Eleanor Roosevelt
By: Rachel Fielkow and Jake Jennings
Introduction
Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt were both heroes to the United States during WWII. They helped and were there during WWII. Franklin Roosevelt had done talk shows over the radio called fireside chats. Fireside chats helped get the word around the United States on what was happening. It is like the news today. Eleanor Roosevelt had written letters to the U.S citizens and they had written to her. She was a help to the people. They both were. They are heroes due to circumstances. Franklin saw an opportunity to go and run for President and he took it. He and Eleanor knew that a lot of work would go into this job, but they wanted to help the United States. When the choice of entering WWII came about, Franklin Roosevelt had taken it as a chance to advance and help the United States. In this process, he knew that there would be some hesitation from the people. That is where the fireside chats and letters come in. They also had propaganda posters made.
Primary Source Explanations
Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt is about how a soldier is asking Mrs. Roosevelt to be his son’s godmother. This primary source document was found on the National Archives website: Digital Vault. Eleanor Roosevelt received many letters. This one was about a caring mother and father. The father/soldier was nervous to ask Mrs. Roosevelt. They wanted Mrs. Roosevelt to be the first born’s godmother because she was intelligent and they admired her. They wanted their first born to grow up into this world successfully.
The book on Mrs. Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt- A life of Discovery, is filled with different and interesting facts. The first page fascinated me. It said that she didn’t want to be the First Lady. She had a nice job teaching, writing and being her own political power. I thought that was interesting on how she went from not wanting to be the First Lady to helping millions of people. Another chapter was called “Cousin Franklin.” It talked about when they met up again at their grandmother’s house and later he proposed to her. Her grandmother made sure that she was truly in love and she said that she was.
One more primary source document was an actual script of one of FDR’s fireside chats. The fireside chat was on April 28, 1942. In the beginning, he was stating that 5 months had gone by since the attack on Pearl Harbor. That was bringing up some news. He mentions things that we have done since Pearl Harbor. In the end, he says a statement that I like. It is “They are the United States of America. That is why they fight. We too are the United States of America. That is why we must work and sacrifice. It is for them. It is for us. It is for victory.” It is a perfect ending to sum up the fireside chat. It is a good motto for the United States to live by during WWII and that we need to help the soldiers.
Works Cited
Devaney, John. Franklin Delano Roosevelt President. Canada: Walker Publishing Company, Inc. 1987.
FDR book Freedman, Russell. Eleanor Roosevelt A Life of Discovery. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1993.
“Franklin D. Roosevelt” Presidency UCSB np, 1999. Web. 3 March 2014
“Letter to Eleanor Roosevelt” Digital Vaults np, nd. Web. 3 March 2014
“Questions and Answers About Eleanor Roosevelt” GWU np, nd. Web. 3 March 2014