Eleanor and Franklin (178 page)

arranges question session with Franklin, 774

Arthurdale chastening experience, 521–24

Arthurdale Franklin's idea, 495

and Arthurdale integration question, 648

Arthurdale project her “baby,” 499

and Arthurdale's experimental school, 512, 514–15, 518, 519

ascetic, puritan nature of, 634

and atom-bomb development, 898–902

attempts to bring in private industry to Arthurdale, 502–3

attempts to clear up Communist domination issue, 774, 776

attempts to stave off Odell Waller's execution, 853–55

attitude of New Deal officials toward, 574

attitude toward Betsy Roosevelt, 640–41

attitude toward Communists, 895

attitude toward divorce, 619

attitude toward Nye Committee and neutrality bill, 711

avoids advocacy of League of Nations, 710

as “back door” to Franklin, 588

becomes desegregationist, 674

being butt of ridicule difficult for, 631

on being wife of public official, 779–80

belief in Youth Congress vindicated, her advice to, 701–2

as best-dressed woman, 531

at Big House with Franklin, 608

at Buckingham Palace, 839

cabinet officers seek her patronage, 577–78

calls women to action, own set of national priorities, 477

calls youth to militancy, 482

and campaign and elections, 799–806

Catholic criticism of, 721–22, 723–24

charges of Communism, pay-envelope campaign, 565

Child Labor Amendment attacked, 747

and child-refugee issue, 732–34

children in the spotlight, 620–21

and Citizenship Institute demonstration, 765–66, 768–73

and civil defense, 811–14

close to Hopkins, 589

combines social duties with varied, useful life, 780

Communists criticize project, 507

Communists make headway in Jere, 510

and community-corporations plan, 515

compassion for all living things, 572

concept of Utopia, 478

concerned about unemployment problem, 590

concerned for unemployed youth, 679–80

concerned over conditions that breed revolution, 744–46

concerned over third term as First Lady, 807–8

concerned with postwar planning, full-employment issue, 894

confident Youth Congress leadership not Communist, 761–62, 764

conflict with Ickes over, 505–6, 507–8, 512–13

consults Baruch about costs of project, 509–10

and contact with Negro troops, 847, 848

contrasting reports indicate government action, 510

and controversy surrounding self, 560–62

and convention, 903, 904

and convention, her role in, 789–95

correspondence with Carola von

Schaeffer-Bernstein, 712, 720, 731, 741, 742–43

and Costigan-Wagner anti-lynching bill, 651–56

country and Congress become hostile to project, 518

criticism and defeat of factory project, 501–2

DAR convention speech of, 527–28

deals with Congress, 578–81

and death of Danny Roosevelt, 616–17

defends Frances Perkins in Bridges affair, 584

defends Franklin's stand on Negro question, 855

defends government youth agencies, 701

defends Quakers, 713

defends sale of planes to France, 735–36

and defense and reform, conscription-and-tax-bills issue, 796–98

and demilitarization of, CCC, 700–701

and Detroit racial riot (1943), 856–57, 859

and Dies Committee hearing, 761–63, 764

and dinner with Churchill, 844

disappointed in Hopkins, 813

disapproval of loyalty oaths and Dies Committee, 754

disapproves of Franklin's “playboy” side, 640

divided-White-House-loyalties issue, 635–36

does not interfere in children's lives, 627–28

does not want to offend, but not cowed by bigots, 658–59

domestic White House duties of, 629

dreads invasion of Europe, 893

and Earl Miller, 608

and “Eleanor clubs,” 856

and Elliott's divorce, 887

encourages romances among friends, 608

encourages them to have own opinions, 613–14

endorses
Prohibiting Poverty
, 482–83

entertains George VI and Elizabeth, 737, 738–40

and equal-opportunity plea, concentrates on education, 648–49

estrangement from Nancy Cook and Marion Dickerman, 600–604

eulogy in her honor, 557

European developments, third-term considerations and, 785, 787

European developments make her uncertain of her views, 728–31

family turns to in times of trouble, 616–17

fascist aggression shakes her views on war, 719–20

feelings about Hyde Park, 611

feels compromise with Hitler possible, 715

