Eleanor Ihoosel - ell Emerges in i.i111 lle• Greatness
by Lash
as First Lady of the ■ IV orld in ili(.graphy
portant issues and to people in
Joseph Lash. special editorial
writer for the New York Post, has
written one of the great biogra-
phies of our time, and the subject
of his newest work emerges anew
as one of the great ladies of all
ages.
In "Eleanor Roosevelt," which
is subtitled "A Friend's Memoir—
a Close-Up View of the First)Lady
by
published
of the World."
Doubleday. Lash , lives up to the
title. evaluates the immense ac-
complishments of the eminent lady
life when you should have a
sense of security it is when you
are a child."
•
same year she spoke for
Dr. Stephen S. Wise at an Ameri-
can Jewish Congress dinner, on the
plight of Jewish refugees, and she
declared: - "This country should
not remain indifferent to the sor-
rows of other people of the
The
world . . ."
Lash tells about her work as
head of the Youth Aliyah advisory
committee, of her "adoption" of a
13-year-old Spanish boy whose par-
ents were killed in the Spanish
Civil War and of a Finnish war
orphan.
There were many dramatic ex-
periences in Eleanor Roosevelt's
life. Lash tells. for example. that
when. in the early days of the
Nazi terror. while speaking at
City College. New York. she was
heckled with cries. "The Yanks
are not coming," and she shot
back: "All right. All right. But
what if the Nazis are?"
Scores of incidents are recorded
how she came to the aid of many
people. how she defied criticism
when she thought and knew she
was right in her approach to im-
public life.
There is a long account of the
interest . Mrs. Roosevelt took in
Zionism and in Israel, in the UN
debates and in the role played by
the United States in approving the
parition plan in 1947 and in its
contemplation. At one point she
threatened to resign as the U. S.
representative at the t..".1 if Israel
were to be let down. and President
Truman pleaded with her to stay
on. It was while the ddlaate over
partition was still on. As Lash
reports:
"She informed the President
and Secretary Marshall that she
would have to state her feelings
publicly and if they wished her
to resign from the UN she would
do so . . . The President was
still for partition. He had not
Depart-
construed the State
ment's advocacy of a trusteeship
as an abandonment of the origi-
nal plan. She thought the people
down below had tried to put one
over on him. The trusteeship
proposal faded away. Mrs. Roose-
have
velt's resignation would
been a political disaster for the
President . . ."
Then Lash tells about Mrs.
Roosevelt as the "steadfast sup-
porter of Israel. which she de-
scribed, after her first trip there.
'in early 1952, as a 'breath of fresh
air' compared with the stagnation
she had found in the Arab coun-
tries. Israel reminded her of the
'spirit which founded America' in
the devotion, excitement, and
largeness of vision that were going
into the building up of the nation."
Lash continues at this point:
"Despite her sturdy support of
Israel, the Arabs considered her
a friend. She visited the refugee
camps. commenting afterward that
'human misery anywhere is heart-
breaking, and it is no less heart-
breaking when one feels that some-
thing could and should be done
about it.' She held the Arab gov-
ernments. with a little help from
the Communists, to blame for
keeping the refugees stirred up.
"Arab and Israeli. • Soviet-bloc
propagandist and British aristro-
crat. all respected her and most
listened to her. She had by 1953
become. as UN newsmen •reported.
•the chief tourist attraction' at
world headquarters."
Yet she was not reappointed to
the UN as U. S. delegate by Presi-
dent Eisenhower!
A footnote has historical inter-
est. Lash states: ".At Mrs. Roose-
velt's burial service in Hyde
Park, which was attended by the
three Presidents who had suc-
Gure-
F.D.R., David
ceeded
witsch, her good friend and per-
sonal physician, went up to Gen-
eral Eisenhower and asked him,
'How could it happen that you
did not make use of this lady?
We had no better ambassador."
Eisenhower shrugged
General
and moved off. Mr. Truman was
standing nearby and David re-
peated to him what he had just
said to the general. 'I made use
of her," Mr. Truman commented.
'I told her she was the First
Lady of the World.'"
Many distinguished personalities
pass in review in this book. The
events recorded. the people who
played their role in our history,
the world crises—all fade into
comparative insignificance when
contrasted with the greatness of
the First Lady described in Lash's
"Eleanor Roosevelt."
—P.S.
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The TB and Health Society favors
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piratory diseases:•
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT
and inter alia analyzes the events
that occurred in this country and
in other word areas during Mrs.
Roosevelt's lifetime.
In many respects this is a be-
hind-the-scenes look into the White
House. a glance at the major con-
flicts that marked the three terms
plus of Franklin D. Roosevelt's
administrations. reveals many facts
about the men and women who
surrounded the Roosevelts.
Lash's is such a warm evalu-
Lassie leading
ation. it is such a fine hut%an
document. that this biography
will be read with the greatest
of interest.
There were times when Mrs.
Roosevelt interceded with FDR in
matters that are now made known.
but which were then kept from
knowledge. There were
public
many points of anonymity. yet
there were times when the two
differed. Often. when Mrs. FDR's
views prevailed. they proved wise
and could be viewed as having
developed beneficially fOr America
and the world. There were many
Mrs. Roosevelt •faced
conflicts,
many challenges. and from all of
them she emerged the lady. the
sincere and dedicated supporter of
human causes. She had her
struggle with the leftists. with the
Youth Congress where much an-
tagonism developed against her.
but she always was able to face
opposition with great , courage—
and with the dignity that had. in-
deed. made her the First Lady of
the 1Vorld.
Cardinal Spellman had criticized
involving the
in matters
her
church-state issue. and she was
accused of anti-Catholicism. but as
in issues relating to Communism.
she emerged
in this one. too.
triumphant and the result was the
friendship bet ween her and the
catholic prelate.
There are several references to
her interest in Israel. She had re-
ct.ived a gift book made for her
in a children's village in what was
then Palestine. in 1940. and Lash
reports:
"Describing the efforts of Jew-
ish children. refugees from
Germany. to make new lives for
themselves. Mrs. Roosevelt said
she would show it (the gift book)
to children in this country, es-
pecially to those in under-
privileged areas 'because I think
it will give them courage' in the
work of rebuilding here. She
added: "In a world as troubled
as that of today. anything one
can do to make the lives of chil-
dren happier must be done with
a feeling of great satisfaction.
because if there is one time in
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
40—Friday, November 20, 1964
N'S
A
k tfak
Pak
Starting down Woodward from Putnam Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, at 9:25 a.m.
Join the fun! See 11 TV stars in person. Hear 12 big bands from
high schools all around the city. See 20 colorful floats with Lassie's
float in the lead, followed by favorites like Rub-A-Dub-Dub (this
year's Detroit School Contest winner.) See Christmas Carol
Santa Claus himself on his way to
by Mayor Cavanagh—and
and
Hudson's Toyland to be welcomed
you.
Watch the telecast on WWJ-TV, starting at 10:15
A.M., Sonny Eliot commentates; nationwide te1e.
cast on WJBK-TV, starting at 10
A.M., Arthur
Godfrey, Bess Myerson commentate.