Leadership the Eleanor Roosevelt Way: Timeless Strategies From the First Lady of Courage

• Author: Major Karen L. Douglas2
• Pages: 07

2003] BOOK REVIEWS 163

LEADERSHIP THE ELEANOR ROOSEVELT WAY: TIMELESS STRATEGIES FROM THE FIRST LADY OF COURAGE1

REVIEWED BY MAJOR KAREN L. DOUGLAS2

Women, whether subtly or vociferously, have always been a tremendous power in the destiny of the world.3

This quote from Eleanor Roosevelt summarizes her faith in the power of women to effect change on a global scale. In her biography of Eleanor Roosevelt, Robin Gerber presents a chronological roadmap of Roosevelt's life, and broadcasts Roosevelt's call to action for women to grasp the courage within themselves to take their rightful place in world leadership. This book traces Roosevelt's life, from shy orphan to what is arguably the most accomplished female leader in American history. Roosevelt's evolution illustrates Gerber's point that regardless of a woman's background or temperament, she should become involved in shaping world events.

Gerber brings her academic skills as a senior scholar at the Academy of Leadership at the University of Maryland to focus on Roosevelt's legacy of leadership. She illustrates Roosevelt's techniques by relating examples from Roosevelt's life and from the lives of contemporary women. This simplified look at Roosevelt's life makes for an easy-to-read book, which has the power to galvanize even the most inexperienced and sheltered of women to take a hand in constructing the world's future.

This review discusses the book's qualities as both a historical biography and as a leadership blueprint. Further, it discusses the book's failure to adequately explore the controversial but critical events in Roosevelt's life. Finally, it reviews the lessons learned from Roosevelt's life that are readily applicable to the life of a judge advocate.

Gerber introduces the theme of her book in the opening preface, stating that the book is a narrative biography, chronologically analyzing the

1. ROBIN GERBER, LEADERSHIP THE ELEANOR ROOSEVELT WAY: TIMELESS STRATEGIES

   FROM THE FIRST LADY OF COURAGE (2002).

2. U.S. Air Force. Written while assigned as a student, 52d Judge Advocate Officer Graduate Course, The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School, U.S. Army, Charlottesville, Virginia.

3. GERBER, supra note 1, at 106.

   leadership lessons Roosevelt learned in each part of her life.4 Gerber wrote the book for women, intentionally employing the whole-life narrative concept because Gerber believes women respond better to such formats.5 The author explains her approach in giving practical examples taken from Roosevelt's and other women's lives by opining that such examples bring immediacy and greater relevance to the leadership advice.6 The contemporary examples Gerber provides were culled from her personal acquaintance, and through her study of women leaders at the University of Maryland's Academy of Leadership. Gerber's historical and biographical information regarding Roosevelt is soundly founded on the scholarly research of historical authors Blanche Weisen Cook, Allida Black, and James McGregor.7

   Gerber presents a glowing biography of Roosevelt, focusing on positive and publicly acceptable events in Roosevelt's life. Gerber virtually ignores Roosevelt's likely victimization of incest by her uncles,8 her permanent withdrawal of sexual relations with her husband,9 her failures as a mother,10 her failed Authurdale settlement experiment,11 and the failure of her long-term romantic relationship with Lorena Hickock.12 In fact, Gerber never addresses the well-documented lesbian affair13 between Roosevelt and Hickock, instead offering only two passing mentions of Hickock.14 For this reason, persons interested in reading a full and accurate biography on Eleanor Roosevelt should not rely on this book. The

4. Id. at preface.

5. Id. at x.

6. Id.

7. Id.

8. 1 BLANCHE WEISEN COOK, ELEANOR ROOSEVELT, 1884-1933, at 126 (1992). Gerber's book utterly omits this formative experience in Roosevelt's life. See GERBER, supra

   note 1.

9. Id. at 232.

10. Id. at 47. Gerber's chapter on "Mothering: Training for Leadership" brushes aside accusations by the Roosevelt children (and Roosevelt's own admissions) that she absented herself from her children's upbringing in order to devote herself to political pursuits, and instead laughably claims Roosevelt's leadership techniques were gleaned from her motherhood experiences. Id.

11. Id. at 115, 241. Gerber's minimizing treatment of the failed planned community (that cost the federal government a great deal of money, and the Roosevelt administration a great deal of embarrassment) is limited to a single...