Anna Eleanor Roosevelt's White House Legacy: The Public First Lady

Little connection has been made between Anna Eleanor Roosevelt's journalistic activities and her legacy to the first lady status. This article is an examination of the public Eleanor Roosevelt during the White House years, 1933-1945, within the context of other twentieth century first ladies. How did this unprecedented woman through her newsworthy activities and her journalistic endeavors influence the concept of first lady? Eleanor Roosevelu legacy has come to include not only following the traditional, gracious and dutiful wife role, but also an independent, "in her own right" status. Most of all, it has come to mean that no longer could the first lady have the option of being private.