of a historically black university. he was outspoken to make sure that students were adhering to the cdc guidelines. he was 71 years old. may they rest in peace and may their memories be a blessing. and now we come to the special feature of our program, the appearance of our mystery celebrity. i would tell you our guest voice is so well-known, i'm going to answer the first few questions. >> would i be likely to recognize this person's voice on the radio? >> i would think you might, yes. >> is our guest famous for traveling? >> i'm going to ask.

>> yes. >> is she a newspaper columnist. >> yes. >> did she ever occupy the white house? >> yes. >> is it mr. franklin delano roosevelt? >> she was like no other first lady. >> her love is for the people, people in want, in need, in trouble. >> she was driven by this enormous belief in human dignity and equality for all people. >> she's going to reinvent the role of first lady of the united states to suit her own needs. >> what she was interested in was changing the world. ♪

i, franklin delano roosevelt, will faithfully execute the duties of the office of president of the united states. >> of the thousands cheering for their new president, few could have imagined the icon and leader the president's wife would become over the next 12 years. >> i think you can describe her as a person who didn't do what was expected of her. i guess that's the way heroes are made. >> i was rather rebellious as a first lady. i'm afraid i did some things which were not usual for the lady in the white house. >> the role of the first lady traditionally was about socializing and being a hostess, and that was it. and that was not eleanor's life.

>> at that point, she was on the board of 17 major reform organizations in new york state. had her own career as a journalist and as a social activist. >> she's an absolute powerhouse. she's writing for the women's democratic news and working for the democratic party. so leaving all of that to come to the white house and do what? hold teas? pick new china? this is a privilege, not to live in the white house and have fancy dinners. the privileges, you have a megaphone to speak to the world, if you can figure out how to use it. and that's what she did. >> two days after her husband's inaugu inaugurati inauguration, eleanor makes her first move. >> one of her first actions was to have her own press

conferences. >> she's a little bit nervous. no first lady had ever held a press conference. she plans it for two days before franklin's first press conference, by the way. >> women were not allowed to cover the president's press conferences. she said, i'll have press conferences to which only women can come. therefore, the newspapers had to hire women reporters to cover her. >> you can imagine this would not be taken very well. the men are watching from the door. they say, look at them. they're just a bunch of docile news hens. this won't last a month. >> almost immediately, the first lady's activities and opinions fill newspapers across the country. >> it's not just, i had tea with the ambassador's wife. they were focused on the work of the new administration. gender prejudice. the poor.

and her vision for social justice. >> fdr's speechwriter and former law partner joke with one another that the first thing they need to do is get the pants off of eleanor and on to frank. >> you know, some people say she wouldn't have been the first lady she was without the childhood that she had. >> eleanor was born in 1884 into a prominent and wealthy family. the first child of anna hall and elliott roosevelt, the younger brother of president theodore roosevelt. >> my mother was very beautiful. and she would occasionally say that in the hall family, there

were no ugly ducklings. and i was the exception. >> eleanor disappointed her. she was plain. her mother called her granny, which was deeply humiliated for her. and her mother died when she was 8. >> her childhood is nothing but disappointment. her father, who adores her, is a drunk and a junkie. he gets so drunk, he forgets that she's sitting on the steps outside of a men's club. >> her father, who she loved above all, dies at the age of 34. of alcoholism. and one really needs to pause. how much do you need to drink to die at 34 of alcoholism? >> orphaned at 10 years old, eleanor was sent to live with

her maternal grandmother. >> it was a very lonely childhood. she had a french governess who was sadistic. she was raised really by servan servants, mostly. some who were kind to her, would bring her dinner if she was exiled to her room. >> when she was 14, we know that three locks suddenly appeared on her door. >> the friend comes to visit, and she says to her, why are those locks on your door? eleanor says to keep my uncles out. was she abused? we can't know for sure. but she was a classic target for abuse. she was scared of the dark, of mice, of other people. of being alone.

>> her grandmother's decision to send her to boarding school in england was eleanor's salvation. it was no ordinary ladies' finishing school. >> allenswood school is being run by an absolutely remarkable woman. she was progressive politically, and she was running a school that was going to turn out girls who would be leaders. not just turning out girls who would be good for men to marry. she wanted her girls to go out and make change in the world. >> eleanor became marie's favorite student. the daughter she never had. >> marie emboldens her, inspires

her. it was three of the happiest years of her life. >> but it wasn't only her teacher who admired eleanor. >> when the girls appreciated another girl for doing something for them, they would buy them violets and little books. eleanor would come back on saturdays when they did this and her bed would just be covered. she learns that she can make friends, can help others. and this is -- it feels very good to her, after the kind of childhood that she had. after she leaves, she writes her letters. don't be so seduced by the teas and balls and social events. remember who you are, and what is truly important. >> marie changes eleanor

roosevelt's life. after allenswood, the shy, damaged child is gone. there is somebody else. >> she began to believe in herself. as a woman with convictions and with self-confidence to go forward and make her mark in the world. at fidelity, you get personalized wealth planning and unmatched overall value. together with a dedicated advisor, you'll make a plan that can adjust as your life changes, with access to tax-smart investing strategies that help you keep more of what you earn. and with brokerage accounts, you see what you'll pay before you trade. personalized advice. unmatched value. at fidelity, you can have both.

