If You Ask Me
by Eleanor Roosevelt

If we are involved in a full-scale war, I think every woman as well as every man should be drafted to do the work she is best capable of doing. A full-scale war at this time would mean such a complete change in all our lives that a draft of this kind would, I think, be essential. I hope, however, we will never have a full-scale war and that we, the human race, will have enough intelligence to avoid it, since from my point of view it would mean practically ending our civilization.

I think in the case of boys it is usually far better if their father is able to explain such things as they need to know and at the times when they need to know them. It is so important to choose the right time, not to do it too early and not to leave it till too late.

My husband was extremely shy about discussing any of these questions with our boys. I always answered any question that was asked by any of my children as truthfully as possible and told them what I thought they were able to understand, and I never told them anything which was not true. I think probably some of the masters in school were more helpful even than their father with our boys, though he did agree that he would tell them what he felt was essential. I always had an idea that he told them comparatively little!

Karl Marx, like all important thinkers, has produced many schools of followers. All of them claim him as their inspiration while they violently disagree with one another. The moderate socialists in pre-revolutionary Russia—the Menshiviks, whom the Bolsheviks suppressed—were vigorously opposed to the concept of dictatorship, and they also claimed they were Marxists. Many of the moderate socialist parties in Europe today who are violently anticommunist venerate Karl Marx.

We must remember that Marx wrote in England in opposition to the hardships he saw brought about by the then existing economic system. That was a time of great industrial distress. We might compare it to the depression days we ourselves have known and look upon Marx’s feelings in comparison with the way we used to feel when we saw lines of men waiting for a handout of a cup of coffee and a bun perhaps in some of our big cities. We must also remember that Karl Marx is used by the communists who follow his doctrines and tailor them to fit the particular interpretation which they desire.

None. I am 65 years old and face the fact that many of us, old and young, may come to the end of our lives at any time no matter what we do; but at 65 one has lived a long life and can say with resignation, "The Lord’s will be done."

The decision on the part of my grandmother to send me to boarding school in England to Mlle. Souvestre, who was a very remarkable teacher and awakened in me an intellectual curiosity which I have been grateful for all of my life.

As far as I know there is no suggestion that the United States should support Franco. It is unfortunate that any support which is given to Spain must, of necessity, be some help to Franco. As a democracy, we can never want to support the one dictator left who accepted help to achieve his purposes from Hitler and Mussolini, against whom we fought a successful war. There must be, however, very valid arguments as to why it is necessary to do for Spain and the Spanish people certain things which, while they may help Franco, are not done for that purpose.

Like so many other things, there is more than one consideration, and the question is not a clear-cut one—shall we do this because it is right, or not do it because it is wrong? That, unfortunately, is the way many questions present themselves today. There is no uncomplicated question before the world, and one must count on the chance that the best thing is being done, though one regrets certain aspects of doing it.

That is a question that can only be answered by the individual women themselves. For some women it would be a very serious tragedy. For others, perhaps not a tragedy at all. Speaking generally, I think women who have had the experience of marriage are happier, and most women who have had no children regret the lack of this experience and feel at times that not having the companionship of a husband and children is a great loss.