Eleanor Roosevelt Was a Badass

I’ve always admired Eleanor Roosevelt. She defied the society of her day and forged a new path for women. She was a tireless fighter for the disadvantaged. During WWII, she traveled to the front to visit the troops, despite the danger. She was an early fighter for civil rights. One of her most famous quotes was to do something every day that scares you.

The older she got, the more badass she became.

Mood music:

http://youtu.be/ede2_tuZJp8

In the 1950s, when she was in her late 60s and early 70s, she insisted on driving around the country to promote her various causes. The Secret Service freaked. A former First Lady was a tempting target, especially given her support of civil rights. That made driving around the South particularly perilous.

As a compromise, she agreed to pack a pistol.

I remember learning about that during a visit to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, N.Y. But I had forgotten about it until Slate published a picture of her firearms license.

She didn’t let danger stop her, and she certainly didn’t let her age or sex stop her.

Have a look, and be inspired.

Eleanor Roosevelt's pistol license

One Reply to “Eleanor Roosevelt Was a Badass”

  1. She was so eminently quotable, but here’s one on security:

    “There never has been security. No man has ever known what he would meet around the next corner; if life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor.” – Tomorrow is Now, 1963

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