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A very engaging television series that has been appearing on CNN in recent weeks is "First Ladies." It is focused on some iconic presidential wives, blending interviews, news reports, and rare archival film footage to present Michelle Obama, Jackie Kennedy, Nancy Reagan, and Eleanor Rooseveltso far. The two final episodes will feature Lady Bird Johnson and Hilary Clinton. (All of these Sunday night programs will be subsequently available on demand, via cable/satellite and CNN apps.)

Although these six first ladies all played distinctive roles, the one who clearly stands out as a national and international figure is Eleanor Roosevelt. Born into a wealthy family in 1884, she lost her mother and father in the early 1890s and later attended a private finishing school in England. She married her distant cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1905, and his political career prompted her to be active for civic and political purposes, too. Aside from being the longest-serving first ladysince FDR served four terms as presidentshe was also an acclaimed diplomat and a crusader for many causes.

As the "First Ladies" program devoted to her revealed, one of her causes was civil rights for African-Americans. Her productive efforts for that purpose prompted the Ku Klux Klan to offer $25,000 to anyone who would kill her, but the heroic female leader persisted.

As a "Western Courier" article pointed out on April 27, 1960, a week before her scheduled talk at Morgan Gym, "Always interested in social and political matters, she helped organize a nation-wide organization of Democratic women," and she was very active in her husbands campaigns for the presidency, too. Beyond that, she was a groundbreaking woman in many ways: "She was the first wife of a president of the United States to maintain a career of her own, the first to hold regular press conferences, and the first to travel by plane."

After FDRs death in 1945, she also served as an influential, much-celebrated U. S. delegate to the United Nations, for seven years. In fact, during 1946 she was elected President of the U. N.s Commission on Human Rights, and in that role, she supervised the drafting of a major world statement, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Later, she chaired President Kennedys Commission on the Status of Women, working to expand roles for women in the workplace and make other contributions to female equality. It is not surprising that an organization with female leadership, the Western Community Forum, led by Betty Mulder and strongly supported by the American Association of University Women, sponsored her visit to Macomb.

Mrs. Roosevelt was then 75 years old, and everyone regarded her as a remarkable national and international leader. At the lecture event, Mrs. Mulder introduced her to the huge crowd as "the worlds best-known and most respected living woman."

Prompted by the Cold War with Russia, which had developed after World War II and had been causing great national concern, she had titled her lecture "Is America Facing World Leadership?" Mrs. Roosevelt was striving to make sure that Americans were focused intensely upon combatting Russias influence on many other nations.

The "Macomb Journal" article about her lecture indicated that at the outset of her program she briefly stated the problem facing the United States: "Two strong ideasthe democratic idea and the communist ideaare struggling for the uncommitted peoples of the world." And she asserted that, unfortunately, "the Soviet Union has often gained success through thought control, iron discipline, police state methods, and rule by fear." So, she declared that if Americans dont effectively deal with the Russian threat on a variety of global fronts, especially in Africa, Asia, and South America, "We may wake up and find that Russia has won over the majority of the peoples of the world."

Naturally, Mrs. Roosevelt was relying upon the international awareness that she had acquired during her years of service in the United Nations. Among other things, she had personal experience with the Russian premier, Nikita Khrushchev, and she reported that, in his view, communism will eventually prevail: "He will tell you that we are wasting our time [promoting democracy]," because "the future is communism."

Her program about the Cold War and its international impact generated a number of questions, "concerning Fidel Castro, the South American attitude toward the U. S., the effectiveness of Christian missionaries, and the recognition of Red China," but she was pleased to address them. And when it was all over, the audience gave a very appreciative response.

As with so many other places that she had spoken, her overall purpose at Western was to motivate college students and others to focus on the international threat posed by the Soviet Union, for she was concerned that America didnt have enough people committed to awareness of, and resistance to, the impact of communism in various countries. So, the answer to the question in her talk title, about America facing up to world leadership, was that more should definitely be done, if the U. S. was to effectively combat its chief enemy on a global scale.

After speaking to the capacity crowd in Morgan Gym, Mrs. Roosevelt sat in a chair and shook hands with over 100 people who lined up to greet the remarkable, and inspiring, former First Lady. A female reporter for the "Western Courier," who witnessed her long interaction with audience members, said in an article that appeared several days later that she asked the famous woman "how on earth she managed to remain so pleasant and sweet, after meeting so many people when she must have been so very tired." Mrs. Roosevelt replied, after patting her hand lightly, "I dont often get tired when Im around people who are interested," and the audience at WIU was "so very attentive and very good."

So, the local program delivered by the most admired woman in the world was a success in her view, and the whole event also reminds us that Eleanor Roosevelt was an amazing example of what a purpose-driven, hard-working senior citizen can accomplish. She continued to speak widely, and promote her social and political causes, until heart problems limited her activities in 1962, and she died in November of that year, at age 78. Various statues and other memorials now celebrate her life.

Local residents should be proud that Mrs. Roosevelts purposeful visit, to urge global response to Russia during the tense and troubling Cold War, is part of Macombs heritage. But in general, she was an inspiring, progressive leader, and as the U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Adlai Stevenson, said to the audience at her funeral, "What other single human being has touched and transformed the existence of so many?" So, her presence in our town was also a reminder that human greatness, which she exemplified, is based on commitment to humanity.

Writer and speaker John Hallwas is a columnist for the "McDonough County Voice." Research assistance was provided by WIU archivist Kathy Nichols.

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The greatest First Lady and her visit to Macomb - McDonough Voice