>.Book Club selection, Nov
> State Senator....ass't Secretary of the Navy.......polio....Gov. of NY....
>. Eleanor......smart.....insecure......60 visits a week to make contacts...Earl Miller/bodyguard...Val-Kill cottage with Nan and Marion..love affair with Lorena Hickok...rel w/ Joe Lash
>Franklin......Mama's boy, ambitious, flirtatious, liberal......Lucy Mercer......Missy LeHand...egocentric!
> Sara Roosevelt....FDR's mother...controlled finances right through the presidency until her death
>. Louis Howe.......Franklin's alter-ego
>. Six births, five survived
>. Felt Rowley worked hard to be fair, maybe too hard.....maybe not
> Couldn't help but compare Franklin's fight with polio to my father's...Franklin could afford to go to all the specialists, have servants to take care f his every need.....my father was unemployed, broke, and if a wonderful doctor hadn't offered to enter him in an experimental rehab program being set up for military vets with limb loss, I do not know how things would have turned out
> Interesting comment from another biography of FDR....One "runs" for office, it is a political "race", you can be a "running mate", etc......no wonder they felt FDR had to avoid being seen while being carried, or being photographed in a wheechair
> the ego of men in politics is mythic.....stogies and women
> Their love of communal life was appealing..made me think of Jasmine!
> Famous Eleanor quotes: http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Eleanor_Roosevelt/
> Parallels with Obama administration: Inheriting economic disaster, Eleanor's effort to remembr returning veterans and their families
> LibraryThing Review: I just devoured this book. I am not an historian, so I cannot debate the veracity of the facts. However, assuming this story sprung from research with integrity, it was a fascinating read. Indeed, a remarkable relationship existd between Franklin & Eleanor. It was based on acceptance of one another which stemmed from them being accepting of people in general. Superficial traits and public opinion had little to do with their loyalties, although they did require secrecy to live as their true selves. I like the idea that they both retained their humanity, the good, the bad, and the ugly, despite their public lives. Who are we to judge? As seems to be true for many memorable leaders, it seemes to me that the children probably suffered more than either parent. In this case, both parents were great leaders, so I would be interested to learn more about the impact their life choices had on their five children. Most interesting to me: their love of communal living combined with their fierce independence and their personal insecurities.
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