Eleanor Roosevelt Dbq

Eleanor Roosevelt would describe herself and her husband President Franklin Delano Roosevelt; “ I’m the agitator, he’s the politician.” Sometimes while traveling and observing the country and world, she would come home with an observation that he disagreed with and would not support politically. The Civil Rights legislation was one issue that stirred contention between Eleanor and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Still, Eleanor Roosevelt would go down in history as first lady that influenced the passage of the Civil Rights legislation years later (Freedman 115-116). Although many times this powerful political couple would disagree, Eleanor’s views were respected by her husband and a large majority of the country. Franklin Delano Roosevelt

One of Eleanor’s arguments was the National Youth Administration. This plan would provide grants to help young people stay in high school, college, or vocational. Many critics opposed this part of the New Deal because it includes blacks and whites, while segregation was still in place (Freedman 108-109).

In the twelve years Eleanor Roosevelt spent as First Lady of the United States, she witnessed many hardships on the American people. The Great Depression, a time when American banks went bankrupt and American people lost everything, had already began when they took office. As this takes place, she cultivates a sympathetic ear to minorities and poverty stricken citizens. Then as World War II began she would see a time of cruelty of minorities in Poland. Eleanor Roosevelt was not a lady who sat back and watched when action could be taken to right a wrong (Freedman

Although his advisers were against civil rights, the President was not. He sympathized with Eleanor’s cause, yet he could not fully support it. He wanted to keep his Southern segregationist supporters but he liked the support he received from the black leaders also. He also knew his wife well enough to know there would be no stopping her. She could portray a message no other political figure had ever done, that the federal government cared about racial justice. She thought that democracy hinged on this being defeated. “We have poverty which enslaves and racial prejudice which does the same,” she said (Freedman 110). From the time, Eleanor Roosevelt began living in the White House, till her death she was very vocal on the racial divide in America. She became friends and allies with many black leaders, such as Dr. Martin Luther King. After the death of her husband, she became more vocal, more involved with the civil rights movement. She wanted the American people to realize democracy could only be achieved if all men are free. On a radio broadcast in 1945, she told listeners, “democracy will grow or fade as we face this problem (Eleanor