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 public life of her own. She persuaded Franklin to stay in politics after he was stricken with a paralytic illness in 1921, which cost him the normal use of his legs, and began giving speeches and appearing at campaign events in his place. Following Franklin's election as Governor of New York in 1928, and throughout the remainder of Franklin's public career in government, Roosevelt regularly made public appearances on his behalf, and as First Lady while her husband served as President, she significantly reshaped and redefined the role of First Lady. Though widely respected in her later years, Roosevelt was