Eleanor Roosevelt Burns' dismissal of a possible sexual relationship between Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok as "tabloid" material. Pulitzer Prize winning historian John Loughey was similarly dismayed that the Newport affair was not included in the series. Roosevelt and Hickok's relationship is the subject of Susan Quinn's 2016 novel, "Eleanor and Hick: The Love Affair That Shaped a First Lady". Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (; October 11, 1884 – November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat and activist. She served as the First Lady of the United States from March 1933 to April 1945 during her husband President Franklin
Eleanor Roosevelt becoming First Lady, stating her intention to be only a "backdrop for Bertie." Eleanor's distress at these precedents was severe enough that Hickok subtitled her biography of Roosevelt "Reluctant First Lady". With support from Howe and Hickok, Roosevelt set out to redefine the position. According to her biographer Blanche Wiesen Cook, she became "the most controversial First Lady in United States history" in the process. Despite criticism of them both, with her husband's strong support she continued with the active business and speaking agenda she had begun before assuming the role of First Lady in an era when few married