Blanche Wiesen Cook, PhD, presents “Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume 3: The War Years and After, 1939–1962.”

5:00 p.m. Reception | 6 p.m. Presentation | 7 p.m. Book Signing

Historians, politicians, critics, and readers everywhere have praised Blanche Wiesen Cook’s biography of Eleanor Roosevelt as the essential portrait of a woman who towers over the 20th century. The third and final volume takes us through World War II, FDR’s death, the founding of the United Nations, and Eleanor Roosevelt’s 1962 death. It follows the arc of war and the evolution of a marriage, as the first lady realized the cost of maintaining her principles even as the country and her husband were not prepared to adopt them.

Eleanor Roosevelt continued to struggle for her core issues—economic security, New Deal reforms, racial equality, and rescue—when they were sidelined by FDR while he marshaled the country through war. The chasm between Eleanor and Franklin grew, and the strains on their relationship were as political as they were personal. She also had to negotiate the fractures in the close circle of influential women around her at Val-Kill, but through it she gained confidence in her own vision, even when forced to amend her agenda when her beliefs clashed with government policies on such issues as neutrality, refugees, and eventually the threat of communism.

These years—the war years—made Eleanor Roosevelt the woman she became: leader, visionary, guiding light. FDR’s death in 1945 changed her world, but she was far from finished, returning to the spotlight as a crucial player in the founding of the United Nations.

This is a sympathetic but unblinking portrait of a marriage and of a woman whose passion and commitment has inspired generations of Americans to seek a decent future for all people. Modest and self-deprecating, a moral force in a turbulent world, Eleanor Roosevelt was unique.

The reception and presentation, brought to you by the Institute for the Study of War and Democracy with generous support from the Strake Foundation, are free and open to the public, but please register to attend.

For more information or to register, call 528-1944 x 412.

About the author: Blanche Wiesen Cook is Distinguished Professor of History at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She is senior editor of the Garland Library of War and Peace, and author of Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume 1: The Early Years, 1884–1933; Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume 2: The Defining Years, 1933–1938; Crystal Eastman on Women & Revolution; and The Declassified Eisenhower. She is a former Vice President for Research at the American Historical Association.