FREE ESSAY ON ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

Possibly one of the most astute and admired women of the United States history is Eleanor
Roosevelt. Her biography, Eleanor Roosevelt: A Personal and Public Life., is and
excellent voyage into the life of a public servant, a loving wife, and a legacy. Before
reading this book, I knew little of Eleanor's accomplishments, her lifestyle, or the joy
she received from helping those in need. The book is an in-depth look into the life of
one of America's most influential women and definitely an honor to Mrs. Eleanor
Roosevelt.
Eleanor's life didn't begin the way one would expect it to have, being someone of her
stature. She was born on October 11, 1884 in New York City, the daughter of Elliot
Roosevelt and Mrs. Anna Hall Roosevelt. Her father was an alcoholic throughout her
adolescent years and was sent away to a mental asylum, to recess from alcohol and return
to a better life. During the time Elliot was away, Anna became sick and eventually died
of Diphtheria. A few years later Elliot, unable to separate from his ways, died due to
alcoholism. After her parents' deaths, Eleanor was raised by her Grandmother and sent off
to Allenswood School in England. A few years later Eleanor leaves Allenswood and begins
her life in the public's eye. In 1903 Eleanor becomes engaged to Franklin Roosevelt, who
was her fifth cousin once removed. Two years later Eleanor and Franklin are united
together. Four years into their marriage, having already given birth to two children,
Eleanor's third child dies soon after birth due to influenza. This marks a turning point
in Eleanor's life which is one of the main reasons she is such a respected woman today,
her life of helping others that were less fortunate than herself and her husband. The
family continued on with their lives and Eleanor gave birth to her fourth, fifth, and
sixth child. Some seventeen years later her husband Franklin, who was not the greatest
husband around, was elected president of the United States in 1932. After a lifetime of 
great accomplishments Eleanor's dies at the age of seventy-two from tuberculosis.
This book I feel does a great deal of justice to Eleanor Roosevelt's life in so many ways
that it is hard to overview it. The biography begins by telling us a great deal about
Eleanor's childhood life which by letting us know about the death of her parents and her
father's alcoholism, gives us a great deal of insight into her reasons for always being
so helpful to those less fortunate than she was. I believe that her being a child with no
true parents to love and take care of her, left her with a permanent longing for
affection and an intense ambition to make others feel loved and cared for. Since Eleanor
was organized in the Women's Trade Union League I was surprised to hear of her lack of
knowledge in political matters even years after her marriage to Franklin. Eleanor soon
learned the ways of politics, and what the right to vote meant to a group with similar
interest, and helped lead the way to one of the greatest accomplishments of the United
States, giving women the right to vote.
After reading this biography I feel that what the world needs is more people of the great
character and stature that Eleanor Roosevelt was. Before reading, I felt that the
Roosevelt name was left behind with a sense of honor due to Franklin Roosevelt, but I now
know that Eleanor was, in my opinion, just as significant in our countries past and
present as was her husband. Eleanor said it best in her quote, "The thing which counts is
the striving of the human soul to achieve spiritually the best that it is capable of and
to care unselfishly not only for personal good, but for the good of all those who toil
with them upon the earth." I fell that this book is a great guide for the youth of today,
and should be studied by students and taken to heart it's words of wisdom and lessons of
life. 
The biography Eleanor Roosevelt: A Personal and Public Life was an excellent account of
events of Eleanor Roosevelt's amazing and historic life. After reading this biography I
have a greater knowledge of Eleanor's life from her date of birth, all the way up until
her death. I think that this was an easy book to read and very beneficial to anyone who
would read it, therefore I think that it should be required as a book which should be
read during high school history. This book will give high school students a much better
understanding of Eleanor's life and also a good deal of information about her husband
Franklin Roosevelt, that the students are otherwise unaware of, and Eleanor's life is
definitely one which should be admired and followed by our youth of today.