Eleanor Roosevelt Volume II:
1933-1938
By Blanche Wiesen Cook
Viking, $34.95
ISBN 0670844985

Buy or borrow this book! Support your local independent bookseller Find it in a WorldCat library Compare prices at major online bookstores

Franklin Delano Roosevelt rarely mentioned his wife's political influence or gave her credit for a job well done. But, according to historian Blanche Wiesen Cook, "little of significance was achieved without her input, and her vision shaped the best of his presidency." The first of Cook's projected three-volume biography, Eleanor Roosevelt: Volume I, 1884-1933, was published in 1992 to great acclaim. We can expect the same for the eagerly awaited second volume, Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume II: 1933-1938.

FDR was a politician; Eleanor was an agitator and advocate, and was also a keen observer who served as her husband's eyes and ears, often going places where he could not go. Cook points out that the Roosevelts were not hurt financially by the Depression, yet Eleanor's "sole concern as First Lady was to improve conditions for those who suffered."

With her husband in the White House, Eleanor helped to place those concerns at the forefront of public policy priorities. One example of her early leadership came in 1924 when she chaired the first presidential women's platform committee, which presented a progressive women's agenda to the Democratic Party.

Eleanor Roosevelt's achievements were even more remarkable when we consider the complex nature of her relationship with FDR. FDR admired Eleanor's "principles, honesty, loyalty." She admired his "contagious courage, his mind, the range and intensity of his interests," and his desire "to make life happier for people." But they sometimes disagreed on issues, and usually he did not attempt to keep her from sharing her views with the public.

Of all the controversial issues discussed, the most disturbing is the failure of both Roosevelts to publicly address the increasing violence against Germany's Jews. Cook acknowledges that as early as the summer of 1933 both had knowledge of what was happening. "While FDR encouraged ER to speak out on certain domestic issues and did not prevent her from addressing others, a firm policy of public silence was imposed on her concerning most international issues. On this issue, her response, however, is unique -- her silence extends even to her private correspondence."

Certainly ER had close Jewish friends, and she did meet with Jewish groups. Every word she said was held up for scrutiny and criticism. "But by 1935 she spoke out against anti-Semitism and race hatred wherever she found it in the United States." Cook notes: "As one searches the record for a hint of activity, a glimmer of concern, regarding the situation in Germany, one finds instead her many and amazing acts of personal generosity toward individual Jews in need or in trouble within the United States. . . ."

This outstanding biography is an absorbing portrait of one of the major figures of the 20th century.