ER on the Campaign Trail

Eleanor Roosevelt was uneasy as the 1932 campaign began.

An independent woman with deeply-held progressive beliefs, she had spent years forging a career as a writer, teacher, and political activist. Now, at age 48, she feared life as a First Lady would end her hard-earned professional and personal freedom.

Nonetheless, she hid her feelings and campaigned hard for her husband, especially targeting women, who had only had the right to vote for a dozen years. No candidate's wife in history had played such a public role on the campaign trail.