Chapter 3: The "Intensive Education" of Eleanor

As Eleanor attempted to settle into her prototypical role as a housewife and mother, Franklin had bold aspirations for his life direction.  He graduated from Harvard and briefly attended Columbia Law School, then went on to pass the New York bar and subsequently hired by a law firm in New York City; however his passion for serving the public enveloped him.  Franklin made the easy decision to pursue an enduring political career, which began close to home with a nomination for a seat in the New York state senate, which he won in a surprising landslide in 1910. 

            Franklin’s election threw Eleanor into a tailspin, for she admits in her memoir: “For the first time I was going to live on my own: neither my mother-in-law… was going to be within call.” (Roosevelt, 65) Here it finally is, the opportunity she has anticipated: independence, the ability to live for herself and her family!  Simultaneously she was also aware that being the spouse of a public servant would last the remainder of her life: “…duty was perhaps the motivating force of my life… I looked at everything from the point of view of what I ought to do, rarely from the standpoint of what I wanted to do… So I took an interest in politics.” (Roosevelt, 66) Since she came from a well-to-do family, she had always prepared herself for a life in which she would have to be present and potentially active in her spouse’s life, yet something about Eleanor is still different from most women in her similar status…

            While Eleanor adjusted to her new role decently well, her continued struggle with self-confidence and slight social anxiety continued to present itself, specifically with her identifying her inability to connect with young people.  In her memoir, she disclosed that she allowed Franklin to spend time with that demographic “…so long as I was allowed to stay at home.” (Roosevelt, 68) Even as the struggle endured, she found herself playing host to wives of her husband’s colleagues in the state senate, as well as the wives of newspaper writers.  In April 1913, Franklin was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy by President Woodrow Wilson.  While Eleanor seemed to find her footing in Albany, she now had to adjust to life in Washington.  She sought counsel from her Auntie Bye, who told her “…as the wife of the assistant secretary of the navy my duty was first, last and all the time to the Navy itself.” (Roosevelt, 72) This seems like an unfair expectation, as women were not only not allowed to serve in any branch of the military but would likely never learn enough military history to gain a full understanding of the Navy’s function; however having experience as a political wife in Albany likely prepared her for her “promotion”.

            Being the wife of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy involved a significant number of trips to battleships across the globe.  Eleanor disclosed in her memoir that those trips brought on significant anxiety regarding the well-being of her children, specifically related to potential illnesses.  This hypervigilance is justified since there was not medication available to treat various illnesses that are treatable today, especially with the death of the first Franklin Jr.  When the United States entered World War I on April 6, 1917, Eleanor’s duties once again shifted, this time contributing to the war effort.  She joined and worked in the Red Cross canteen in Washington DC, assisted in organizing the Navy Red Cross and distributed wool through the Navy League.   She even paid a visit to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, the only hospital in existence at that time that catered to the mentally ill.  Eleanor’s altruistic involvement in giving back to the community appeared seamless, and after the end of the war she would never look back…

In the post-WWI world, Eleanor began engaging in grass-roots campaigns for various causes.  In 1920, she was persuaded to join the board for the League of Women Voters (it was nice to read in her memoir that Franklin was also a supporter of this cause!); about a year later she became an associate member of the Women’s Trade Union League.  Eleanor showcased her emotional intelligence in these pursuits as evidenced by partaking in causes relevant to her only if she felt competent enough to handle the responsibility.

In 1920, Franklin was unanimously nominated as the Vice-Presidential running mate of the Democratic presidential nominee James M. Cox, which in turn resulted in him resigning from his Cabinet post.  While Cox would ultimately lose the election to Warren G. Harding, Eleanor continued to absorb the environment and gain wisdom for her role; she even referred to these years in her memoir as the “intensive education of Eleanor Roosevelt.” (Roosevelt, 113) In the aftermath of the election loss, the following summer would test Eleanor like never before: Franklin was diagnosed with infantile paralysis (now known as polio).  Eleanor struggled to adjust to motherhood, but now having to provide care for a husband who would never walk again put extra strain on a woman continuing to adjust to being a public servant’s wife.  She would also have to take on parenting responsibilities she never thought necessary; for example, she realized the summer after Franklin’s diagnosis that she would have to teach her two youngest sons to partake in physical activities (i.e. swimming, bike riding).

In 1927, Eleanor co-invested in the Todhunter School, a private girl’s school covering kindergarten through high school; after purchasing the school with Marion Dickerman and Nancy Cook she began teaching U.S. History, American literature, and English literature to “the older girls”.  She will continue teaching even as Franklin’s political career would continue to ascend.

In 1928, in the midst of his continued rehabilitation of polio, Franklin was convinced by New York governor Al Smith to run for the governorship of New York.  He was subsequently elected by a slim margin, and again Eleanor must adjust to an even brighter spotlight as the First Lady of New York.  She alluded that her time as New York’s first lady was instrumental in what was coming for herself as well as Franklin, however Franklin’s desire to attain the highest office in the land came sooner than she or anyone intimate with him expected…