reading festival dedicated the 9oosevelt library in 1941, he 1 declared its purpose to be topur learg together people to learn crom the past that they can gai in judgment in creating the tin future. we thkink that there is no bettr way of fulfilling the purpose o the roosevelt reading festival. it is also our way of showcasing just how completely for the research institution is beingst fulfilled by a variety ofy a authors to produce books of all kinds and in a wide variety ofge subjects.re's it's evidence that there iseare still much that can be learned and great inspiration drawn to the roosevelt era and to the roosevelt reading festival withr a grand audience across the grnd country.udience e ne of this would be possible without the creative and the poi minamics staffbl of the roosevea library and our generous and volu

talented volunteershank you for. [applause] we have just finished a major building renovation updating the roosevelt library. the first presidential library and the only one use bade sitting president. through the generosity of the non-profit partner, the roosevelt substitute we enalled a new -- installed a new museum exhibit which opened on june 30th to rave reviews. it's an exciting time as we bring a new tale to a jen generation. library and -- optimism beginned with a significant purpose always carried out with good humor in the face of the greatest challenges. i hope you have chance to see our nur mu seem today and return with family and friends. and now it is my disticket honor to introduce our keynote speaker ale, ta black.

she's my dear friend. i met her many, many, many years ago. [laughter] in the research room at the library i was pushing book trucks and she was a poor graduate student with a tremendous work ethic and vision of mrs. roosevelt that went far beyond others. we may have aged a bit, not too much. i assure you her work ethic and knowledge has continued to grow. she coordinated the effort to reissue book "tomorrow is now" for which she wrote the introduction. she's a historian and the author of "casting her own shadow ." and courage in a dangerous world. the political writings of el inure roosevelt. she serves as founding editor as editorial advisory board chair of the eleanor roosevelt

papers. black also serves as consult assistant to the women's division of the united nations high commission for human rights. she has written many books as well as a variety of articles on women, politics, and human rights policies. she will take questions after her talk. you q up at the microphone and be available for signing books in our museum store. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome my friend,. pll. >> hi, everybody. i have been told i have to stand behind the podium. which if you know me it's very difficult. so i will promise lynnly try to do this. i want to say that i have waited all of my life, i'm a proud

61-year-old, to see an exhibit like the one that lynn, herman, and bob and all of the staff of the fdr library put together. it is stunning. it is the best political museum i have ever been in in my life anywhere in the world. [applause] and so i really encourage you to go see it. my job here is to be the wrapup which is to insert el eleanor to any conversation in any room whether put as a one dimensional person who didn't do anything. didn't know how to read fdr or in fact with some liberal fly with no political sense whatsoever. and so for me, the effort to get "tomorrow is now" reprinted, was

a thank you note to her. a testament to her political sense. her ability to articulate the weaknesses of democracy, the failings of the united states with complete and total love and candor and courage and an ability to motivate the american public to stand up to look themselves in the mirror, and say this is my country, this is what we do right. this is what we are unprepared to face. and let's figure out how we can work together to address the problems that we want to sweep under the rug. and so for me "tomorrow is now" is her clearest, boldest, and most insighting work. she wanted us to stand up.

she wanted us to charge the barricades. she wanted us to understand that comprise was good as as long as we comprised up. that is as long as we petitioned ourselves in silos of political belief, we would go wack back ward. continue to be unready in her words, to face the challenges that we as americans owed one another at home and the challenges we, in americans, of the world. and so before i talk a little bit about the book, and the story how she stayed alive to finish it, and why i think it is herman -- her manifesto i would like to thank nancy roosevelt. when you take a book in copyright, and major publisher owns that copyright, it's very

hard to get that copyright back. and this book was published it hit the stands approximately five months after eleanor roosevelt died. wasn't around to hock it. she wasn't around to go on "meet the press" or "face the nation" or do one of her tv show "prospect of mankind" to talk about it. none of the major book review editors like "the new york times," or publishers weekly or "reader's digest" a particular bone in my cross she helped hock more reader digest books than the law should allow. didn't pay any attention to this. in my 25 years of looking at her, and we first met, can i say in 1988? that this, to me, is her truest

