Q: Was Mrs. Roosevelt responsible for much of his popularity amongst blacks?
A: Mrs. Roosevelt became Franklin Roosevelt's secret weapon. Many people assumed that he felt correctly toward us but didn't consider it advisable -- his dependency on the solid South -- to state it. Many people assumed that he put her up to do it because he couldn't. Now, that was the assumption. But I think much of what she did, she acted on her own. And he simply used her as an excuse, as if to say, "You know, I can't control you. How many of you can control your wives? I don't have any control over her. This is Eleanor. That's the way she is, and I can't do anything about it. I'm stuck with her." You know, in so many words. But many of us felt that this was his subtle way of expressing his personal feelings also. But Roosevelt never made any speeches to irritate the white South.
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