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[Narrator] The Roosevelts had become extraordinary political partners. [Speaker 1] She kept at him on issues he might
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have, in the rush of business, wanted to
overlook. She kept him to a high standard.
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Anybody who ever saw her lock eyes with him
and say, 'Now Franklin, you should...' never forgot it.
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And even though he thought
her unrealistic sometimes,
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he never lost his affection or his wish to do
what he should do because she wanted him to do it.
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[Enacted Voice of Eleanor] Very often he would bait me into giving an opinion
by stating as his own a point of view, with which
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he knew I would disagree. I remember one occasion
I became extremely vehement and irritated. The next day,
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to my complete surprise, he calmly stated
as his own the arguments that I had given him.
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[Henry Morgenthau III] I think they played a game on this thing
that she would state her own position, and if it got
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shot down and Roosevelt was criticized, he would
just turn around and say. 'oh you know, my Misses.'
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In other words, FDR used Eleanor to test the limits.
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One instance, I think, where she was testing
limits was in the Marian Anderson affair.
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[Marian Anderson] singing
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[Narrator] In 1939, the African American singer
Marion Anderson was denied permission to perform
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in Constitution Hall in Washington DC by
the Daughters of the American Revolution.
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Eleanor, whose family had fought in the revolution,
belonged to the D.A.R. In protest, she resigned her
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membership. [Speaker 2] By then, she had the self-confidence
and the strength to stand alone because she knew
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in the depths of her soul that this was wrong.
[Narrator] Eleanor worked quietly behind the scenes.
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She helped arrange for Anderson
to sing at the Lincoln Memorial.
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[Broadcaster] 75,000 amass before Lincoln Memorial to
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hear Marion Anderson, colored contralto, make
her Capital debut at the Great Emancipator Shrine.
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[Andersen] singing My Country 'Tis of Thee.
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[James Farmer] My Country Tis of Thee, their first
song. She put such great emphasis upon
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"liberty." The D.A.R.'s refusal to allow her to
sing was a breach of that liberty. Sweet land of liberty!
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And oh, there were tears in my eyes.
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I think there were tears in the eyes
of almost everybody in that huge crowd.
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[Vernon Jarrett] I'm not too sure that America realized
what that concept symbolized,
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because it struck at the very depths of racism in America,
and everybody knew that Mrs. Roosevelt was
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behind this. [Farmer] This was something unique, having
a First Lady in the White House who was a good
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friend. She was much more of a friend than Franklin.
Franklin was a politician, and he weighed
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the political consequences of every answer and
every step that he took. He was a good politician
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too. But she spoke out of a conscience and acted
as a conscientious person. That was different.
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[Andersen] singing Ave Maria.
