Eleanor Roosevelt: 1946-1952

Eleanor Roosevelt: 1946-1952

1946	Pushes Truman to keep wage and price controls Co-chairs committee to investigate race riot in Columbia, Tennessee Refuses congressional pension Convenes a meeting of all women delegates to the UN Unanimously elected chair of UN Committee on Human, Social and Cultural Concerns (Committee Three) and of UN Committee on Economic and Social Concerns (ECOSOC) "nuclear committee" charged with developing permanent UN Commission on Human Rights Visits refugee camps Opposes Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech Supports Baruch Plan on Atomic Energy Debates Soviet delegate Andrei Vishinsky regarding refugee resettlement Emerges as the world's foremost spokesperson for human rights Writes "Why I Do Not Choose to Run," and "Human Rights and Human Freedom"
1947	Chairs 18-nation UN Human Rights Commission charged with drafting a declaration of human rights Spearheads the creation of Americans for Democratic Action Refuses to accept NAACP petition to UN Opposes Truman Doctrine for operating outside the UN Supports Marshall Plan Supports India which, under Gandhi's leadership, wins independence from Britain Criticizes Truman for requiring loyalty oaths for government employees Shifts from supporting trusteeship to endorsing separate Jewish state Rebukes Henry Wallace and the Progressive Citizens of America Writes "The Russians Are Tough," and "Should a Negro Boy Ask a White Girl to Dance?"
1948	Delivers lecture,"The Struggles for the Rights of Man," at the Sorbonne Opposes Mundt-Nixon Bill Address NAACP annual convention from steps of Lincoln Memorial War erupts in Palestine; threatens resigning from UN to pressure Truman to recognize Jewish homeland Mao defeats Chiang Kai-Shek and China becomes a communist nation Korean War begins Disagrees with State Department policy toward Russia Reluctantly endorses Truman for re-election Presents Universal Declaration of Human Rights to General Assembly for adoption Begins ABC radio program Writes "Liberals in This Year of Decision.," "Plain Talk about Wallace," and "The Promise of Human Rights."
1949	Debates Cardinal Spellman over federal aid to parochial schools Appears on "Meet the Press" Criticizes Taft-Hartley restrictions Writes This I Remember, the second volume of her autobiography, and "Making Human Rights Come Alive."
1950	Opposes Dennis v. United States; supports free speech Campaigns for Helen Gahagan Douglas in her unsuccessful Senate campaign against Richard Nixon Begins NBC radio show Refuses to appear as character witness for Alger Hiss, but is not convinced he is a spy Writes (with Helen Ferris) Partners: The United Nations and Youth, and "If I Were a Republican Today."
1951	Opposes McCarthy; decries "politics of fear" Leads US delegation to General Assembly meeting in Paris Conducts weekly broadcast for "Voice of America" in French to the French (later also broadcasts in German, Spanish and Italian) Writes "The Seven People Who Shaped My Life" and the foreword to Helen Keller's The Story of My Life
1952	Defends The Nation when McCarthyites threaten censorship Criticizes Eisenhower for not defending George Marshall from attacks by McCarthy Supports Stevenson in his presidential bid against Eisenhower Addresses 1952 Democratic convention on the UN Visits Lebanon, Syria and Jordan and meets with displaced Palestinians; travels to Israel and Pakistan; spends a month in India meeting with Nehru, then visits Nepal, Indonesia and the Phillippines to study democratic development in Asia Heads US delegation to inauguration of Chilean President Carlos Ibanez; meets with Chilean protestors and rebels Speaks to UN on political rights of women Reluctantly resigns from the UN delegation after Eisenhower wins election Writes the forewords to Beauty Behind Barbed Wire: The Arts of the Japanese in Our War Relocation Camps by Allen H. Eaton, A Fair World for All: The Meaning of the Declaration of Human Rights by Dorothy Canfield Fisher, and To Win These Rights: A Personal Story of the CIO in the South by Lucy Randolph Mason. Writes the Introduction to The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.