feels that cooperation with Communists impossible, 759

and feud with Oyster Bay clan, Alice Longworth and, 644

fights against discrimination, 673

fights for health legislation, 586–88

fights for refrigerators, 504

and financial difficulties of Arthurdale, her sense of responsibility, 517

foreign developments also push her toward left, 755

on Frances Perkins' appointment, 488

and Frankfurter's warning about relationship with pacifists, 713–14

Franklin asks for declaration of war, 824

Franklin a source of power, 569–72, 574

Franklin irritated by Youth Congress, 768–70

with Franklin on campaign train, 563–64

and Franklin's acceptance speech, 557

and Franklin's campaign strategy, role given women's division, 553

Franklin's condition worsens, he goes to Warm Springs, 916

and Franklin's death and funeral, 919–23

and Franklin's decision to run for third term, 779–80, 781–84, 787

and Franklin's dependence on Anna, 891–92

and Franklin's “great design” for peace, 717

and Franklin's illness, 885, 889–91, 904, 906

and Franklin's meetings with Mme. Chiang, 862

Franklin's public relations, suffer, 548

and Franklin's “quarantine speech,” 718–19

and Franklin's recognition of Soviet Russia, 749–50

Franklin's relationship with children, 621, 623, 625

Franklin's support and, 812

and Franklin's victory, 907–8

and Franklin's views on Youth Congress demands, 767

and Franklin's “war before reform” speech, 886

friends worry about involvement in Youth Congress, 764

on future-of-Germany issue, 905

goodness of a source of power, 572

and government-factory project, 500–501

Goya etchings given to, 723–24

in great demand, lecture-tours contract, 529

grieves for men going to war, says good-by to James and Elliott, 832

growing Communist movement, New Deal policies undermine, 745

grows under Franklin's tutelage, 646

Hall's death and, 819

has confidence in youth, fears older people, 833

has misgivings about agreements with Soviet Union, 915

at headquarters while Franklin on cruise, 558

helps Pearl Buck reach Franklin on white-supremacy issue, 851, 852

her stand good politics, 659, 668, 673

holds meetings at 65th St. house, 682

homesteaders casualties of the Depression, 515

Hopkins and, 636–39

horrified by Moscow trials and purges, 755–57

and how-Arthurdale-to-be-governed issue, 517

Howe and, 638

hurt by Franklin's callousness, 645

Hyde Park her home, 600

impromptu defense of New Deal agencies, 591

increase in anti-Semitism, her views on Jewish question, 734–35

information on Soviet Russia, sources of, her reactions to, 751–54, 756–57

interested in rural life, 495

invites Al Smith to White House, 551

involvement in Workers Alliance, 757–58

and involvement with Communism (1930s), 744–45

involvement with WPA, 582, 589

and issue of posting of black GIs to England, 837

James and Elliott in uniform, 824

James fatalistic about entering war, 786

and James' relationship with father, 623

jokes about extent of her travels, 615–16

keynotes no-foreign-war crusade, 717

and land reform, “greenbelt town” programs, 518

Latin American tour of, 887–88

and launching of Subsistence Homestead Program, 494–500

as lecturer, 529–33, 538

and Lucy Mercer's visits while away, 893

lunch with Alice, 644

makes certain that new ideas looked into, 589–90

makes proposals for jobs, 781

and Marian Anderson concert, 664, 667–68

methods of dealing with bureaucracy, 573–74

as mistress of gaieties at Franklin's birthday parties, 633

mistrusts Churchill's idea for Anglo-American alliance, 882

the M. L. Wilsons visit White House, 496, 497–98

Mme. Chiang invited to meet Churchill, 866

and Mme. Chiang Kaishek's visit, 859–61

as moralist, further views on the Depression, 479

the Morgenthaus and, 639

“mother . . . a very jealous person,” 640–41

and Nazi-Soviet nonaggression pact, 758–59, 760

Nazi-Soviet Pact, Danzig crisis, 741

Negro “backwardness” not pretext for unequal treatment, 663–64

Negroes-in-armed-forces issue, 669–72, 673

and Negroes-in-defense-industries issue, 674–77

and Negroes' plight, attempts to bring to Franklin's attention, 647–48

Negro press association urges black appointments, against discriminatory NRA and USN policies, 650

