Leadership_-_Eleanor_Roosevelt_and_Martin_Luther_King_Jr.

Leadership Essay ~ Comparison of Eleanor Roosevelt and Martin Luther King Jr. “The First Lady of the World” was the name given to Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, by Harry Truman. She was born on 11 October 1884 to parents from prominent families and had a very happy early childhood. Sadly her mother died of diphtheria when Eleanor was eight years old and two years later, her father also died. She was seemingly unaffected by her mother’s death, but her father’s death caused her to become withdrawn, refusing to interact with her friends. She was cared for after that by her grandmother and her aunt. At fifteen she was sent to finishing school in London. She thrived on her new environment, absorbing a self discipline that would remain with her all her life. She returned home a confident young woman, ready to make her debut into Society. It was during this time that her distant cousin entered her life. She married him, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in 1905, after a three year courtship. She did not plan for a future as a politician’s wife, but five years after their marriage, FDR decided to run for the New York State Legislature. As any loving wife would in those days, she gave him all her support.Eleanor was a constant presence in her husband’s political life. In 1921, FDR was struck down by poliomyelitis and never walked again. Eleanor became even more involved in her husband’s political life as she knew he would have to rely on information from people around him because of his disability. She became involved in state politics, travelling extensively and working for political causes she considered to be important. She invited people from all walks of life, social workers, union leaders and writers to dinner. These people were able to keep FDR involved with current political events. All this also brought Eleanor in to contact with many prominent political figures. She advocated better working conditions for women. She wanted to see an end to children working. She supported birth control, decent housing and world peace. FDR ran for president in 1932. Eleanor, later, declared “I did not want my husband to be president. It was pure selfishness on my part, and I never revealed my feelings on the subject to him.” She believed that her role as First Lady signalled “the end of any personal life of my own.” But she embraced her role wholeheartedly, continuing her support of her husband. After America joined the Second World War she supported American troops at home and abroad, even visiting England at the behest of Queen Elizabeth. She even gained the respect of Winston Churchill. During her life as First Lady, Eleanor, as already stated, travelled extensively meeting world leaders. As she tried to continue her husband’s work, she put herself forward in many areas of the Democratic Party’s machinations. She continued a friendship with Winston Churchill. Harry Truman, as president, made her a delegate to the newly formed United Nations, the only female. Eleanor had, throughout her late husband’s presidency, attended international political conferences. The UN had started as the Inter-Allied Declaration, which had been signed in London on 12 June 1941. It was followed by the Atlantic Charter at which a set of principles for international collaboration in maintaining peace and security was proposed by Winston Churchill and FDR. In 1942 representatives of twenty six Allied nations fighting the Axis Powers pledged their support for the Atlantic Charter by signing the “Declaration by United Nations. It was in this document that the term United Nations was used for the first time, suggested by FDR. Following this meeting a further declaration was signed in Moscow in 1943, by the governments of the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and China. It called for the early establishment of an international organisation to maintain peace and security. This was reaffirmed in Teheran on 1 December 1943. The conferences continued at Dumbarton Oaks on 21 September to 7 October 1944, followed by The Yalta Conference attended by Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt. It was here that they resolved to establish “a general international organisation to maintain peace and security.” So it was important to Eleanor to continue her husband’s work. She accepted her appointment not really understanding the enormity of the task. Whilst the other delegates along with a huge number of State Department officials arrived at a Manhattan pier to catch the Queen Elizabeth from a special train in a motorcade with flashing lights and sirens. Eleanor arrived accompanied by her personal friend and secretary. They made their goodbyes and Eleanor, carrying her own bag Lonely Eleanorproceeded to walk up the gangway on her own. She was soon recognised and taken to her stateroom where she spent an hour reading official documents. This reading, filled as it was with gobbledygook, became a daily struggle. Eleanor was to chair a committee that would require all her tenacity, skills and personal qualities. It was this task which would stretch her leadership abilities to their fullest extent. After much time spent talking and listening to delegates and politicians, eventually Eleanor was acclaimed chairman of the United Nations Committee on Human Rights. This meant writing an international bill of rights. It was Eleanor Roosevelt’s ability to lead this committee to a successful conclusion that has made her such a great leader. Tenacity, courtesy and the ability to negotiate are tools of a great leader. Shouting one’s successes can be important but the ability to stay on the course is also vital. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 at his family home in Atlanta, Georgia. King was an eloquent Baptist minister and leader of the civil-rights movement in America from the Mid-1950s until his death by assassination in 1968. King promoted non-violent means to achieve civil-rights reform and was awarded the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. King's grandfather was a Baptist preacher. His father was pastor of Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church. King earned his own Bachelor of Divinity degree from Crozier Theological Seminary in 1951 and earned his Doctor of Philosophy from Boston University in 1955. While at seminary King became acquainted with Mohandas Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolent social protest. On a trip to India in 1959 King met with followers of Gandhi. During these discussions he became more convinced than ever that nonviolent resistance was the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom. As a pastor of a Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama, King lead a Black bus boycott. He and ninety others were arrested and indicted under the provisions of a law making it illegal to conspire to obstruct the operation of a business. King and several others were found guilty, but appealed their case. As the bus boycott dragged on, King was gaining a national reputation. The ultimate success of the Montgomery bus boycott made King a national hero. Dr. King's 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail inspired a growing national civil rights movement. In Birmingham, the goal was to completely end the system of segregation in every aspect of public life (stores, no separate bathrooms and drinking fountains, etc.) and in job discrimination. Also in 1963, King led a massive march on Washington DC where he delivered his now famous, I Have A Dream speech. King's tactics of active nonviolence (sit-ins, protest marches) had put civil-rights squarely on the national agenda. On April 4, 1968, King was shot by James Earl Ray while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was only 39 at the time of his death. Dr. King was turning his attention to a nationwide campaign to help the poor at the time of his assassination. He had never wavered in his insistence that nonviolence must remain the central tactic of the civil-rights movement, nor in his faith that everyone in America would someday attain equal justice.