Eleanor Roosevelt

Early life and education: Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born into the prominent Roosevelt and Livingston families and faced early personal loss—her mother and father died when she was young—which influenced her empathy for the disadvantaged and interest in social work; she trained as a teacher and worked in settlement houses and with immigrant communities in New York City before marrying Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1905. Rise to public life and role as First Lady: As Franklin Roosevelt’s political career advanced, Eleanor became an increasingly public figure, active in the Democratic Party’s Women’s Division and visible in the media; as First Lady (1933–1945) she traveled widely to inspect New Deal relief programs, held press conferences for female reporters, and wrote a widely syndicated daily newspaper column, “My Day,” beginning in 1935 that kept her directly connected to the public. Wartime and later public service: During World War II she served as Assistant Director of Civilian Defense (1941–42), visited troops overseas (including being the first First Lady to visit an active war zone in the Pacific), and used her platform to advocate for veterans, workers, women, children, and racial minorities. United Nations and human-rights leadership: After FDR’s death President Harry S. Truman appointed her as a U.S. delegate to the United Nations, where she chaired the UN Commission on Human Rights and was a driving force behind the drafting and passage of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights—work for which she became widely identified as an international human-rights leader. Final years and legacy: Roosevelt remained active in public affairs into the 1950s and early 1960s—serving on commissions such as the President’s Commission on the Status of Women (appointed by JFK) and continuing public speaking, writing, and advocacy until her death in 1962; historians and institutions credit her with reshaping the First Lady’s role, advancing civil rights and women’s opportunities, and helping to establish global human-rights norms.