Chapter Nine: Partners Summary and Analysis

In his second term, Franklin depended more and more on Eleanor to be his eyes and ears. As a result, she became a better observer, a better reporter—so that she could portray everything she witnessed as accurately as possible to him. He also sought her opinion on current matters before the country and on policy issues. Eleanor would never confront Franklin with something she wanted done. Rather, she would expose him to her ideas by suggesting he read a book or by inviting a guest to dinner who represented her ideas and have him sit next to her husband at the dining room table.

While Franklin heralded in the New Age, Eleanor was its conscious. But Franklin was a politician at heart and if Eleanor was going in a direction that wouldn't stand up politically...