March 17 – A Power Couple Weds

Posted on March 17, 2015


They were young—just 23 and 20 years old. They were distant cousins, so they already had the same last name. They both admired the President of the United States, who was also related to both of them, and who also shared their last name.

And they became important, and influential, and powerful, each separate and together.

On this date in 1905, Franklin D. Roosevelt married Eleanor Roosevelt. President Teddy Roosevelt walked the bride down the aisle.

(Eleanor was an orphan.)

They were born to wealthy families, but they did so much more, accomplished so much more, and influenced their nation and the whole world so much more than most people who are born to wealth.



Here's a teeny glimpse of just SOME of their accomplishments:
  • FDR was the longest-serving president in the history of the U.S.; he won a record four elections (although his last term was cut short by his death).
  • FDR was stricken with polio and lost the use of his legs; he worked with a Georgia spa and resort called Warm Springs to turn it into a center for the aid of polio victims.
  • FDR also served as Governor of New York, as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and as a state senator in New York.
  • FDR was president during the Great Depression and during World War II; his “New Deal” policies and wartime leadership helped shape the country and the world.
  • Eleanor was the longest-serving “First Lady” and shaped the role of the position.
  • Eleanor did a lot of public service, advocating for women's rights, civil rights for racial minorities, and even starting an experimental community for unemployed miners.
  • Eleanor was the first “First Lady” to hold press conferences, write a newspaper column, and speak at a national convention.
  • Eleanor became one of the United Nations' first delegates and chaired the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women for then-President John F. Kennedy.


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