“Well, at the time, we certainly regarded them [Elianor and Franklin Roosevelt] as partners. We did not know what has since come out about the difficulties of their marital life, or the problems that Franklin gave Eleanor and his mother gave Eleanor, in many respects. We didn't know much about that.” KnowsWellsProblemMotherDifficultyPartnersFranklinEleanor Author:William A. Rusher
“And he [Franklin Roosevelt] got the votes of every southern white voting state in the country and wouldn't have been elected president once, let alone four times, if he hadn't. Now, at the same time he acquired over the years a reputation for being sympathetic to blacks, and he got their votes, heaven knows.” IfsKnowsYearsHas BeensCountryStatesHeavenPresidentWhiteFourVoteReputationVotingSouthernSympatheticFranklin Author:William A. Rusher
“Well, I didn't read My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt very carefully. I was away during a lot of that, in the war and so on. She was not all that good a writer. She was a little bit on the banal side, and you know, what happened, and then this happened, and then that happened... But I will say this. She got very well paid for it.” KnowsWellsLittlesWarBitsSidesHappenedLittle BitPaidEleanor Author:William A. Rusher
“These were in the days before anybody thought to criticize Congressmen, let alone first ladies, for making money on speeches. So Eleanor raked in quite a bit of cash that she may have put, for all I know, to good uses, or maybe not. I just don't know. But I don't think she was any great literary breakthrough.” ThinkingKnowsFirstsMayUseBitsSpeechMaking MoneyCriticizeCashBreakthroughCongressmanFirst LadyEleanorGreat Literary Author:William A. Rusher
“One has to say that they [Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt] were pioneering to some extent. They didn't know that some of the housing projects that they were putting up for the poor were going to turn into crack dens and rapists' bowers and things of that sort, which they have since become. But you can't always foresee the future. I'm sure their intentions were the best.” KnowsTurnsPoorProjectsIntentionCracksHousingFranklinEleanorDensPioneering Author:William A. Rusher
“I think the fact that she [Eleanor Roosevelt] was a woman probably in those days would have been an additional criticism, although first ladies by definition in those days were women. There's always been a problem and still is, about the role the first lady should play, of course. Everybody's seen it in Jackie Kennedy and Nancy Reagan and, heaven knows, Hillary Clinton. So the problem has not been solved.” ThinkingKnowsShouldFirstsHas BeensStillsPlayFactsProblemCoursesHeavenRolesCriticismClintonDefinitionsFirst LadyJackieNancyEleanor Author:William A. Rusher
“Westbrook Pegler suggested that in the period, I think the late 40s, when the investigations of Communism were opening up during the Cold War, that she ought to be called and required to testify about what she knew. I remember he said, "Would the world vanish in a blast of flame if this old woman were subpoenaed and compelled to tell what she knows about the Communist Party's activities in the United States?"” IfsThinkingKnowsWorldSaidWarStatesRememberUnitedPartyUnited StatesColdOughtPeriodsActivityLateOpeningCommunismFlamesCommunistInvestigationCold WarCompelledBlastOld WomanOpening UpCommunist Party Author:William A. Rusher
“I think she [Eleanor Roosevelt] never was called because she probably didn't know an awful lot. The whole burden of the criticism of her on the subject of Communism is naiveté, not participation. And again, being a public figure and our representative at the UN, there was nothing Communist about her, certainly.” ThinkingKnowsWholeSubjectsFiguresCriticismBurdenAwfulCommunismCommunistRepresentativesParticipationEleanorPublic Figures Author:William A. Rusher
“You know, you can't always criticize without somebody being at the end of the stick. And she perhaps did not always grant credit to her opponents for their motives, any more than they granted credit to her for hers.” KnowsEndsSticksCreditGrantedOpponentsMotiveGrantsCriticize Author:William A. Rusher
“Most of her participation in the United Nations, which [??] history, as I say, I don't take too seriously, because I know how that UN operation works, and it is essentially a facade in which the work is done back in Washington and in the capitals involved, and the people up front are just going through the motions.” PeopleKnowsDoneNationsUnitedKnow HowFrontsInvolvedOperationsParticipationUnited NationsFacade Author:William A. Rusher
