Eleanor Roosevelt

No first lady ever had more power and prestige than Eleanor Roosevelt. One of the first women elected to the Senate in 1911 and well known for her involvement with many charitable organizations prior to becoming first lady, it wasn’t until she moved into the White House in 1933 that she really got into high gear. Eleanor Roosevelt acted as the disabled president’s “eyes and ears” at a time when most political wives were delegated to the role of hostess-in-chief. She held regular press conferences, wrote a daily news column, and used her considerable influence with the President to get him to push for and pass child welfare, housing reform and equal rights laws for racial minorities and women. A type of ambassador known for her frequent travels and speeches, she continued her work after the President died in 1945 instead of quietly fading into the background like so many former first ladies. In 1946 she was named a delegate to the newly founded United Nations. In 1947 she became the first chairman of the Commission on Human Rights, during which time she helped draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. By the time of her death in 1962, few could argue that regardless of what they may have thought of her personally, she had forever transformed the role of first lady and set a standard that most Presidents’ wives have trouble living up to today.