Pulitzer Prize Biography Winner

Eleanor and Franklin

by Joseph P. Lash

Summary

Joseph P. Lash chronicles the marriage and partnership of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt, drawing heavily on Eleanor's private papers and his own long friendship with her. The book follows their courtship, the strains of his political career and her growing public role, and the way two very different people shaped each other and the nation. It is as much a study of Eleanor's emergence as a major figure as it is a portrait of a presidency.

Historical Context & Significance

Lash's book won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the National Book Award and was later adapted for television.