voice. and it is so incredibly relevant to every issue that we face today. ranging from what are we going do about the middle east, and america's inability to understand different threologies. to what is the crisis in public education. as long as we tie public schools to property taxes, she said we'll have three tiers of schools in the united states. schools that are falling apart. schools for kids whose parents have money, and private schools. talks about race relationship. talk about the revolution and communication. the revolution and technology. what are we going to do when the cold war is over? what about the social red -- revolution. not just the issue of race and gender. but the issue of ethnicity. how are we going to figure out how to look at ourselves as

people rather than as card board stereo types of different populations that we have embedded in our brain. and so i went to nancy and i said to her, nancy, i really love this book. nobody read it. and grandmother stayed alive to tbsh -- finish it. i think we have to go to the publisher, really plead with the publisher to give us the copyright back, so that we can in fact reissue this in a way that americans moderate means can benefit from it. nancy immediately said yes. for that, i am eternally grateful. because then i went president clinton, and i said, mr. president, you know i love this book. will you read it? i want you to --

will write introduction. he looked at me -- it didn't take three second he said i've read the book, he int? he cleared so mu ahe book. he himself went through five drafts of his forward. so this nongsthat he just stood in a coach -- cor a dictated to people. i say it to you because i want you to understand how important we think it is to get eleanor's voice back to the conversation. as she said -- as he said, in his introduction, in bold blunt prose, the greatest first lady in american history. traces the country struggle to embrace democracy, and present her declaration against fear, that midty, complacency, and

national arrogance. i couldn't have said it more myself. and so her bold insistence in labeling political leaders, in labeling different organizations, in addressing fdr's successes, fdr shortcomings, as well as her own, and the state of both parties in the united states. it is her political manifesto. and so what tomorrow is now means to me is a window of -- in to her heart and spine. why do i say this? why am i making such sweeping generalizations? fdr -- elle elle eleanor residence volte was dieing when she wrote the book. she was too weak to hold a

pencil or pen to write. she certainly couldn't type. many times during that period, she had to sip her food through a straw. she dictated the book to a woman whose name was eleanor den stoun. sometimes her voice would go so horse she would have to whisper across the table. and she would apologize to her colleague for having to talk so low. there were times she had to interrupt what she wanted to write because she was bleeding from the back of the throat and could not continue her point. what i would like to do is to bring her own words in to this for a little bit. give you something from her. in the past i have written of the era in which i grew up and

the experiences which shaped my life. from a lonely childhood and a cast bound society with narrow tradition through the crowded years of my husband's presidency. in which a great depression and a major world war bought sweeping change to the whole world. and finally, of the years in which i came to know a great part of that work first and first hand, and through my work with the united nations. to learn that its destiny, like the tainted wind blowing over it, is common to all. i'm going skip around. now; however, i have learned to see that nohing nothing of what happened to me or anyone has value unless it is preparation for what lies ahead. we face the future fortified only with the lessons that we have learned from the past. it is today that we must create

the world of a future. to conclude it, once more we live in a period of uncertainty of danger. in which not only our own safety but that of mankind is threatened. once more we need the qualities that inspire the development of the democratic way of life. we need imagination and integrity. courage and high heart. we need to fan the spark of conviction. which may, again, inspire the world as we did with our new idea of the dignity and worth of free men. but first, we must learn to cast out fear. people who view with alarm never build anything. in the following pages, i have set down one woman's tempt to analyze what problems there are

to be met. one citizens' approach to the ways in which they may be met, and one human being's bold of a make that wih imagination, with courage, faith in ourselves, and our cause, the fundamental dignity of all mankind they will be met. so what did she set out do here? the basic premise of "tomorrow is now" we are unready and unwilling to face the challenges that are ahead of us. we're are paralyzed by fear and political stereo tip, we focus on what divides us rather than what our common core is not in a way to gloss over the differences. but in a way to say this is a

platform from which we -- must go forward. and so she looks at the fear of communism which today you can insert the fear of terrorism. she looks at how we are unable to master the new means of communication. that television is a vaulted tool, but we must use television to entertain and to educate, and of course, must preserve free speech but not -- she argues that radio is a position -- is a medium. that we all should respect and not abuse. she looks at the revolution in education where we have battled over textbooks. where we have one-sided

political debates in classroom that encourage students not to think but to regurgitate rather than to analyze. she encourages the study of foreign language. she encourages the study of foreign government, she encourages the study of different religions. you will never know what you believe eleanor's great teacher taught her unless you can argue with equal conviction the position that is assume bid your fearest critic. now i ask you if one-third of the people who live in the city that i worship, washington, d.c., or any capitol in any all fifty states embrace one tenth of that, how much progress would we make?

