Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt was a prominent author, speaker, and civil rights activist and the longest serving First Lady in US history. She was appointed as a US delegate to the UN and chaired the committee that drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Roosevelt was also deeply engaged in women's issues throughout her life and chaired the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women, the Kennedy Administration's groundbreaking committee whose report on the status of American women is credited with helping ignite the start of second-wave feminism. For more stories of women in government and political service, visit our Civics / Government section. To enhance your budding diplomat's understanding of world affairs, visit our selection of Geography / History toys.