“It's interesting to me that really one of the first things she [Eleanor Roosevelt]did as First Lady was to collect her father's letters and publish a book called The Letters of My Father, essentially, hunting big game, The Letters of Elliott Roosevelt. And it really was an act of redemption, really one of her first acts of redemption as she entered the White House. She was going to redeem her father's honor. And publishing his letters, reconnecting with her childhood really fortified her to go on into the difficult White House years.” YearsFirstsBookBigsFatherGamesHouseDifficultWhiteInterestingChildhoodGoes OnHonorLettersRedemptionWhite HouseHuntingPublishingPublishFirst LadyEleanorReconnecting Author:Blanche Wiesen Cook
“I think Eleanor Roosevelt's so popular at Allenswood because it's the first time she is, number one, free. But it's the first time somebody really recognizes her own leadership abilities and her own scholarly abilities.” ThinkingFirstsAbilityNumbersFirst TimeEleanorScholarly Author:Blanche Wiesen Cook
“And she [Eleanor Roosevelt]loves being a star. And she loves being a teacher and a leader and a mentor and a big friend. Also, she's tall. She's one of the tallest girls in the school. And she's an athlete. And she writes many years later, at the end of her life, she writes that the happiest day, the happiest single day of her life was the day that she made the first team at field hockey. And I have to say, as a biographer, that's the most important fact. I” WritingYearsFirstsMadeImportantEndsFactsBigsSchoolGirlStarsLove IsLeaderTeacherTeamFieldsAthleteTallHockeyMentorEleanorBeing A TeacherBiographersField Hockey Author:Blanche Wiesen Cook
“I mean, if you pause over what it means at the age of 76 that Eleanor Roosevelt wrote, the happiest single day of her life was the day she made the first team at field hockey. Field hockey is a team sport. Field hockey is a knockabout - I mean, picture Allenswood, the swamps of north London. It's a messy sport. So she really enjoyed playing this rough-and-tumble sport in the mud of Allenswood, a team sport. And she was very competitive. And she loved being competitive, and she loved to win. And that, I think, was all of the things that Allenswood enabled.” IfsThinkingFirstsMeanMadeAgeWinningSportsTeamFieldsLondonEnjoyedRoughHockeyPausesMudMessySwampsEleanorSports TeamField Hockey Author:Blanche Wiesen Cook
“Well, in Washington, this is a very hard time for Eleanor and Franklin. This is when Lucy Mercer first appears. And Lucy Mercer is Eleanor Roosevelt's own secretary. Very beautiful young woman, not unlike Eleanor Roosevelt: tall, blonde, thick haired. And FDR is having an affair with her, which Eleanor Roosevelt finds out when FDR returns from Europe in 1918 with the famous flu of 1918.” FirstsWellsHardBeautifulYoungReturnEuropeAffairHard TimesTallThickSecretaryYoung WomenFluBlondeFranklinVery BeautifulLucyEleanor Author:Blanche Wiesen Cook
“She really is a completely different First Lady. Eleanor Roosevelt was not going to suffer and withdraw in the White House. And I think he's a very different President. He does not want his wife to suffer and withdraw in the White House. And they really are partners. They're partners in a big house where there are two separate courts, and they both know they have two separate courts. But these are courts that are allied in purpose, united in vision.” ThinkingKnowsWantFirstsDoeTwoDifferentBigsPurposeSufferingHousePresidentWhiteUnitedVisionWifeCourtPartnersWhite HouseFirst LadyEleanorBig Houses Author:Blanche Wiesen Cook
“On international relations, Eleanor Roosevelt really takes a great shocking leadership position on the World Court. In fact, it amuses me. The very first entry in her FBI file begins in 1924, when Eleanor Roosevelt supports American's entrance into the World Court. And the World Court comes up again and again - '33, '35. In 1935, Eleanor Roosevelt goes on the air; she writes columns; she broadcast three, four times to say the US must join the World Court.” WorldWritingFirstsFactsThreeSupportFourAirPositionGoes OnRelationCourtInternationalCome UpAgain And AgainShockingFilesFbiColumnsInternational RelationsEntryEntrancesEleanor Author:Blanche Wiesen Cook
“So she [Eleanor Roosevelt] is an amazing First Lady. What other First Lady in U.S. history has ever written a book to criticize her husband's policies?” FirstsBookWrittenPolicyHusbandCriticizeFirst LadyEleanor Author:Blanche Wiesen Cook