neutrality laws not amended, her pessimism, 740–41

New Dealers prejudiced, Ickes her ally, 659

New Deal linked to Communism, 746–49

New Deal opposition grows, 548–50

and New Deal programs and legislation, 480–81

1934 elections endorse New Deal programs, 508

and 1936 campaign, 546

and 1940 campaign, Negro vote in question, 672–73

and 1944 campaign, 903–7

nonconformist stand of, and involvement with American Youth Congress, 687–94, 697–98, 701

and “nonpolitical” tour with Franklin, 556

NYA and, 684–87, 698, 701

offers to go to Europe for Red Cross, 808

ombudsman talents belong to GIs, 834–37

organizes campaign, Farley's report concerning, 559

other tickets considered, 783, 785

outraged over State Department reorganization, 909–10, 912

and party for black delinquent girls, 561–62

and patronage of Second World Youth Congress, 695–97

patronizes civic organizations, 585

Pearl Buck's attitude toward, 863–64

Pearl Harbor and, 823–25

and “petticoat government” issue, 592–95

philosophy of living, 478

Poland invaded, her shifting views, 742–43

political considerations do not silence her, 668

Popular Front turnabout, 760

on possibility of a woman president, 489

practicality of, 484

prefab houses inadequate, 505–6

presses for Landis appointment, 826

pressures Franklin on home-front issues, 812–14

prevents NAACP from picketing DAR, 668

and problems with Farley, 553–56

projects federalized, 504

and prospect of Franklin's fourth term, 902

public-service-employment concept and, 686

and public speaking, 526–27, 531–33

public vs. private life, 597–99

pushes conference idea, 727

quits Youth Congress over Geneva meeting resolutions, 776–77

racist attacks on, southern rumor factory, 856

and
Reader's Digest
article controversy, 857

as “realistic pacifist,” 705

realizes change in Franklin, 913

rearranges Sara's Hyde Park room, 891

and refugees' plight, her work for rescue agencies, 809–11

regrets Franklin's Youth Congress speech, 773

relationship with Bethune, 661–62

relationship with Franklin, her influence on him, 575–77

relationship with Missy, Franklin and, 640–44, 645

relationship with Pauli Murray, 662–63

relations with State Department, Summer Welles' appointment and, 726–27

relationship with Tommy, Val-Kill lifestyle, 605–9

relationship with Tugwell, 513–20, 521

relations with the homesteaders, 512

relieved war does not follow Rhineland invasion, 715

as reluctant mailman between Franklin and Earl Browder, 895–98

reports to Franklin on government-agency directors, 581

and Republican exploitation of her contacts with blacks, 657–59

Republicans make issue of First Lady's role, 563

resettlement-administration channels bypassed by, 516

resigns from DAR, 665–66

resigns OCD post, 830–31

resumes radio talks (1934), 525–26

reunions with children, 612–13

revolutionary aspects of, 478, 481–82

on role of federal government and youth unemployment, 682

role of in Wallace nomination (1940), 779

rural-industrial community impossible, 517

Sara's death and, 818

seeks New Deal support in leftist organizations, 755

sees future implication of racial struggle, 678

sense of humor about self, 629

and sense of spiritual mission, 490

severs connections with Todhunter, 602, 603

and Sinclair's EPIC program, 484

and skit contrasting her with cousin Alice, 537

social affairs of, her control over, 634–35

and social-security-bill issue, 551–52

southern ties of, 660–61