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president, franklin roosevelt contracted polio. paralyzing him from the waist down. >> he could stand with me and a cane. and his braces. but to walk, he would have had to have had a sturdier arm than mine. >> once in the white house, eleanor will often stand in for the president. it's a role that will give her more influence than any other first lady in history. >> she's sent on a tour in the country by fdr. she wants him to talk to the people and tell him what they're thinking. >> he often used me to get the reflection of other people's thinking. >> people describe such a sense of connection with her, over and over again you hear people talking about meeting her, and in a very few moments feeling

that she was truly listening and truly connecting. >> very glad to have this opportunity of briefing the people of southern california. >> franklin comes to realize that she's really good at this. she's the voice that he trusts most. he would go into cabinet meetings and say, my missus says there's not enough money. resources aren't getting where they should be getting to. >> the administration felt they had to take her seriously. it was a different kind of partnership than people were used to. >> by the time they reached the white house, they had been together over 30 years. distant cousins, they started courting when eleanor was only 18. >> they fell in love at a series of events and balls. she was really attracted to fdr, who was extremely charming and

handsome. i think there was certainly an incredulity on eleanor's part that this man could love her. probably that anyone could love her like this. >> one of the reasons franklin was so intrigued by eleanor was because of her work for the settlement movement. this was very different than other girls. >> she says to him, i want you to come meet one of the girls i'm helping and come to her house. which is a tenement. tenements are unsanitary, overcruded, airless, smelly. and she takes him there. >> he hadn't really seen it, but she showed it to him. >> famously, franklin turns to her and says, my god. i didn't know people live like that. and to me, this is the moment when the greatest political partnership in american history happened.

>> decades later, fdr launches emergency measures to ease poverty and hardship caused by the great depression. eleanor, already an established columnist, makes a personal appeal to the public. >> i want you to write to me. >> i love this. i want you to write to me. i want you to write to me and tell me what your problems are. but also, i want you to give me your ideas. because we don't know everything in washington. >> people so responded to this. >> there were thousands, tens of thousands of letters that came to the white house addressed to her every month. she had such a rapport with the american people that they felt they could write to her. it's a different relationship

than a first lady had ever had. here's a letter from a young girl. dear mrs. roosevelt, i'm a very poor girl, and i'm able to work. i haven't got any father. will you please send me an overcoat for the winter? >> dear mrs. president, can you help my daddy get a good house to live in? because right now we're living in an old shack. of course, eleanor roosevelt would often write responses. she would occasionally try to help people, put a check in. the people of america really believed that the roosevelts were really going to try to help them. but particularly that eleanor roosevelt was going to help them. >> eleanor's country retreat provides refuge from washington, but not from work.

>> it's such a wonderful room. this room has so many wonderful memories. in here, we would play games, have pillow fights with the p l pillows from the couches. and grandma would be working away at her desk, and it was lovely. she would turn her hearing aids off so we could make all the noise we wanted. she did have a lot of work to do. and she would answer all her correspondence. from this desk. >> where she got the energy or the time from to answer all those letters, to go on all these travels, to give all these speeches, how there were enough hours in the day is just phenomenal. >> she seems to be perpetually on the move. writes a weary reporter traveling with her, please make eleanor tired, just for one day.

>> in the first four months as first lady, eleanor receives 3,000 letters. she's especially outraged by the suffering in a mining town in west virginia. >> the miners had been unemployed for 20 years. there's malnourishment like you've never seen. >> she realizes she's someone who has access to the most elite, powerful policymaking circles there are. and she has the ability to mold public policy. >> she pushes franklin to put experimental funds into a housing project called arthurdale. >> she throws everything she has

into rebuilding this community. she gets federal funds allocated there. >> nobody expected a first lady to have the kind of influence she had politically. >> the secretary of the interior is ballistic. >> do you know what your wife is doing down there? she's spending money like a drunken sailor. >> why are we giving people refrigerato refrigerators? >> how will we tell the rich from the poor? >> when fdr repeats that to eleanor roosevelt, she says, well, if indoor plumbing is like that, we should not have to tell the rich from the poor. >> people look at her failure to bring industry to arthurdale and

