna Eleanor Roosevelt on
October 11 1884 in Manhattan New York City New York she would go on to marry her fifth cousin
one time removed Franklin Delano Roosevelt however before that she had to get through a
difficult childhood first she chose to be called by her middle name Eleanor from a young age and
those around her obliged her Eleanor had two younger brothers Elliot and Hall and her parents
were New York socialites with her father Elliot Roosevelt senior being a younger brother of former
U.S president Theodore Roosevelt Eleanor was part of American royalty from the beginning it didn't
protect her from hardships at a young age however her mother Anna Rebecca Hall nicknamed Eleanor
granny when she was still quite young because Eleanor grew up with such a serious nature Anna
was also embarrassed by Eleanor's plain appearance as the family were socialites and expected to be
people the less fortunate could look up to in every way physical attractiveness was expected
Eleanor's mother died of diphtheria a day apart from each other in December of 1892 when Eleanor
was only eight years old her brother Elia Jr died of the same condition in May of the following year
her father died in August of the next year having become an alcoholic and confined to his Sanitarium
he jumped from one of the building's Windows during a fit of delirium brought on by alcohol
withdrawal though he survived the fall he had a seizure later as a result of his injuries
and died following that incident making his death attributable to the fall at 10 years old
Eleanor along with her younger brother Hall was an orphan because of these early experiences Eleanor
suffered from depression throughout the rest of her life and Hall later became an alcoholic
before he died Eleanor's father asked her to act as a mother to haul which she did
she accompanied him as a chaperone when he enrolled in Groton School in 1907 wrote to
him almost daily and rejoiced when he graduated with a master's degree in engineering from Harvard
she did however Express regret that Hall did not have a better childhood after losing her parents
Eleanor spent the rest of her childhood being raised by her mother's mother Mary Livingston
Ludlow she was tutored privately at home until she was 15 when her aunt Anna Roosevelt a sister of
Theodore's suggested she enroll at the allenswood Academy just outside of London UK in the town of
Wimbledon she arrived there shy and unsure of herself having been starved for affection and
criticized for her appearance as a child however the headmistress took a special interest in her
and young Eleanor blossomed becoming fluent in French and very social when Eleanor's first
cousin Karine Douglas Robinson came to the school with her first semester overlapping Eleanor's last
she declared that Eleanor was everything at the school well known and beloved by everyone there
Eleanor had found her confidence when she was 17 she was recalled to New York City by her
grandmother to make her social debut she was given a public coming out party at the Waldorf
Astoria in New York City which she later said was miserable for her because she had been so
long abroad she had lost touch with her American friends and didn't know anyone at her own party
the summer after her coming out party she encountered her fifth cousin one time removed
Franklin Delano Roosevelt on a train in New York City they immediately felt something for
each other and began corresponding in secret they became engaged the next year in 1903.
Franklin's mother Sarah and Delano was against the pairing and made Franklin promise to wait a
year to announce the engagement she even took him on a Caribbean cruise hoping a separation
from Eleanor would squash any romantic feelings he had for her it didn't work and Franklin wrote
his mother saying he knew he had disappointed her but he knew what he felt for Eleanor had
felt it for some time and did not imagine he would be persuaded to feel differently
their wedding was arranged to accommodate Theodore Roosevelt's schedule as U.S president because he
had agreed to give Eleanor away her being his late brother's daughter when he was scheduled
to be in New York City anyway she and Franklin got married on March 17 1905. Theodore's Presence at
the wedding was Front Page News across the country Franklin and Eleanor took a short honeymoon at
Franklin's childhood home at Hyde Park New York then got an apartment together in New York City
that summer they took a longer honeymoon in the form of a three-month tour of Europe Eleanor had a
contentious relationship with her mother-in-law from the beginning in fact Sarah was the very
definition of mother-in-law from hell for Eleanor she and Franklin had two residences both obtained
for them by Sarah and in both of which Sarah had rooms where she lived adjoining the married couple
Sarah ran both households with an Iron Fist and even tried to take over the raising of the six
children Eleanor and Franklin had together Sarah once told one of Eleanor's sons that she was more
mother to him than Eleanor because Eleanor had only borne him but Sarah had raised him
after about a decade of this Eleanor had a mini breakdown complaining to Franklin that she was
forced to live in homes that were not really hers and in a manner not of her own choosing
still little changed Franklin was the definition of mama's boy being his mother's only child but
not the only child of his late father and he let his mother have her way Eleanor confessed
to her only daughter that she disliked sex and raising children did not come naturally to her
she viewed both as a duty to be born in marriage Franklin knew this and carried on an affair
with his secretary when Eleanor discovered love letters between them she also discovered Franklin
was considering leaving her for his secretary however Sarah stepped in for Eleanor for a change
threatening to disinherit Franklin if he divorced his wife Eleanor and Franklin stayed together but
their relationship became more of a political partnership at that point and Eleanor threw
herself into public work such as Charity and Civic groups when Franklin became ill with polio which
paralyzed his legs it was Eleanor's care that saved his life according to his doctors it was
also Eleanor who encouraged him to keep up with his political career when Sarah was encouraging
him to retire and become a country gentleman things finally came to a head between Sarah and
Eleanor and Eleanor was permitted to have her own Residence at Hyde Park a cottage where she could
stay and have friends over and live her life as she chose without Sarah's influence or orders
by the time Franklin became president Eleanor was already highly active in charity and social
causes and was depressed at the idea of becoming first lady a role that had previously been defined
by Domesticity and femininity Eleanor set out to redefine the role and become the first first lady
to speak at a national political convention to make regular media appearances to have her own
radio show and to write her own Weekly Magazine column all while being first lady when Franklin
died shortly after his record-breaking fourth election to the White House Eleanor was not with
him but her daughter and Franklin's mistress were this was upsetting to Eleanor on several
levels she had wanted to accompany him on the trip to Georgia where he died but he took their
daughter instead and her daughter knew about his ongoing affair with his secretary who was the
same one Eleanor had found the love letters to decades before her daughter's Revelation
that almost everyone around Franklin knew about the affair for decades and kept it from Eleanor
caused her and her daughter to be estranged for a while though they eventually reconciled
Eleanor returned to Hyde Park and readied it to be handed over to the federal government as a museum
as Franklin wished after she purchased and rented several different residences in New York City
she continued to be active politically as an appointee to the general assembly of the United
Nations by President Harry Truman and in other Civic causes after being hit by a car in New
York City in 1960 she was diagnosed with aplastic anemia and then developed tuberculosis in 1962
after being given steroids for her injuries from the accident she died in New York City
on November 7 1962 10-2 by her daughter she was buried at Hyde park next to Franklin President
John F Kennedy ordered all U.S flags around the world to be lower to half staff in her honor
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