This Troubled World

by Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt’s stirring call for peace in the face of rising fascism.
 
We will have to want peace, want it enough to pay for it, pay for it in our own behavior and in material ways.
 
In 1938, with fascist regimes gaining strength and global tensions on the rise, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt published a visionary plan for achieving world peace. This Troubled World offers a clear-eyed assessment of the political climate in the aftermath of World War I and a set of pragmatic proposals for avoiding global violence.
 
Anticipating the United Nations by nearly a decade, Roosevelt calls for a new world court to replace the failed League of Nations. She speaks of the need to define aggressor nations and to establish a system of trade embargoes to punish wrongdoing. She also advocates for an international peacekeeping force to intervene where economic weapons are insufficient.
 
Along with these proposals—which were in direct opposition to the policies of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration—Mrs. Roosevelt concludes that world peace cannot be achieved with political machinery alone; it requires a popular commitment to tolerance and brotherly love.
 
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Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Classics

33 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1938

About the author

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was an American political leader who used her influence as an active First Lady from 1933 to 1945 to promote the New Deal policies of her husband, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, as well as taking a prominent role as an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, she continued to be an internationally prominent author and speaker for the New Deal coalition. She was a suffragist who worked to enhance the status of working women, although she opposed the Equal Rights Amendment because she believed it would adversely affect women. In the 1940s, she was one of the co-founders of Freedom House and supported the formation of the United Nations. Eleanor Roosevelt founded the UN Association of the United States in 1943 to advance support for the formation of the UN. She was a delegate to the UN General Assembly from 1945 and 1952, a job for which she was appointed by President Harry S. Truman and confirmed by the United States Congress. During her time at the United Nations chaired the committee that drafted and approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. President Truman called her the "First Lady of the World" in tribute to her human rights achievements.
She was one of the most admired persons of the 20th century, according to Gallup's List of Widely Admired People.

Reviews

[Diego Palomino · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well written, the problem I have with this book is that the content was hard to digest. The writing seem very naive specially for a First Lady. By 1938 the USA was one of the most belligerent nations in the world ie Cuba, and the Philippines, and one that manufactured and sold weapons throughout the world. I was also disappointed as I thought she was a woman with a mind of her own. Apparently not.

[Sandra Thierer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting if very short. Written in 1938 Mrs. Roosevelt presents her thoughts on how to prepare for a future of peace. She proposes an organization that would settle disputes between countries to avoid further wars. She also talks about acceptance of ideas that do not agree with your own and ways to find common ground to resolve disputes. Though written decades ago the book is certainly relevant today.

[Bethany Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good.

Seems like some of what she said would apply to 2022. More should read what she wrote. I doubt we'll ever truly have peace. But we need to start at home first.

[Galicius · Rating 3 out of 5]

This First Lady’s statement does sound as if it was made by the Vice President. She is aware of the state of things as they are in the US. She either omits or is not familiar with the already advanced terrors in Europe and our own aggressive moves abroad. This essay was published 1 January 1938. She mentions that USA is spending 12% of its budget on national defense. Compared to 2018 that was only one third of what USA is now spending which is more than the combined budget of its major unfriendly governments. She warns against private arms manufacture and unregulated exports. She appeals to the power of love best exercised on individual level to bring a change between nations.