say, oh, my god, this is the perfect example of a liberal imagination run amuck. that is so short-sighted. the community that comes out of this has houses, schools, medical clinics that are still in use today. >> arthurdale was the first of hundreds and hundreds of communities that were built all over the country. it was life-saving and life-transforming. >> eleanor is beginning to appreciate how much she can achieve as first lady. >> eleanor cared about the world, and that was her driving force. and if she wasn't going to do it, then who would? ♪ hey baby, hey, hey ♪ you got me feelin' punchdrunk crazy, so crazy ♪ ♪ it's everything i want, now maybe, ooh, ooh, ♪ ♪ ooh, ooh ♪ can we do it again? ♪ your blessing's all i ever wanted ♪

♪ i'm stressed, you got me feelin' nauseous ♪ ♪ wow-wow-wow-wow-wow ♪ wow-wow-wow-wow-wow ♪ wow

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in times square, tens of thousands screamed themselves hoarse. >> with eleanor by his side, roosevelt wins a second term by a landslide. >> she was the idealist, he was the pragmatist. as a political team, they were unstoppable.

>> married in 1905, they have one daughter and five sons, one of whom tragically died in infancy. but their partnership almost fell apart. in 1918, he returned from a european trip gravely ill. >> he's got pneumonia, he was close to death. they whisk him off to the house, and eleanor is left to unpack his trunk. when she opens his trunk, there's a packet of letters and of course she recognizes the handwriting. >> the letters reveal a longstanding affair between franklin and eleanor's own secretary, lucy mercer. >> when we think about this girl who has had so little love in her life, and thought she had

finally found love and security, and here she sees that he is loving and he is in love with lucy. >> the whole thing reads like a play. i mean, how shocking that must have been. my grandmother was totally taken by surprise. of course that's going to hurt. >> he promises that he will never see lucy again. and they stay married. >> but she was terribly depressed. she said the bottom had fallen out of her world. >> after the affair, i do believe they were always in separate bedrooms. i can remember her saying, you know, you forgive, you don't necessarily forget. but you can forgive.

>> from then on, their marriage became a partnership. in a way, that freed her up to become the woman she became. so through adversity, sometimes, we rise and become things that we never thought we might become. >> over the decades, eleanor turned to her friends for support. closest among them, lorraina hickock. >> she had her own byline on the front page. >> she was moved to a small room

near eleanor's quarters in the white house. >> she was a very provocative personality. she wore men's clothing, smoked cigars, played cards, drank bourbon. >> everybody knew that hick was gay. >> the women's friendship grew over the years, as fdr's eyes and ears, they toured the country. >> it's hick who says, look at all these daily activities you're telling me about. the whole country wants to know how you spend your day. and it's hick's suggestion that results in eleanor roosevelt's my day column. >> she had a style of writing that was very personal and very informal. and she could talk about anything from a meeting with the king and queen of england to literally what she had for

breakfast that day. she was the original blogger. >> by 1938, eleanor's daily column is wildly popular. with a readership of over 4 million americans. >> if eleanor roosevelt was alive right now, she would be facebooking, tweeting, youtubing. every media that existed at the time, she mobilized and her public life comes to prominence at the very beginning of the radio age. >> reach for the remington. >> there were very few women on the radio. women were allowed to do programs about housekeeping or education, or they would be allowed to sing. ♪ >> but eleanor is broadcasting in the early 1930s. >> this is eleanor roosevelt. >> good day, ladies and gentlemen. i attended last night -- >> people would sit in the living room, and it was like the

first lady was talking to you. >> i want to talk to you about the general question of housing. >> it's like you were sitting there in the living room, and her voice was there. >> eleanor roosevelt connected with ordinary americans, and it was a remarkable thing. and it grew out of her relationship with hick. >> hick falls deeply, deeply in love with eleanor. >> over their lifetime, they write almost 3,000 letters to one another. >> they write about missing each other. you get the feeling of this deep caring between them. and then there will be specific things, i looked at your photograph, and i kissed you in the right corner of your mouth. there's some debate about whether it was physical or not. but i don't think anyone can deny that it was a deep love.

>> as a lesbian, nothing would make my political soul happier than to think that eleanor and hick had this great, passionate affair. as a historian, i don't care. i'm grateful for lorena hickock. eleanor loved, and was loved in return, and she was empowered by that relationship. now, new and existing customers can get our best deal. really?! mom! at&t has the deal for new and existing customers! i will. so what'd she say? it's the wrong person. it's a guy named carl. but he's very excited and on his way. word-of-mouth advertising. it's what they did before commercials. it's not complicated. everyone gets our best deal, like the amazing iphone 12 on us.