let look at the scientific revolution. eleanor argues there's a constantly evolving science that will change the way that we live. that will make -- she wrote this in 1962, that will make 1984 look like a comic book. that until we learn to encourage scientific developments, foster new medical care, and in a way that will make that medical care assessable and affordable to all who need it, we will have failed science and science will have failed us. so she argues that we have an extraordinary history. and that we are beginning to face our shortcomings in our

history. that race and ethnic prejudice and religious bias are the lead that will unravel american society. that will makes so weak that we will lose our position of moral leadership in the world. she talks about being a custodian of the environment, and what that means in terms of the development and wages. she talks about international trade and the battle for the living wage. she talking about our tendency to see human rights as siloed in only -- as only affable to people who live off our shores and concern of rich intellectual elite who want to tell the poor how to

live. she said that is the height of american arrogance. where after all, the universal human rights began, they began in small places close to home. the field, the factory, the farm, the church, the synagogue. if they do not have meaning, there they have little meaning anywhere without concerted citizens action, they will disappear. so she is saying without revealing all of the risks she took, we have the greatest document in the history of the world. the universal declaration of human rights. it is a barricade to justice. it is what we need to arm ourselves with, it is our body armor.

that we must embrace to build our own country and help the world advance. because if we advance america by only focusing on america, as the world gets smaller and smaller with international travel, revolution and communications, the world will get smaller while the barriers between us increase. and so when she was dying, she wanted to get this out. when fdr died, harrold, the longest serving member of -- with francis perkins, the longest serving member of fdr's cabinet, and who was secretary of labor -- , i mean, secretary of the interior in truman's

administration came up to meet with eleanor roosevelt. that had a conversation in front of the steps of the library. he writes her back a recap of this conversation. he asked her to run for governor, to run for the senate from new york, to be secretary of labor, to engage in create political organizing work. major ivy leagues were coming to el nor and saying will you be president? she turns them down and writes harold, you need not worry, my voice will not be silent. and as she aged and as she became my distance from the white house. she became more outspoken on the political impact that she had

while she was in the white house. because eleanor roosevelt covered all her tracks. now, i love this woman. there's nobody in the world who knows me that doesn't know that. i have a picture of her in almost every room in my house except my toilet. [laughter] she's not a saint. she's a fierce patriot. in a battle scared political warrior. who understood politics and played it keptly. and denied that she had any influence whatsoever. he said i never changed franklin's mind on anything. come to my house, give me you my address, i'll pull out four drawers of from document.

many are from here over from here. to tell you the role that eleanor had many military policy, in economic policy, how she lost the fight to have health care be the forth prong of social security. the fight she had with harry hopkins over race. the fights she had with fdr and secretary -- , i mean, attorney general over internment. the work she did behind the scenes unsuccessfully to get assistant secretary of state -- god, i just blocked it. i'm losing it. in the state department. the work she did behind the scenes the meetings she had with fdr, the fights she had with party leaders to get breaken

ridge fired. i can tell you the memories she had when she went to the camps. she didn't want to go to the camps after the camps were liberated. the army wanted her to o. she goes through and said when will our consciousnesses grow so tender we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it? by the time she's dying, she's mad. she love this country. she's tired of timid politicians. she believes that politics is an honorable and noble calling. she's fed up with jack kennedy. she browbeat him to death to set up the president's commission on the stot titus of women. he takes credit for the peace corps. when eleanor is trying to talk about the peace corps. and sends

