An Interview with Eleanor Roosevelt
Excerpt:
BILL DOWNS: You have become known as the leader of what is loosely called the "liberal movement" in this country, or what used to be called the liberal movement in this country, and some people call them "do-gooders" and the rest of it—could you define a liberal for us in your own words?
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT: ...I would feel that a liberal was a person who kept an open mind, was willing to meet new questions with new solutions, and felt that you could move forward. You didn't have to always look backward and be afraid to look forward.
DOWNS: And that's what this National Issues Committee that you're...
ROOSEVELT: The National Issues Committee is going to try to look at the issues, to put them in simple terms so that the people can understand them as objectively as possible and to feel that they can as the liberals do move forward.
EDWARD P. MORGAN: ...We've been told by our experts that we may have to live in this world of uncertainty and indecision short of war, in a Cold War for X number of years to come. What is your recipe for us to face up to it?
ROOSEVELT: Well, I think the study of our history. Certainly the people who settled this country didn't have any great security, and it's hard for the young to live in uncertainty; they love to be sure of the future. But I really think that we have the stamina, particularly if we look at what we came from, to live through uncertainty.