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mr. roosevelt is greeted by microphones -- >> even though eleanor would frequently say she's not a politician, she had good political instincts. at the top of that agenda was civil rights. >> in the late 1930s, to eleanor's shame, african-american citizens are still segregated by law. often denied basic rights like jobs, housing, and the vote. >> she was very much involved in the struggle to get congress and the president to move toward passing anti-lynching legislation. >> eleanor comes to truly

understand how undermining of our democracy is this idea that everyone is not being treated equally. >> so eleanor roosevelt goes to great lengths to open the doors of the roosevelt white house very wide to people of color. you see eleanor bounding down the white house driveway, very much in public view, to greet female civil rights advocates in a way that she doesn't greet royalty. >> eleanor roosevelt was a leader willing to take a stand. and she did something that really caught the attention of the nation. >> in 1938, defying the secret service, she travels to a civil rights meeting in birminghambir alabama, with her friend, mary mccloud bethune.

>> it's segregated. whites on this side, blacks on this side. she just trucks down that aisle, and, boop, right by bethune. almost immediately, a young police officer comes over and asks her to move. the legend is true. eleanor does get a chair, sits in the middle of the aisle. and straddles segregation. one foot in black, one foot in white. >> local papers picked it up. black press was just delighted. white press and the southern press was really upset. >> other first ladies had been criticized, but nobody faced the intense venom in such a consistent, persistent way as

eleanor. the ku klux klan put a price on her head. $25,000 if you could kill eleanor roosevelt. this was criticism on steroids. >> we ask every citizen to immediately report any information regarding espionage. >> but eleanor's most powerful opponent is the head of the fbi. >> the first entry into her fbi by j. edgar hoover, who hated her guts, is her support for civil rights. that, for him, is the most un-american. >> it's about 3,500 pages long, it could fill a whole file cabinet. the earliest document is from 1924. >> every word on behalf of justice for black people was considered communist. >> j. edgar hoover sees eleanor roosevelt the way a lot of people in conservative white

america see eleanor roosevelt. why can't she just shut up? why can't she just not rock the boat? >> you had an opportunity to lead in an enlightened way. >> but the first lady refuses to toe the line on race. when marion anderson is banned from performing at a concert hall owned by the daughters of the american revolution, eleanor once again springs into action. >> eleanor is quite upset about this. first of all, she's a member of the d.a.r. so she writes a letter. >> it is a classic eleanor roosevelt letter. i'm afraid that i have never been a very useful member of the daughters of the american revolution. and i know it will make very little difference to you whether i resign or whether i continue. >> she sends it to newspapers

all over the country. soon there is international recognition about this. >> and i feel obliged to send in to you my resignation. you had an opportunity to lead in an enlightened way, and it seems to me that your organization has failed. her resignation was huge news. it was very important, and it put enormous pressure on all organizations to confront their racist policies. >> the world is watching. and eleanor helps organize a new venue for the concert. in the place that most symbolizes freedom. >> in this great auditorium, all of us are free. >> marion anderson is standing there. and in front of her are 75,000 people, black and white, together.

>> this was the first public event that was desegregated. >> everybody there could freely mingle and sit next to each other without regard to race, creed, or color. >> it was simply inspiring. >> here to listen to the voice acclaimed by many. >> eleanor didn't go to the c conce concert. she wanted that moment in history to belong to marion anderson. ♪ ♪ my country tis of thee, sweet land of liberty ♪ >> people in the audience silently wept. a wave of emotion washed over

the strong. >> my country tis of three, sweet land of liberty. to thee we sing. >> eleanor roosevelt defied the conventions of her role as first lady. a woman in arms with african-americans. ♪ let freedom ring [ applause ] >> this was the first step in the great journey to freedom. ayg choices. here's a choice you don't have to make: the largest 5g network... award-winning customer satisfaction... or insanely great value. now, with t-mobile for business, there's no compromise. network. support. value. choose. all. three. t-mobile for business. ready when you are.

