Eleanor Roosevelt - First Lady of The United States (1933–1945)

First Lady of The United States (1933–1945)

Following FDR's inauguration on March 4, 1933, Eleanor became First Lady of the United States. Having known all of the twentieth century's previous First Ladies, she was seriously depressed at having to assume the role, which had traditionally been restricted to domesticity and hostessing. Her immediate predecessor, Lou Henry Hoover, had ended her feminist activism on becoming First Lady, stating her intention to be only a "backdrop for Bertie". Roosevelt's distress at these precedents was severe enough that Hickok subtitled her biography of Roosevelt "Relcutant First Lady".

With support from Howe and Hickok, Roosevelt set out to redefine the position. In the process she became, according to her biographer Cook, "the most controversial First Lady in United States history". With her husband's strong support, despite criticism of them both, she continued with the active business and speaking agenda she had begun before becoming First Lady, in an era when few women had careers. She was the first First Lady to hold press conferences and in 1940 became the first to speak at a national party convention. She also wrote a widely syndicated newspaper column, "My Day", another first. In the first year of FDR's tenure, determined to match his presidential salary, Roosevelt earned $75,000 from her lectures and writing, most of which she gave to charity.

Roosevelt maintained a heavy travel schedule over her twelve years in the White House, frequently making personal appearances at labor meetings to assure Depression-era workers that the White House was mindful of their plight. In one widely circulated cartoon of the time from The New Yorker magazine (June 3, 1933), an astonished coal miner, peering down a dark tunnel, says to a co-worker "For gosh sakes, here comes Mrs. Roosevelt!"

In early 1933, the "Bonus Army", a protest group of World War I veterans, marched on Washington for the second time in two years, calling for their veteran bonus certificates to be awarded early. The previous year, President Herbert Hoover had ordered them dispersed, resulting in the veterans being charged by US Army cavalry charge and bombarded with tear gas. This time, Eleanor Roosevelt visited the veterans at their muddy campsite, listening to their concerns and singing army songs with them. The meeting defused the tension between the veterans and the administration, and one of the marchers later commented, "Hoover sent the Army. Roosevelt sent his wife."

One social highlight of the Roosevelt presidency was the June 1939 visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the first British monarchs to set foot on U.S. soil. The Roosevelts attracted some media attention for including hot dogs on the menu of a picnic at Hyde Park, which George enjoyed enough to ask for seconds.