material to him, you know, sending all of this material about how it would be good, she feels like the country has lost its way. at the time right before she begins this book, there's a young man whose name is welden who is 15 years old, he's african-american and standing in front of -- in alabama. he's out there for less than 45 seconds when he's arrested for handing a leaflet. he's taken to jail, he's not charged with the crime, he's not allowed to see an attorney, and i he doesn't appear before a judge. he's beaten so severely that his jaw is wired shut, and he has to have pins inserted in his

wrist. she comes down to washington 103 fever to go to the community room of the "washington post." because the naacp have asked her to chair a special hearing on the freedom rights. it's the only time in almost thirty years worth of work on eleanor roosevelt i find she loses her temper in public. and the purpose of this is to get the kennedy judges who are not holding the civil rights violaters accountable under the law. that doesn't mean they're no she leaves here at 11:00 at night, her chauffeur drives her down to washington, when weldon comes on the stands to testify,

some of the attorney general staff and the civil rights division staff are sitting right there. some are friends with whom she worked for her life. one stands up and say they should go to special session. and eleanor said sit down, professor. i didn't come here to equivocate. i have it on tape. she comes back enraged by that experience. and she writes in "tomorrow is now" did not we learn anything from the war? this is what the nazis did to the jews. she is mad. but she will not let go of her belief in the country. so this book is a declaration as

powerful as the universal declaration of human rights that says that america was born in a vision. that vision wasn't perfect. we had to tweak it all the way. and a lot of times we got it right, and a lot of times we screwed it up. it's continually marching forward. and yet in the early '60s we scummed is a cummed to excessive fear. not hysteria. that said we can't change that. it if we do this, somebody is going to come get us. disple about growth. human righting are about political and civil rights. they're about social and

economic and culture right. they are about the right to food, the right to shelter, the right to an income. the right to go to school. is the right to dream and to is dare. eleanor roosevelt said if people go to bed hungry every night and they don't have a place to live, how can they dream if they dream democracy fades. and if democracy fades how can we advance our nation and how can we advance the values that we cherish? and this is her summation long ago, there was a noble word liberal. which was derived from the word free. now a strange thing happened to that

.. a man named hitler mate it a target of abuse. a matter of suspicious, those who were not with him were against him. and liberals had no use for hitler. then another man named mccarthy cast the same approach on the word. indeed, there was a time a short but dismaying time when many americans began to does trust the word which derived from the word free. up with thing we must all do, we eize r i or it will cease to apply to us. and that would be an inconceivable situation.this i this, i know.w, this i believe with all my heae if we want a free and peaceful

world, we can do it. bloom and man grow to greater dignity as a human being, we can do it. but we m we courage, integrity, and a high heart. the last sentence that elle inure roosevelt will ever write for a publication is in . -- it was late august, he and his wife may had come to drop their daughter off at college. they go to college to see her. she gets up out of bed to see them. sitting insitting in the living room and she's so excited to see

them. when they leave she asked the young woman who was staying in the house to bring her a bed tray. and to look at the the manuscript. she's trying to turn the pages to get to the place where it stop -- she wanted to write this sentence. and it's hard for her. and she finally gets there, and she writes this with almost illegible handwriting. which is the monetary of her -- monetary of her life. if we love our country. we should tattoo it on the inside of our eyelids. and this is what it says, "staying aloof is not a solution. it is a cowardly evasion" eleanor roosevelt battled nausea, diarrhea, great

fatigues, blood dripping down the back of her throat, to write this book. it's her collaron call and her love letter to the american people. i hope it will become an american classic and inspire americans the way it inspired me and human rights leaders and young leaders around the world. and so i appreciate your attention very much. and i would be happy to answer any questions you might have. [applause] i'm glad somebody who doesn't know me ask the first question. >> many of us are interested in eleanor roosevelt.

i'm sorry to change the tenor of the question. i read in a book -- because i was interested in the diagnosis in medicine that eleanor roosevelt was misdiagnosed. i wanted know what she died of. is that true? the other -- dr. -- professor richard buy ton's lecture he quoted someone who met with her at the end and said she was virtually alone. was she alienated from her children. did anyone care about her at the end? >> i disagree with the characteristickization she was alone. she was misdiagnosed. it's a complicated case. but she died of turk low -- tuberculosis. a weird strand of it. i'm not trying to get in who diagnosed what and all of that stuff. she a very strange condition. eleanor roosevelt was angry when she died. she loved people a lot.

