dagblog - Comments for "Eleanor Roosevelt - Activist First Lady"

The Democratic Party today is

cmaukonen — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 04:26:49 +0000

In reply to It could be if Democrats look

The Democratic Party today is what you get when the Me Generation becomes Democrats. My biggest problem with Obama and more than a few Democrats is that they are spoiled technocrats and policy wonks and are lacking in sensitivity and empathy.

It could be if Democrats look

Ramona — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 03:31:00 +0000

In reply to To bad it's not the same

It could be if Democrats look back to where we were and what we've achieved, and have the guts to get back to basics again. Too many Democrats worked too hard as the party of the people to give it up to the bunch we've always fought against.

We're NOT just like Republicans--no matter how much our "leaders" want to turn us in that direction. This is NOT who we're supposed to be. We need to elect Democrats who are proud to be Democrats, or we all lose. (I'm still looking for that handbook. I know it's around somewhere.)

Democrats who get it today? Anthony Weiner. Dennis Kucinich. Russ Feingold. Barbara Boxer. Jim Clyburn. (I'm thinking. . .)

To bad it's not the same

cmaukonen — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 02:49:38 +0000

In reply to Good post, C. Eleanor was a

To bad it's not the same party though.

According to Wikipedia: "The

MrSmith1 — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 02:41:45 +0000

In reply to I think Dolly Madison was the

According to Wikipedia: "The title "First Lady" originated in the United States in 1849, when President Zachary Taylor called Dolley Madison "First Lady" at her state funeral while reciting a eulogy written by himself ..." "Harriet Lane, niece of bachelor President James Buchanan was the first woman to be called First Lady while actually serving in that position. The phrase appeared in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Monthly in 1860, when he wrote, "The Lady of the White House, and by courtesy, the First Lady of the Land." Once Harriet Lane was called First Lady, the term was applied retrospectively to her predecessors."

Good post, C. Eleanor was a

Ramona — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 02:35:13 +0000

In reply to Eleanor Roosevelt - Activist First Lady

Good post, C. Eleanor was a grand lady, a true friend of labor, and a tireless worker for civil rights before it was the popular thing to do. Her resignation from the DAR over their treatment of marian Anderson and her subsequent invitation to Anderson to sing at the Lincoln Memorial marked her as someone to be hated and derided by the other side, and they did it with a vengeance.

She was an easy mark--awkward and homely, with a voice worse than nails on a blackboard--but if she was bothered by them she never let it be known in public.

Thanks for another reminder of the paths a true Democrat takes. I'm proud to be a member of the same party as dear Eleanor Roosevelt.

I think Dolly Madison was the

trkingmomoe — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 02:21:54 +0000

In reply to Well, her most famous moment

I think Dolly Madison was the first wife to be called "First Lady." Anyone out there know for sure?

Well, her most famous moment

Doctor Cleveland — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 01:58:20 +0000

In reply to I thought she made deserts or

Well, her most famous moment is saving the Constitution, the Declaration, and a portrait of Washington while the British troops were closing in on the going-to-have-be-Whitewashed-after-the-Brits-burn-it House. So that's her old-school history book claim to fame.

Her real achievements are stereotypically "for the ladies" but they matter, because she ended up essentially being protocol chief for her husband and, before him, for Jefferson (who as a widower had no first lady). Jefferson and Madison were so deep in their own heads, and so committed to their own idea of being revolutionaries, that they were going to dispense with any kind of basic etiquette toward foreign ambassadors (who represented 1. massive navies and 2. our only trading partners). Mrs. Madison had to become their ambassador to the actual world, and sort out the problem of how you develop a set of diplomatic niceties that a.) loudly, clearly say "Democratic Republic" instead of monarchy, b.) still suggest the actual dignity of our national offices, and c.) don't completely infuriate representatives of major powers for no good reason. Trickier to solve than it sounds.

Will this be on the test?

Donal — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 01:01:42 +0000

In reply to Eleanor Roosevelt - Activist First Lady

Will this be on the test?

Cool post. Thanks.

kgb999 — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 00:50:11 +0000

In reply to Eleanor Roosevelt - Activist First Lady

Cool post. Thanks.

I thought she made deserts or

cmaukonen — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 00:46:10 +0000

In reply to Good post, and timely

I thought she made deserts or something.