The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt

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NEW YORK, Wednesday—Little by little the columnists are bringing out some of the points that must be of interest to women in the Presidential campaign.

For instance, one of them the other night said General Eisenhower, who is supposed to be above party politics was, if anything, more orthodox than most Republicans when questioned on such things as public power, health and medical programs, and Federal aid to education.

On this last item he doesn't even go as far as Senator Taft, feeling that the Federal government should give aid only to needy states to build schools. I have a feeling that to pay teachers a living wage is almost as important as to build schools.

The women of this country are deeply interested in our schools and I think they are the ones who are interested in equality of opportunity throughout this country for all of our children. They do not feel that because a child lives in a state where the taxes collected are lower than another state's that that child should be deprived of the chance for a good education. They know that in this modern world many of our people move around from place to place and that lack of education will be a detriment in almost any place. It could be harmful not only to the individual but to the community in which he lives.

I have never been completely able to make up my own mind as to what is the best way to provide medical care for all of our citizens, but I am sure that something needs to be done on this problem. And I feel sure there is more chance under a Democratic administration to get broader discussions and a willingness to try some experiment in the health field.

I recognize that the quality of medicine should not suffer even if we must provide medical care for more people. I also realize that the universities and researchers must have adequate support. And if the government helps to build clinics and hospitals and helps to develop new ways of providing medical care for the masses, support must not be withdrawn from the fields that mean advancement in medical knowledge. But doing nothing is not the way to meet any problem. Continued interest and experiment is more satisfactory.

The Volunteers for Stevenson in the governor's hometown of Bloomington, Illinois, point out that they have a special interest in his election because his family has lived there for generations and forms part of the history of the county.

The governor's grandfather, Adlai D. Stevenson, was elected Vice President, which was an honor for his hometown of Bloomington, and now the citizens of that town have in this election a candidate for President. So, the Volunteers for Stevenson hope to be as successful in this generation in electing another Stevenson. They write that the opponents repeat over and over again: "It is time for a change; I will vote straight Republican." And they insist that in doing so, the nation might very well get a change for the worse and not for the better.

I attended the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly and heard a speech by the retiring president, Dr. Luis Padilla Nervo of Mexico, which I thought was both courageous and imaginative. I hope it will set the tone for the meetings of this session and that we will see some real effort to find new approaches to problems that may ultimately prove to be solutions.

The new hall for the plenary sessions is a beautiful place, and though I am still a little confused in finding my way about I am gradually getting to feel at home. I am sure that in this new building there are going to be great facilities for good work.

E. R.

(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1952, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART PROHIBITED.)


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, October 16, 1952

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962
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Digital edition created by The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project The George Washington University 312 Academic Building 2100 Foxhall Road, NW Washington, DC 20007

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MEP edition publlished on June 30, 2008.

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Transcription created from a photocopy of a UFS wire copy of a My Day column instance archived at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.
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