On December 8, 1941, Eleanor reflects on the superstition that tragedies come in threes. The first was the September death of Franklin’s mother, Sara Roosevelt, whose passing coincided with a massive oak falling at Hyde Park, a coincidence the family saw as her final sign.

The second was Eleanor’s brother Hall, long ravaged by alcoholism, who died of cirrhosis. His decline and death felt to Eleanor like losing a son, deepening her grief.

The third blow arrives with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. As assistant director for volunteer coordination in the Office of Civilian Defense, Eleanor is shaken but determined to project calm. She notes the death toll and fleet losses, recalls her radio address urging Americans to rise above fear, and resolves to support the country through what lies ahead.

At the Capitol, Eleanor steadies herself while James escorts Franklin to the rostrum amid bipartisan applause. Eleanor sits with former First Lady Edith Wilson, recognizing that life has irrevocably changed. She worries about Brud at sea, Elliott preparing to fly, and her children on the Pacific coast, and thinks of Mary McLeod Bethune leading the National Assembly of Women’s Clubs and Mary’s grandson now eligible to serve under EO 8802. Franklin begins, “Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy,” formalizing America’s entry into war.