“They seemed like a team. And I think it is fair to say that Roosevelt was the consummate politician and that Eleanor was the socially conscious activist. It gave them a nice combination of yang and yin, which they took advantage of. And I think it worked very well for them politically.” ThinkingWellsNiceTeamPoliticianConsciousAdvantageFairsCombinationActivistEleanorYang Author:William A. Rusher
“I think she [Eleanor Roosevelt] was a shrewd politician, and very good in public relations, although she had the usual media help in this. As a Republican and a conservative, I can say ruefully that the Democrats and the liberals tend to get it; that when she said something, it was put in a nice way and highlighted properly by the appropriate media, so that it sounded good.” ThinkingWaySaidI CanHelpingNiceMediaPoliticianRepublicanRelationDemocratVery GoodConservativeAppropriateUsualPublic RelationsEleanor Author:William A. Rusher
“I think that it is true that Eleanor Roosevelt, by being so active on that front, contributed to that impression very substantially. And it's to her credit that she was interested in this, let me say. But once again, I'm not sure the extent to which Roosevelt - I guess he did use her really, particularly on the civil rights front. No question about it, because she was well identified out there, and brought a good many blacks into the Administration, into the White House, into his presence and so on.” ThinkingWellsUseHouseWhiteRightsFrontsLet MeCreditActiveImpressionCivil RightsAdministrationNot SureGood ManWhite HouseEleanor 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
“That was a general impression that one got, that she [Eleanor Roosevelt] was always flitting around the country and descending on some place in the Ozarks that she decided was disadvantaged, and announcing that something had to be done. And she had a very active social conscience, which I think in general is to her credit, although it tended, as many people thought, to just be overdone to the point where it gave rise to this crack that she regarded the whole world as one vast slum project” PeopleThinkingWorldCountryDoneWholeSocialProjectsConscienceDecidedCreditActiveImpressionWhole WorldCracksSlumsEleanorDescendingAnnouncingDisadvantagedOzarks 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
“She was obviously useful at the UN because she had a public persona before she ever got there. She was well known. She was a spokeswoman for many important things. When she got there, what she said was paid attention to, undoubtedly much more than would have been if just Joe Blow had been made our representative to the United Nations. In that sense, I think it was useful to have her there.” IfsThinkingWellsHas BeensMadeSaidImportantNationsUnitedAttentionKnownPaidImportant ThingsBlowRepresentativesWell KnownUnited NationsPersona Author:William A. Rusher
“I don't think she ever had a single initiative at the United Nations that was not previously [vetted] by the people at the State Department, approved of, and authorized. She did manage to get around the world an awful lot, and find other parts of her vast slum project that needed repair. But I don't think that that was the main point. The main point was that she, after all, connoted Franklin Roosevelt, who by then was long dead, and had a certain prestige and power on that account.” PeopleThinkingWorldLongStatesCertainNationsUnitedNeededProjectsAccountsManageAwfulAround The WorldDepartmentInitiativeUnited NationsFranklinApprovedPrestigeSlums Author:William A. Rusher
“I think the important thing to remember about the Japanese internment is the situation. We had been attacked. Maybe Roosevelt expected it - I rather think he did. I don't think he expected an attack on Pearl Harbor. I think he expected an attack on Southeast Asia. But we were attacked at Pearl Harbor” ThinkingImportantRememberSituationImportant ThingsExpectedPearlsAsiaHarborsSoutheast AsiaInternmentPearl Harbor Attack Author:William A. Rusher
“And Eleanor's husband was the man who did the interning. And I think they - Governor Warren, who was later to become such an impassioned Chief Justice on all sorts of human rights issues, was very big in the internment process. And I think that we simply sometimes tend not to understand or remember how people felt.” PeopleThinkingMenHumansSometimesBigsRememberFeltProcessJusticeIssuesRightsHe ManHusbandHuman RightsChiefsGovernorsEleanorImpassionedChief JusticeInternment Author:William A. Rusher
“One of the most influential women of the 20th century? Well, that may be overdoing it. When one thinks of really influential women, my mind turns to Margaret Thatcher, Golda Meir, ... some of the true political leaders in their own right.” ThinkingMindWellsMayPoliticalTurnsLeaderCentury20th CenturyInfluentialPolitical LeadersOverdoing It Author:William A. Rusher
