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stand-in. She also became involved in raising funds for the Women's Trade Union League—work that established her as a leader in the New York State Democratic Party, particularly among its female members. In turn, Franklin's future campaigns benefited from the solid relations that she forged among these women. Just before she and Franklin entered the White House in February of 1933, Eleanor published a particularly powerful editorial in the Women's Daily News. us began a long history of voicing her opinions in print— sometimes countering Franklin's own stances and policies—in more than 60 national magazine articles during her turn as First Lady. Beginning in 1936, Eleanor wrote a syndicated newspaper column that was published six days a week until her death in 1962. She reached millions of Americans with this unique platform, sharing details of her daily activities, but also her thoughts on race relations, equal rights, current events and her humanitarian concerns. Biographer Maurine Beasley asserts that Eleanor's encouragement of readers to respond to this column represented a true effort to help women in particular to "overcome social isolation" by "making public communication a two-way channel." With her use of this social media pre-cursor, Eleanor demonstrated herself as a future thinker, well ahead of her time. Many people fully expected Eleanor to run for office at some point in her life—they pushed her to consider a role as governor, senator, VP…and even president. e encouragement among American Democrats was so prevalent, in fact, that Eleanor was prompted to write an article for Look magazine titled "Why I Do Not Choose to Run." It was published in July of 1946, a little over a year after FDR's death. Below is an excerpt. e plain truth, I am afraid, is that in declining to consider running for the various public offices which have been suggested to me, I am influenced by the thought that no woman has, as yet, been able to build up and hold sufficient backing to carry through a program. Men and women both are not yet enough accustomed to following a woman and looking to her for leadership. If I were young enough it might be an interesting challenge, and we have some women in Congress who may carry on this fight. However, I am already an elderly woman, and I would have to start in whatever office I might run for as a junior with no weight of experience in holding office behind me. It seems to me that fairly young men and women should start holding minor offices and work up to the important ones, developing qualifications for holding these offices as they work. roughout the 1950s, Eleanor was invited to speak at innumerable national and international venues, and made countless influential appearances on TV and radio broadcasts. Even into her mid-to-late 70s, Eleanor continued her tremendous efforts as an appointee to the National Advisory Committee of the Peace Corps, and chair of the President's Commission on the Status of Women under JFK. At Eleanor's funeral services in November of 1962, American politician and diplomat Adlai Stevenson expressed his admiration for the controversial and groundbreaking former first lady. He stated that in her struggle to make a real difference in the world around her, "She would rather light a candle than curse the darkness," taking action when others spout only words. As a result, Stevenson eloquently concluded, "…her glow has warmed the world." D NO ONE CAN MAKE YOU FEEL INFERIOR WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT. Young Eleanor Roosevelt, 1898 72 | GRAVITAS MAGAZINE GravitasMag.com

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