Bedtime Biography: The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt summary

Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York in 1884, when the clatter of horses’ hooves and beautiful carriages filled the streets, and gas lamps, rather than electricity, lit people’s homes. She was born into a life of extraordinary privilege. The Roosevelts were a wealthy and influential family who knew all the right people. Her parents, Anna and Elliott, weren’t just part of New York’s high society, they were part of the highest society. By the time she was 16 years old, Eleanor’s uncle, Theodore Roosevelt, had been elected president of the United States.

The young Eleanor may have belonged to America’s elite, but she often felt like an outsider. She was a quiet and solemn child, and her mother’s embarrassing nickname for her was ‘Granny’ because she said she was so old-fashioned and sensible. All the women in Eleanor’s family were blessed with good looks, but she was the ugly duckling; tall and awkward, she was painfully aware that her mother was disappointed that she wasn’t conventionally beautiful. But what Eleanor lacked in perceived looks, she made up for with her intense intellectual curiosity. When she was told she wasn’t allowed to read in bed, the determined Eleanor hid books underneath her mattress and awoke at 5:00 a.m. every day to read them.

Eleanor’s ideas about her role in life began to change in 1914 when the dark shadow of the First World War fell across the world. Franklin had been appointed as assistant secretary of the navy, and the family went to live in Washington, DC. The city was a hive of activity as people from every walk of life valiantly contributed to the war effort. Eleanor quickly realized that it was her duty to get involved.

Although she’d been raised in incredible privilege, surrounded by maids and servants, she now began to work in the local Red Cross canteen, doing hard manual work from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. the following night. She also visited psychiatric hospitals and met injured soldiers. As her confidence in her own abilities grew, she started raising money to improve conditions in America’s psychiatric facilities. By the time the war ended, Eleanor had proved to herself that she could organize and manage effectively outside of the home. Even more important, she’d seen the opportunities for someone in her position to create positive change, and she’d felt the joy of doing something good for ordinary people.

As Eleanor followed her own interests, Franklin followed his, and in 1928 he was elected governor of New York. Like his wife, Franklin genuinely wanted to improve the lives of ordinary people, especially the most vulnerable. To this end, he made it his mission to carry out inspections of New York’s state institutions, such as children’s hospitals and state prisons. Because he wasn’t able to walk around these places himself, Eleanor went in for him and made detailed reports on food, overcrowding, and medical care. On her visits, she looked into the kitchen’s cooking pots to see if what was on the menu was actually being served, and carefully observed the relationships between the people in the institutions and the staff who ran them.

But even as governor of New York, Franklin still felt he had more to give. In 1932, he was elected president of the United States, the highest office in the land. Although Eleanor had encouraged her husband to run for the presidency, privately, she was troubled when he won. She feared that, as his presidency began, her own personal life would end. But once in the White House, she decided to make the best of it, and it wasn’t long before she was challenging people’s ideas about how a first lady should behave.

In December 1945, President Truman asked Eleanor to serve as a member of the newly-formed United Nations. Eleanor would be part of the American delegation for the organization’s first meeting in London. Eleanor’s initial response was that it would be impossible for her to accept the role. After all, she’d had no experience with anything like this before. On the other hand, though, she did think the United Nations was the only way the world could achieve lasting peace, and its existence had meant a great deal to Franklin. She decided to take on the role.

Of course, nothing that’s worth doing is easy, and her work with the UN brought many challenges. During that first meeting in January 1946, Eleanor was the only woman in the American delegation, and she often got the feeling that her presence wasn’t welcome. She knew if she failed, her failure would reflect badly on all women, and it might be years before another woman was asked to serve.

You’ve reached the end of this Bedtime Biography. Thank you for listening. Why not pause listening now so you can stay in a relaxed state? And if you’re off to bed now, I wish you a good night’s sleep.