she had incredible friends, ed that and david, joe and truda. her children. but she was angry. she felt like she had risked herself and basically dedicated her life to this and her husband died for it. and people -- especially elected officials and young party leaders had dropped the ball. and so part of this comes from the story of when steveson goes to read to her in the hospital. t the day of the mismissile crisis. he's trying to read "the new york times" to her. she said nothing makes sense. and she rolls over. so she's lonely not because she

doesn't know people. not because she doesn't love people. she's trying to say where are the leaders? this is a woman who braved assassination attempts. who traveled without secret service, who wrote 8,337 column, 27 books, 226 and counting articles. and the only time she fired anybody was when they signed her name to something she didn't write. and she is trying to see -- she pins her hope on young people. and this book is really written to the young. to step up to the plate. she knows she's dying and she's done all she can. she lets go. that answer your question? [inaudible] how could she been disdiagnosed? >> i can't answer that.

there are a ton of articles written on it. but, you know, i'm not a physician. yes? [inaudible] hey, sorry. i didn't see you. >> if you can ask eleanor roosevelt, what would you ask him. what do you think his answer would be? same question for eleanor roosevelt? >> it would be the same question to both of them. how did you possibly have the courage to keep faith when you saw every day it wasn't working and you had to send people to die to make it work and fight for it? and to build a country and to

see the huge despair of the depression. we say 25% unemployment. that's bunk. that's bunk. we just are taking -- we're just getting unemployment statistics. it's more like 40%. half of every mortgage in the united states was either in foreclosure or one payment away from foreclosure. race rites were pan dam -- pandemic. people blamed themselves. you take that, you deal with a struggle to implement the new deal. you see the new deal work. but at the same time you know if you have 8 million people at work, there are 8.5 million people who have no income or job. think about what its like to understand that you have to fight a war and the congress is

not there. the draft passes by one vote. one vote! we think happens in a vacuum. it doesn't happen in a vacuum. it's the third step that fdr takes. he's almost breaks the law to do it. and to live with what he knew the casualties would be glum had a better navy than the united states. our soldiers threw softballs for grenade. they carried rifles to train with that were made out of wood. he knew people were going get. eleanor knew that took. she took it in a different way. fdr was in the white house. he had to stay there.

eanor went everywhere. people tried to kill her. they shot at her like they shot at fdr after he won the election and before he became president. she'll have the largest fbi f in history. she saw the clan go after her. they -- tried to kill her. they fire bombed trees outside of where she stood. they wrapped dynamite around the axe is of her car. they did not stop. if we understood that, imagine what we can do. did i answer your question, herb? [applause] david, who great -- wrote a great book on harry hopkins. >> yeah. he had his fight with eleanor

and disappointments. iwondered whether you would be willing to talk about eleanor -- whether that can be anybody in today's world that could have the kind of courage, political courage that eleanor had and whether you see it. i mean, what the hope is today that would carry-on her legacy. >> well. it's in the book. i can read it? >> what? >> i can read it. it's in the book. >> as for the dedication, hillary clinton are the leader of my lifetime. they give me courage determination, strength, skill, grit, and laughter. all the things that we need to change the world. [applause] >> yes, sir?

>> like you, i'm fan gnattic about franklin and eleanor. a revelation came recently that many of the dozen of conversations i've had. franklin roosevelt's polio was considered by many to be considered a defining moment in life. especially making giving him degree of humility. if the revelation that came to me is actually was more of a defining moment for eleanor. and that because of franklin's illnd, she was forced to come out of her shell. and i wondered what your thoughts were. >> i disagree. >> okay. [laughter] i think jeff is brilliant. i think his book on fdr and polio will stand the test of time for generation. i think the film in the library that which jeff wrote and are in narratedded is pitch perfect. and incredibly revealing.

