Book review of Eleanor by David Michaelis - The Washington Post

Throughout her childhood Eleanor Roosevelt was desperate for the approval of Theodore Roosevelt. Because her adoring father, Elliott, had died of alcoholism, she leaned on her swashbuckling Uncle Ted for guidance. She relished the way he spoke full-throatedly about North American bird life and read aloud Norse legends. For Eleanor he was the best supercharged citizen to emulate. Until one day, when Uncle Ted explained to his favorite niece that war, for all its horror, could cleanse the soul with patriotic uplift. “I rebelled at the time,” Eleanor later remembered, “and still rebel at the thought that war alone can bring out the best in people.” As David Michaelis makes clear in “Eleanor” — an excellent single-volume biography of America’s greatest first lady — modest rebellion best encapsulated her paradoxical personality, which was anchored in Victorian morality and cutting-edge feminist bravery. With her toothy smile and genial radiance, utterly devoid of pretense, Eleanor epitomize

Throughout her childhood Eleanor Roosevelt was desperate for the approval of Theodore Roosevelt. Because her adoring father, Elliott, had died of alcoholism, she leaned on her swashbuckling Uncle Ted for guidance. She relished the way he spoke full-throatedly about North American bird life and read aloud Norse legends. For Eleanor he was the best supercharged citizen to emulate. Until one day, when Uncle Ted explained to his favorite niece that war, for all its horror, could cleanse the soul with patriotic uplift. “I rebelled at the time,” Eleanor later remembered, “and still rebel at the thou