Eleanor Roosevelt: An Appreciation

Our historic memory being what it is, and growing shorter with each succeeding generation, it is easy to forget that there was a woman political trailblazer 60 years before Hillary Rodham Clinton.

With Clinton having a good shot at being the Democratic presidential nominee and first woman president, it seems appropriate to pause and pay homage to Eleanor Roosevelt.

Roosevelt, who died 45 years ago today, was the first First Lady in the modern mold, which is to say not merely an obedient wife and smiling hostess at White House functions, but a hands-on presidential helpmate and a force in her own right. In fact, she was one of the most powerful influences in civil and women’s rights during the four decades that straddled the middle of the last century, something that no First Lady – including Mrs. Clinton – can claim.

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