From 1933 – 1945, Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States ( title of the hostess of the White House). She strongly backed the New Deal (a series of economic programs implemented in the United States from 1933 – 1936) policies of her spouse, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and had become an advocate of civil rights. In 1945, her husband died, but Roosevelt continued to be an international politician, speaker, author and activist for the New Deal coalition.
Eleanor Roosevelt had worked to enhance the status of working women, though she was opposing the Equal Rights Amendment as she believed that it would unfavorably affect women.
Roosevelt was born on October 11, 1884, in New York city, the daughter of Elliott Roosevelt (younger brother of Theodore Roosevelt) and the beautiful Anna Hall Roosevelt. In 1892, Eleanor's mother passed away and so did her father after 2 years of that and hence she went to live with Grandmother Hall. She was a shy, awkward child starving for love and recognition. She attended a distinguished school in England and over the years grew into a woman with great sensitivity to the underprivileged of all nations, races and creeds. Roosevelt's continuous work to enhance the underprivileged has made her one of the most loved and honored woman of her generation; maybe of all generations.
In 1940s, Eleanor was one of the co-founders of the Freedom House and also helped in the formation of the United Nations. In 1943, she founded the UN Association of the United States in order to advance support for the formation of the UN. From 1945–1952, Roosevelt was a representative to the UN General Assembly. When she was at the United Nations, she chaired the commission that sanctioned the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In tribute to her human rights accomplishments, President Truman called her the "First Lady of the World". Though she had won worldwide honor and admiration in her role as First Lady, her extraordinary work on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights had become her greatest legacy. Undoubtedly, she was the most influential member of the UN’s Commission on Human Rights. Like most other members of the UN Commission, Eleanor was neither an expert nor a scholar on international law. Her spirit and devotion for her work at the United Nations was rooted in her firm faith in human worth and dignity as well as humanitarian convictions. During 1999, Roosevelt was ranked in the top ten of Gallup's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century.
Roosevelt's compassion and intelligence were her greatest assets and thereby proved to be vital in the formation of Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As a civic and humanitarian leader (among other roles), her activities for the welfare of youth, women, the poor and African-Americans has indeed made her a role model of all generations.