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a book that you're ready to share with the world? get published now, call for your free publisher kit today! eleanor is scheduled to go on air that evening as part of one of her regular broadcasts. she sets about rewriting the script. >> speaking on behalf of the administration, the first voice the nation will hear is eleanor's. it's an unprecedented moment for a first lady. >> good evening, ladies and gentlemen. i am speaking to you tonight at a very serious moment in our history. many of you all over this

country have boys in the services who will now be called upon to go into action. you cannot escape anxiety, you cannot escape a clutch of fear at your heart. i have a boy at sea on a destroyer. for all i know, he may be on his way to the pacific. two of my children are in coast cities on the pacific. whatever is asked of us, i'm sure we can accomplish it. i have faith in you. >> it's as if she is the president speaking. when she tries to unite the country, tries to put people's minds at rest, and at the same time make sure that they are ready for action. >> we are the free and unconquerable people of the united states of america. >> if that isn't presidential, then i don't know what is. >> the next day, president

roosevelt declares war. and to really came first. >> so when franklin asks eleanor to make apparelous trip to the south pacific, she puts personal feelings aside. >> traveling under the code name rover, she visits combat areas and makes it a point to stop at every hospital. >> naval commanders were oppose it this idea. mccarther and nimitz thought it was a terrible idea. what a disaster this is going to be. you know, she could have been killed and shot down at any point. >> watching the faces of the

kids light up. >> at the end the admiral said she had a greater impact on the people in the field than any person who ever visited throughout the entire war. >> she visited every single hospital and spoke to every single g.i. joe who was wounded. and to took their family names. when she got back she called their parents and their loved ones. >> the war haunts eleanor. her anger over the slaughter that she saw was the single motivating factor for the rest of her life. >> this cnn original series, "first ladies," is brought to you by mercedes-benz.

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i can't imagine lyndon johnson operating in the white house without lady bird. >> her influence. >> lady bird johnson has to reassure if there is anyone can carry on. >> her legacy. >> it's hard to overrate lady bird's importance in the johnson presidency. >> the new cnn original series

♪ over the white house in washington the flag flies at half-staff as a grief stricken nation mourns the death of franklin delano roosevelt, president of the united states. >> three months into roosevelt's fourth term, the longest presidency in american history

is over. franklin roosevelt's death really shocked the nation. it was a double loss because eleanor roosevelt was leaving as first lady and for many african-americans she was the unofficial president. >> i think that she was very concerned that under president truman everything that she and franklin together had fought for domestically and globally would now somehow be forgotten, and she wanted to secure that legacy. >> so when president truman asks eleanor to join the first american delegation to the newly formed united nations, she jumps at the chance. >> i find the most interesting arrival mrs. roosevelt, widow of the late president. the u.n. is created to make a forum for discussion so we never have to go to war again.

now, this was the great dream of the roosevelts. a united nations that would ensure peace in the world. >> 2,000 delegates are attending the meeting from all corners of the earth they came. >> secretary of state marble meets have fellow delegate eleanor roosevelt. >> she is unanimously elected chair of the subcommittee charged with drafting the declaration of universal human rights. >> she has to negotiate with 18 countries. they don't agree on anything. they don't agree whether god exists. >> it took almost two years. it was absolutely grueling. >> the soef insists -- >> her ability to navigate the hundreds of meeting that it took to craft the declaration, it was brilliant negotiation strategy. >> her whole public life and her life in the white house had helped her to exceed in that role because she's figured out

decades ago that you can get a tremendous amount done if you don't care about taking credit for it. >> this universal declaration of human rights may well become the international magna carta of all men everywhere. >> eleanor's presentation caps a lifetime of championing human rights. >> it's the most important document of the last 100 years. all human beings are born free and equal and with dignity and have rights. all human beings. it's the first time in the history of the flipping world that we say that. >> i must congratulate the first who has been the leader in this movement, the person raised to greater honor, i refer of course to mrs. roosevelt, the delegate of the united states. [ applause ]

>> the longest serving first lady in american history, eleanor roosevelt exemplifies greatness. her achievements still resonate today. >> this is a better day for what's my line. we will remember very fondly that you honored us by being our mystery guest. i am sure the panel would like very much to shake your hand. thank you, mrs. roosevelt. >> she is not just a first lady. she's a first woman, a first activist way beyond first lady-hood. eleanor roosevelt was lady big heart. ♪ dark winter, u.s. covid cases hit a new daily record and the virus infects close advisors

to vice president pence as the candidates clash over how to best manage the pandemic. >> covid, covid, covid, covid. >> he has given up, quit on you, he quit on america. >> who will the american people choose to lead them out of this crisis? i speak with mark meadows next. and stalemate. time is running out for a deal between congress and the white house to help struggling americans by election day. >> i am hopeful that we will be able to reach agreement. >> how much longer will americans have to wait? house speaker nancy pelosi joins me to discuss next. >> plus, final countdown. with nine days left to vote, polls favor democratic nominee joe biden, but president trump says the energy is behind him. has biden gotten democrats excited enough to turn out the vote? i speak with congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez ahead. hello, i'm jake tapper in