Eleanor Roosevelt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Eleanor Roosevelt - Essay Example She was a strong advocate for civil rights before it was a popular approach and struggled to improve the conditions of working women. On an international scale, she helped to form Freedom House, an organization dedicated to research and study of democracy around the world. She was also an early supporter of the United Nations, including forming a national association in America to help support the effort. As a result of her efforts, Roosevelt was appointed as a delegate to the UN General Assembly from 1945 to 1952 by then President Harry S. Truman, a position that was confirmed by the US Senate. As a delegate, she introduced and won approval for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In her later years, Roosevelt helped start the second-wave feminism as chairman of President Kennedy’s Commission on the Status of Women. All of these things contributed to her reputation as one of the most admired women of the 20th century. To gain a full understanding of Eleanor Rooseveltâ⠂¬â„¢s impact on life in America and in the world as we know it today, it is necessary to first understand her biography as a means of understanding her character. This leads to an understanding of how and why she changed the position of First Lady from its traditional conception to have the effects she had on future politics. This will include an examination into some of her more important activities, such as those mentioned above. It may not be evident from a glimpse of her lifetime activities and works, but Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was actually raised in a very traditionally Victorian household in which women were held to a rigid standard of behavior and education. She was born on October 11, 1884 as the oldest child of very wealthy socialite parents. â€Å"Her parents lived in style and comfort on their ample inheritances. They owned a townhouse staffed with servants on a fashionable Manhattan street. Anna had her own horse and