The First Lady: Eleanor Roosevelt's First Ladies

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It is commonly said that behind every great man there is a woman. Sometimes it’s followed by a reference to the woman rolling her eyes or another pointless anecdote, but what is most disappointing is that the woman must stand behind the man. That the woman must work for the man’s success and that she must work to make the man shine. To me, this quote has always brought to mind the role of the First Lady. Or at least, how the role of the First Lady was taught to me in school. The First Lady: a woman who is not really seen as a political figure, but moreover a very talented dinner party host that takes not-so-controversial actions and supports the man in charge. Most of the United States’ First Ladies fit this description at first glance, especially…show more content…
Eleanor came from a damaged childhood and faced several hardships during her life. Mostly she struggled with her plain appearance, which she was criticized for her entire life. Instead of allowing her self-esteem to crumble, Eleanor battled through her depression and created her own positivity. She did not settle for ugly, she instead made herself what is truly important in humanity: trustworthy, loyal, honest, and giving. The assumption that Eleanor was as plain as her appearance followed her into the White House, and most of the American people expected her to be a bland First Lady. But Ms. Roosevelt was exactly the…show more content…
Most people who are familiar with her marriage to FDR consider it a sham based on his not-so-often-mentioned infidelity with Lucy Mercer. The White House website, which includes biographies of all the presidents and their wives, conveniently skips over the fact that FDR and Eleanor both had relationships outside the marriage. After Franklin’s first incident of infidelity, Eleanor offered him an option of divorce, but he decided against it. Eleanor and Franklin had been very close friends since childhood, and they worked well together. It seemed wrong to sacrifice the presidency simply because they were not in love. So the Roosevelt’s settled on an open marriage. Scandal is no surprise in a man’s world (especially in politics) but a woman fully embracing an idea that was so frowned upon during her time is real evidence of progress. But this progress is never acknowledged. Instead, People magazine recently published a few letters between Eleanor and one of her lovers calling her a cheater. Ms. Roosevelt’s longest relationship was with a woman and instead of understanding this as equality amongst men and women, an article was recently published on the internet called “Isles of Lesbos”. It is a responsibility of our public education system to demonstrate truth in facts, especially about political women in history. People are
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