Eleanor Roosevelt gets the stamp of approval
ISSUE NO. 15
Eleanor Roosevelt won the trading card vote.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure if we’d have a clear winner off the bat. The field was wide. Depending on how one runs the numbers, there were more than 100 contenders (dead presidents plus vice presidents plus first ladies minus VPs who became president). Eleanor rose to the top, but there were some other clear candidates who stood out. In particular, lots of support for First Ladies in general! The most compelling argument submitted was:
“Girls rule boys drool.”
It sounds like there’s interest for cards out there, so I went out on a limb and ordered six new trading cards. My goal is to open a little store on my website and have these available for purchase.
Keep going to find out why Eleanor won and discover who’s on the other five cards.
Thanks for being here!
Presidential Doodler
Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the World
Thanks to Michelle, who included this quote when she voted. I’m adopting this as my personal mantra.
It’s not easy to narrow down the reasons you all voted for Eleanor. For the sake of brevity (ha!), here are just a few of the arguments for her:
Civil rights!
Education for all!
Women’s rights!She was badass. She really was the first First Lady to redefine the role and be involved in her husband’s administration. So much so that she actually ran the office of civilian defense for a short period of time and walked every day from the White House down to DuPont circle.
Because she is one of the greatest humans ever.
She was a champion of human rights. In fact, the UN charter was written under her supervision. Among all First Ladies, she had the most impact on the country.
Eleanor was a powerhouse of a personality with a list of accomplishments surpassing I'd say a good number of our presidents.
Random Eleanor Facts
I learned many of these during a tour of Val-Kill Cottage, Eleanor’s unexpectedly comfortable and modest home. (Take a peek.)
Eleanor was the several times great granddaughter of Founding Father Robert Livingston (the guy who gave George Washington the oath of office).
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She’s just a few months younger than her favorite uncle’s daughter — Alice Roosevelt. Theodore once said of his daughter Alice, “I can either run the country or I can attend to Alice, but I cannot possibly do both."
(It blew my mind to learn they were the same age. Anybody else?)
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She published over 7,000 articles. One article published during the Great Depression proved embarrassing for her husband. (This particular article isn’t a reflection of her entire body of work.)
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John F. Kennedy visited Eleanor to ask her to endorse his presidential candidacy. She agreed to … on the condition that he take a stronger stand for civil rights. Eventually, she became his chair for the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women.
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She continued to passionately support civil rights, even when the KKK put a $25,000 bounty on her head.
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“Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run, it is easier.”
The Runners Up
In addition to Eleanor Roosevelt, I turned this batch into trading cards:
Martin Van Buren
… because of his distinctive hair and memorable nicknames.
__________
Ulysses S. Grant
Ok, he only got one vote. From my mom. But I had a trading card doodle ready for him and it wasn’t a big lift.
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Betty Ford
Betty also only received one vote. Her submission cited for all the reasons that struck me when reading about first ladies recently: Betty was fearless, feminist even when that wasn’t popular, and she spoke publicly about her battles with both addiction and breast cancer…. at a time when people would barely say the words “breast” or “cancer”, let alone string them together. As Betty’s lone submission in my poll points out:
“We can only speculate about how many lives she saved by using her courageous voice.”
__________
Frances Cleveland
With Frank, I have husband/wife set. But the biggest reason was that one of her descendants voted for her. Also, she’s fascinating.
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Franklin Roosevelt
Like Grant, I already had a doodle ready to go. This card creates a shortest and longest presidency pair (William Henry Harrison; 31 and 1,461 days, respectfully). Plus, as one voter pointed out, “he was married to the boss babe herself Eleanor Roosevelt.”
P.S.
Forgive me for getting a little salesy here. If you like the Eleanor Roosevelt doodle, she’s not just on a trading card! You can also find her on a stamp, mug, note cards, tote bags, and more! Check out my little bitty store for more.
