For some time it’s been a mystery to me why the greatest couple in the 20th century — as a couple and as individuals — have virtually gone down the black hole of memory in the United States. I speak of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, president of the United States for 12 years, and Eleanor Roosevelt, first lady of the land — and often in her time — called “first lady of the world.”
I am now re-reading Eleanor and Franklin, the splendid biography by Joseph Lash, which won the Pulitzer Prize in the early 1970s. An outstanding work of research, style and compassion, unlike most biographies about political figures that are churned out today with a mix of platitudes and lewd gossip.
[Rest of content follows with proper paragraph breaks and formatting…]