Chapter 55
Summary
- The chapter is set during the reelection campaign of Franklin Roosevelt, from the point of view of Eleanor Roosevelt.
- Eleanor is frustrated by the lies told by Steve Woodburn, a member of Roosevelt's team, specifically his public misstatement about racial segregation in the military.
- She is present with Franklin at a Madison Square Garden rally, watching as he delivers a speech about the importance of peace and military preparation.
- Eleanor expresses frustration that segregated black servicemen are not given the chance to fight like their white colleagues.
- Backstage after the rally, Eleanor interacts with various figures, including members of the Democratic National Committee.
- She observes her husband's apparent lack of worry about the ongoing international war situation.
- Steve Woodburn leaves to answer a few questions from the press, delaying Franklin's and Eleanor's departure.
- A disturbance breaks out near the guarded entrance of their train involving a man attacking a black police officer. The man is revealed to be Steve Woodburn.
- Eleanor insists to her husband that Woodburn should face several consequences for his actions, including a public apology and correction of his previous misstatement about segregation in the military.
- Franklin agrees to action, promising to push for integration in the army's officer corps and the appointment of black officers to senior posts in the War Department.
- Franklin acknowledges that Eleanor and her friend Mary have been right about Steve all along.