If You Ask Me
by Eleanor Roosevelt

No. It would not be for the good of this country. It is not only a question of age. Women have not yet held enough important positions, whether elected or appointed, to attract a sufficient following for one to win the Presidency of the United States. It will be years, I think, before a woman should be elected, though I hope that eventually this will be done—not because the candidate is a woman, but because she is the person best fitted to hold the job, no matter which party she belongs to.

Yes, it is patterned on the French and German educational systems.

Certainly. In the White House gifts are sent to the President and his wife in great numbers, both from individuals and from firms. We learned, however, that things sent in originally as gifts often turned out to be things people wanted to be paid for when they fell upon hard times. Therefore we set up a closet in the basement in which all "gifts" were stored by months.

If we could not graciously return them on arrival (and this cannot always be done), we would hold them for a year or so. If the donor asked for payment, we would return the gift and suggest that he try to sell it.

I would have no qualms if his record showed that his judgment in matters of government was in no way controlled by his religious advisers. Otherwise I would have a real concern because the separation of Church and State in this country is a doctrine in which I believe.

I don't see a great deal of many people. In fact, I can think of only two couples outside of my own children whom I see constantly, so I cannot say that I have that kind of intimacy with any Negro friends; but I have some warm personal friends whom I do see fairly often who are Negroes.

I'm afraid I can offer you only familiar advice. Try not to be alone too much. On the other hand, force yourself to accept the fact that you can be alone and enjoy it occasionally. Playing records is a good thing to do if you feel lonely. Rejecting self-pity, thinking of other people and finding interesting things to do in the time you are alone will make this period of self-discipline pass more quickly. Once you have acquired the ability to face the feeling of loneliness, you will not find it so difficult.

No. I keep a date book in which everything I do is written down, but no thoughts and feelings such as might go into a diary are recorded. My date books are all kept in the Memorial Library at Hyde Park with my other papers.

I do not blame progressive education at all. Progressive education, properly used and understood, should have helped us and not brought about a lower standard of learning for our students. Our present low standards, I feel, are due to indifference on the part of older people and to the general attitude that education is a right rather than a privilege calling for real responsibility.

I am never actually on a diet that has been prescribed for me. I simply try not to eat too much, as it is very easy at my age to put on weight. I have to watch myself very carefully.