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outside the U.S. without her husband. Her various trips during the war made
global news and Eleanor became a symbol of sorts for democracy. During
her tour of England, she made a point to meet with segregated African
American troops to inspect their facilities. She took a second trip to the
South Pacific islands in August 1943, in which she toured as a representative
of the Red Cross. She met some 400,000 soldiers, ate in their mess halls, and
sat bedside with wounded soldiers. The trip deeply saddened the First Lady
as she saw firsthand the violent affects of war. However, the soldiers greatly
appreciated her concern; it was reported that no other individual lifted the
spirits and morale of the soldiers as did Eleanor. She became a sort of moth-
erly figure to the men—someone they could trust and felt comfortable
approaching when problems within the system arose. Eleanor even main-
tained correspondence and long-term friendships with many soldiers.
Nonetheless, political opponents of the FDR administration condemned the
First Lady for using war funds to travel abroad. Eventually, her husband sug-
gested she stop taking trips.
Eleanor Roosevelt was certainly an atypical first lady. Her strong sense of
social justice and equality informed her politics, activism, and outspokenness.
Never before had a first lady openly criticized the policies of the president.
Her support of women, racial and ethnic minorities, and social welfare pro-
grams such as government-sponsored childcare and minimum wage laws,
made her the enemy of many of those in power. Whether one loved her or
hated her, it was undeniable that Eleanor Roosevelt changed the role of being
the president’s wife in dramatic ways, as she became the first activist first lady.The War and the “Irony” of Race
As with women, the war had a profound impact on African Americans.
Fighting in a war against fascism, a war for human rights, a war that would
eventually end the Holocaust, American Blacks believed that their participa-
tion in the conflict as patriotic Americans would solve the “negro problem”
at home. After all, how could the U.S. take a global stand against injustice
while maintaining its racist system at home? There would be a transformation
on race at home, and some improvement, but in the end the irony of fighting
for democracy abroad while maintaining segregation at home, as in the Great
War, continued. Blacks did not benefit from the fight against the Axis to the