ABSTRACT

Picture a train racing through the darkness. Most of the passengers are sleeping, but one woman is sitting erect in the lighted window. As the miles rush by, she works busily on the papers before her, drafting her daily newspaper column, writing letters, reading reports, and going over her notes for tomorrow's speeches. Next morning, when the train pulls into the station, she warmly greets a welcoming deputation and kneels down to receive a child's gift of flowers. By the time the group has piled into cars for the day's round of visits, the visitor is already engrossed in questioning her hosts about life in this particular town, asking what the people need and how the government can help. The period is the 1930s, and the woman is Eleanor Roosevelt.