Sublime

She knew from past experience that leaders could come from all backgrounds—even those who lacked financial resources and formal education or had a marginalized social status. As she traveled across the nation, she recognized that the true test of leadership was the ability to empower others to act. This

He argued that leadership, even his own, was imperfect. A wise public, Roosevelt believed, would give a well-meaning, forward-leaning president the benefit of the doubt.

FDR’s effort to recover from polio took him to Warm Springs, Georgia. Year after year at Warm Springs he was exposed to the brutal reality of rural poverty. All around him he saw hardworking people who were “ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.” Roosevelt’s patrician instincts rebelled, and he began to formulate the economic ideas that came to

Running the White House was exclusively Eleanor’s domain, part of the balance of power she and FDR had achieved. And given her extensive public commitments, she was determined to have someone assist her who was loyal and trustworthy. Social awareness, an ability to cook, even a knowledge of food and wine were secondary. The assistant she chose was

“Surely, in the light of history,” Mrs. Roosevelt remarked, “it is more intelligent to hope rather than to fear, to try rather than not to try.”

Eleanor and Franklin reached an implicit understanding: she would be the governor’s wife, preside over the executive mansion, and pursue her own agenda at the same time.