presidents are humans too.
>> Wednesday, June 30, 2010
in my american history class today, we watched a video on franklin d. roosevelt. the video talked about his new deals, his actions through world war two, and the relationship he had with his wife and other women.
eleanor and roosevelt were married but he never was in love with her supposedly. he did later on fall in love with her social secretary lucy mercer. eleanor found out and he promised never to see lucy again. lucy ended up marrying someone else and moved down south. the two would not see each other until the last few years of roosevelt's life. the narrator described that when roosevelt was with lucy, he was at ease and was free from the pressure of being the president of the united states of america. from lucy, he received the warmth, the love, and the connection he never really had with eleanor.
i pretty much about cried watching the end part. sure roosevelt was the president of a nation, shouldering all the burdens of governing a nation, fighting a war, preserving political peace, and trying to jump start the nation's economy. in the end, however, a president is still a human. he (and i use he because there are no women presidents yet but who knows) still has wants and needs. he functions on the same food and water we do albeit probably a higher standard of it. he has friends, family, and enemies. he wants the warmth and love of a companion.
some people may hate roosevelt for his affairs with various women while married. i do. that doesn't mean i don't feel sad that he was married to a woman he never had that loving relationship with the same way he did with lucy mercer. it makes me tear up a bit to see that he had to pretty much go through his four terms without the vitality and energy that spending time with someone you love lends to you. at least in the end, he got to die in the company of the woman he loved.
roosevelt was the president of the united states of america and held power in his job. he waged wars and passed laws. in the end though, he's human just like the rest of us.
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