the fore lore that eleanor became political because fdr got polio. they already redefined their relationship. they had -- she had already begun to be political, and to go out in to resume the work that she had done in the settlement communities, which was, you know, in some ways a effort. she learned a lot. world war i really was the defining thing for eleanor. because she understood the sacrifice that the soldiers were going to face. she defied convention to repeal against proper behavior to have conversation with feed and give comfort to men she didn't know as they left on the train to a dirty, soot laden, hot, fealt

union station. she became more acquainted with international women. she helped translate for the international conference of working women in washington. she began to see the importance of women's suffrage which she didn't get before. she learned to create her life for herself in a way that allowed her to rebel and not have to leave calling cards for everybody. and then at the same time, the discovery of franklin's love for lucy herrer is, we don't know if it was an affair. we know that franklin -- they loved each other. when they came back to reconcile, and he takes her to london and to france after the war. when he goes to investigate the

conditions of the american fleet it's -- it has a profound impact on her. she goes to hospitals, she goes to battle fields. she sees unburied soldiers. she sees decimated towns where there are just sticks, you know, burned sticks. she comes home from that determined to work to prevent that. and so she begins to reach tout carrie chapman cat. she becames more aqaipted in ab intimated way. trust friend way as much as she could transcend the various of class. with immigrants and with working -- with labor and especially with working women. and so it is a story that the roosevelts created to give eleanor the political cover that

she needed to have to go out and help keep his career alive. now did polio -- his polio change her? absolutely. she was terrified by it. terrified for him. and terrified that she was going lose this independents that she craved? a way that would confine her to the bedroom upstairs in the house. she was already tat before then. [inaudible] >> i want to thank you for your comments about eleanor today. it was terrific. i'm intrigued by your comment on public education as a high school history teacher. i have become afraid while i know that corporations like mobile exxon are talking about the role of science, education, and matt -- math i'm worried we lose a sense of history. i look around the room and see

very interested people and some great provoking thoughtful question. i'm concerned about the missing numbers of young people, you know, i think we need to carry this message through to young people. more so perhaps than anyone else at this point. to followup with that. in term of review on public education, is there an idea -- is this the book her last book? the best subject for her to read on public education or is there an? >> well, she's certain talks about public education here. there are countless column on public education. and speeches she gave on public education. this book it's eleanor writing to juniors, seniors, under classmen. i opted to go with penguin classic and paperback so it would specifically be targeted to that community. they are teaching guides that go with it, and i skype in to

classroom that will have me. >> terrific. thank you. we're going try to followup. >> okay. god, you're so quiet! who disagrees with me? [laughter] oh, come on! [laughter] i feel like the nap -- nancy grace question. i have a circle of friends that are crazy of eleanor roosevelt. >> i don't mean she's perfect. i'm crazy about her too. >> no. in the new show in the museum. i have only seen half. i was delighted by the fact somewhere it says that fdr found her beautiful. >> yeah. she's gorgeous. >> i can see how -- >> look at this! does this woman look ugly to you? go in there and look at her wedding picture. right. look at her high school portrait. i mean, this woman had strawberry blond/reddish hair,

piercing blue eyes, and ugly teeth. okay. >> and a beautiful figure. >> and, you know, we do so much in this country to physically disparage people whether they are female or male if we don't like them. they have beer gut, they are bald, we don't like their glasses, we don't like their lipstick, we don't like the clothes they wear. i mean, we have got to be able, you know, to go back to that old adage of judging a person by the content of their character. and part of, i mean, eleanor did magazine spreads for "vogue." do i have hate the hair net? >> yes. is there a ground rule in every illustration and i picked for all of the georgia zillion book i have done?

no hair net picture. [laughter] but, you know, but that doesn't mean that she's ugly. so when i go in to -- when go in to classrooms who don't know her at all. and, you know, whether they're kindergarten classroom or third grade classroom or, you know, inner-city high school, i say, okay,let get past this. everybody looks at this and see an ugly dead white woman. why should i care about her? once you get that out there and you talk about what she did then you get past it. >> i wasn't addressing that. my real question was that. one, fdr's mother give him a hard time. number one. he was in college when i think they began courting. >> yeah. >> and two, it was pretty wonderful for fdr to be able to see her -- i'm not sure everybody considers her beautiful. he did. what does is say about him? >> that he was smart. [laughter]

