Here's what Murray Rothbard had to say about Eleanor when writing about the origins of the welfare state:
Perhaps the leading force emerging from the women's statist, social-welfare movement was none other than Eleanor Roosevelt (b. 1884), perhaps our first bisexual First Lady. Eleanor fell under the influence of the passionately radical London prep school headmistress, Madame Marie Souvestre, who apparently set Eleanor on her lifelong course.
Back in New York, Eleanor joined Florence Kelley's National Consumers League, and became a lifelong reformer. During the early 1920s, Eleanor was also active in working for, and financially supporting, Lillian Wald's Henry Street Settlement, and Mary Simhkovitch's Greenwich House. In the early 1920s, Eleanor joined the WTUL, and helped to finance that radical organization, agitating for maximum-hour and minimum-wage laws for women. Eleanor became a close friend of Molly Dewson, who later joined the Social Security Board, and of Rose Schneiderman. Eleanor also brought her friend, Mrs. Thomas W. Lamont, wife of the then-most-powerful Morgan partner, into her circle of social-reform agitators.
-RW
Looking at O'l Eleanor makes me reach for the eyewash.
ReplyDeleteHere's a fun trivia question. What was Eleanor's maiden name? (drum roll) Answer: ROOSEVELT!!
Aaaah when cousins marry.
It's strange that Murray felt the need to mention the woman's sexuality ("perhaps our first bisexual First Lady"). Who cares about that?
ReplyDeleteWhen he wrote that, cultural-Marxist-enforced political correctness had not yet prevented the discussion of the topic in a historically judgmental way. In the context of 1920s America, collectivism was still considered by many to be radical, countercultural and deviant. So was Eleanor's lifestyle choice. Obviously, you're free to form your own opinion of the validity of connecting the two.
DeleteRoosevelt confiscates Americans' gold in 1933 to remove constraints on the FED and allow it to print all the fiat money it wants. 82 years later his wife's mug is being considered for the new fiat $10 bill. It makes perfect sense.
ReplyDeleteI vote for Eleanor!!!