[applause] anybody else? [laughter] wait, wait, wait, we have to share it. okay. >> switching gears. i've read that eleanor was a dry, for prohibition. is that correct? >> i'm sorry? >> that eleanor for was prohibition. >> yes. a dry. i'm sorry. hearing aids sometimes -- umm, her father was an alcoholic, he died of alcoholism and addiction to narcotics. her brother, her beloved brother was an alcoholic. she was not a fan of alcohol. as the daughter of an alcoholic, i get that.

does that mean that eleanor wanted -- after -- did eleanor try to change fdr's mind on this? no. did eleanor have alcohol served in the white house? yes. as the first press conference. she was the first person to announce that the white house is going serve 3.2% beer. so what she is very -- she drank. she loved a drink. t sort of scary what you know about people. [laughter] she was painfully personally aware of how alcohol could exacerbate human frailty. so she'll write columns later on, you know, moderation and her

question answer column. should my daughter drink? should my son drink. she's not saying don't drink. she's just saying be careful, watch what it does. -- don't fall in love with the bottle. does that answer your question, david? [inaudible] no, no, no. >> okay. >> i have a question. >> hi. >> you mentioned a couple of times and made a point of pointing out that eleanor roosevelt wasn't perfect. i was wondering what you could elaborate on what some of her flaws we were. thank you. [laughter] you were supposed to be my friend. [laughter] umm -- there's sometimes when you want somebody that you admire so much

who sees it and wants to speak out against something to go ahead and do it. and to say to your husband, the president, i don't care. i'm going to say it anyway. and so the things, for me, -- the two things that are the hardest for me -- the first is internment. i have to be very clear about this. eleanor was une qvcic belie publicly very, very, publicly opposed to internment before fdr signed the executive order. the day after fdr gives the great day of inif in inmy speech

which was the day after that she went on the radio to talk about pearl harbor. he was her voice they heard first. they hear his great speech the next day. hers within the happeny either. it's in the new exhibit too. she gets on a plane to fly from washington, d.c., their -- they're going refuel in chicago. she's in la guardia and they're going california. they hear all of these rumors fanned by the hurst newspapers that the japan subs in san francisco bay. eleanor recruits the plane and they go to san francisco and where does she go? japanese-american communities. she appears with japanese-americans in major rallies. she goes to tacoma, washington and stands in a major. it's no time for hyphen ens.

we are an american rally. we talks to justice william o. douglas who is on the extreme court to get arguments she can use with attorney general francis and fdr against internment. okay. she's very publicly opposed to internment. when fdr signs the exerktive -- executive order, eeaor however, about 22 months after that, 20 months after that there are riots in the camps. eleanor is in arizona visiting her daughter, and harrold tells the president that, quote, unquote, the camps are hemorrhaging to death. and so fdr asks eleanor to go to the camp. she goes to g.i. gila river --

whoand meets with one of the organizers in the riot. they have a long conversation. they continue to correspondent with each other. some of the correspondents which was destroyed. we only have snippets of it. she writes a very painful article called "in defense of american sportsmanship "for every argument she gives for internment. she gives one against it. and you can see how profoundly conflicted she is. she fights with fdr to adopt japanese-american families legally to -- japanese-american pen pal in the camp. she sends packages to the camps. she was -- she writes she to justice william in california who was

the dissenting judge in the case to try to use his dissent argument to fdr. and she doesn't make that publicly. she splits with fdr and comes out against it in' 44. there's a painful silence. you can tell how distressed she is she writes it disstills my soul to think of american children behind barbed wire. >> the the second thing is -- umm, it's hard to explain, but it has to deal with some internal behind the scenes deliberations about how to get

long fire. it was a very old political ally of fdr and played a huge role in the nomination in 1932. she has developed relationships with what we would, you know, five years later call zionists. and she is appearing in sin -- synagogues especially in communities where there have been violence. what she's doing is this dance. you know, this dance between using, you know, not assailing of the government's tamarty in refugee policy. in my day, but she's making it very painfully clear on the ground where she stands. ..