Someone to Watch Over Me: A Portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt and the Tortured Father Who Shaped Her Life

by Eric Burns

Eleanor Roosevelt is viewed as one of the most pioneering women in American history. But she was also one of the most enigmatic and lonely. Her loveless marriage with FDR was no secret, and she had a cold relationship with most of her family, as well, from her distant mother to her public rivalry with her cousin, Alice. Yet she was a warm person, beloved by friends, and her humanitarian work still influences the world today. But who shaped Eleanor? It was the most unlikely of figures: her father Elliott, a lost spirit with a bittersweet story.

Elliott was the brother of Theodore Roosevelt, and he was as winsome and charming as Theodore was blustery and competitive. Though the two maintained a healthy rivalry in their youth, Elliott would eventually succumb to alcoholism and would be exiled to the Virginia countryside. But he kept up a close correspondence with his daughter, Eleanor, who treasured his letters and would read them nightly for her entire life for guidance, inspiration, and love.

As he did in the critically acclaimed The Golden Lad, Eric Burns' insightful and lucid prose reveals new facets to the lives of these pillars of American history.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History, Politics, Biography Memoir

304 pages, Hardcover

First published March 7, 2017

About the author

Eric Burns is an American media critic and journalist. He began his career as a correspondent for NBC News where he appeared regularly on NBC Nightly News and on the Today show.

Burns has written five critically-acclaimed books and continues to work in television. He has worked as a commentator for Entertainment Tonight, host of Arts & Entertainment Revue on A&E, and is the former host of Fox News Channel's Fox News Watch, as well as a media analyst for the network.

Burns received an Emmy Award for media criticism and was named by the Washington Journalism Review as one of the best writers in the history of broadcast journalism.

Reviews

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 4 out of 5]

Burns sets out to improve the Roosevelt oeuvre with a new book focusing on the relationship between Eleanor and her father, Elliot, Theodore's brother.
An oft looked over character, Elliott is typically discussed in a few paragraphs in certain biographies. The author researches new sources to enrich the information we know to exist on the man who had the greatest impact on Eleanor's life.
In 1883 Elliott married Anna, and two people could not have been found more inappropriate for each other or unprepared for wedded bliss. Eleanor was their first child. Anna immediately disliked her, giving her the nickname "Granny" by the age of two. For the rest of her life Eleanor gauged her beauty against her mother's judgments, considering herself plain, gangly, and peculiar.
Sadly Eleanor's adoration was based on dreams. From about the age of seven she was separated from her father, who proved to be an alcoholic and philanderer. I regret that this adulation of such a perfect paterfamilias was simply a figment of her imagination, which probably made her feelings toward her mother that much more bitter.
I was hoping for more family letters. The few quoted are mere notes jotted down quickly for mailing; they really don't express any feeling at all.
Also because of this divide most of the book is segregated into "Elliott" and "Eleanor" or rather "father" and "daughter". It speaks volumes that out of Elliott's thirty-four years, he was able to spend only seven with her. Regardless of the format I finished the book having learned something new about the subject.

I thank Eric Burns, Pegasus Books, and Goodreads for the opportunity to read this book for an unbiased review.

2017 Reading Challenge: takes place over a lifetime

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author Eric Burns has created a sympathetic portrait of Elliott Roosevelt and poses that without Elliott there would be no Eleanor Roosevelt to champion human rights.

The dual biography is at its best when it shows the father-child relationship and the strains Elliott’s health and drinking problems placed on it. There is a lot more here on Eleanor’s mother and her family than I have seen elsewhere. If you are knowledgeable about her work, you will skim the parts on Eleanor’s advocacy.

For me, I don’t think I would have gotten much out of this without having read the William Mann book: Wars of the Roosevelts. Mann provided depth on the Elliott-Theodore relationship, and Theodore's attempt to keep him hidden. It also shows Eleanor's position in the extended family, the complexity of her relationship with cousin Alice (air brushed here) and how Franklin's political success was (jealously) received by his Oyster Bay cousins.

I did get two bits of pop culture mysteries solved. First, Eleanor did the oleo commercial for $35,000 which she gave to CARE because it could save 6,000 lives with it (p.215). The commercial was a success and it helped to popularize margarine (as opposed to real butter) and she had many offers to promote other products. The other is that there is evidence that the “Mrs. Robinson” song was written for Eleanor “Here’s to you Mrs. Roosevelt, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you…” which makes more sense since Mrs. Robinson would never go to a candidate’s debate (p. 262).

Besides the cover, there are 3 b & w photos. The Index did not work the two times I used it. The footnotes that I used were clear.

I read it over 24 hours. I got it at the library, but would be disappointed if I had bought it. If you are interested in Eleanor Roosevelt, you will want to read this book, otherwise, it’s a pass.

[Linda Lipko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considered one of the most beautiful woman in the families upper class society, Eleanor Roosevelt's mother, the former Anna Rebecca Ludlow Hall, saw dashing, handsome, charming Elliott Roosevelt and sought to gain his affection. Her beauty won his heart and their large wedding set high standards for those to follow.

Brother of Theodore Roosevelt, Elliott's charms were compared to the boisterous and exceedingly bravado-driven Teddy.
Well dressed, handsome, Elliott fit very well into New York high society. He was considered quite the man to win, and as he drank the finest wines, and expensive champagne, dining in the best houses in New York, he was the popular scion of the very wealthy Roosevelt family.

Traveling throughout the world, early on, Elliott had a penchant for drinking his days away. When she married Elliott, she had no idea that by that time, he was well on his way to alcoholism, and later drug consumption.

At birth, when her mother first looked at her, Anne Eleanor Roosevelt she was deemed a very ugly baby. Furthermore, she said "There were too many wrinkles and the baby looked like an old lady."

There was little interaction, and throughout her childhood and adult life, her mother continued to both taunt and ignore her. As a child, while Anna Eleanor's two younger brothers were welcomed into her mother's arms, Anna Eleanor was forced to wait outside the library, observing the love given to others. She stood, fingers in her mouth, for an inordinate amount of time before her mother's terse voice said "Ok, you can come in now grannie."

Her protruding teeth went without correction. Her clothes were out of style. Lonely, she sought the solace of books, and hid in a large cherry tree reading for hours. Her coming out party was filled with fear and a deep knowledge that she did not fit in.

While her mother scorned her, it was her father who from the first moment he saw her, adored her. She was his beautiful, soulful daughter, and he was the only one who, not only paid attention to her, but throughout his life, was very intentional in shaping and loving his beautiful gem.

This is the story of the love that saved Eleanor from her mother's admonishment, and shaped her for the rest of her life.

The book is very well written, well researched and fascinating. Sadly, Eleanor's father died of alcoholism when she was a mere ten years old. He remained in her heart and soul, and it was his words that she heard as throughout her life. She not only became the extremely admired wife of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but was known and praised for for her many accomplishments and strong commitment to social justice. She was a strong advocate for women's rights, the saw the need to enact systems to help the poor, and create a fair wage and working conditions for those toiling 16 hour days for little pay under terrible conditions.

Throughout her travels, wherever she was, she brought the stack of letters her father had written to her, kissing the letter well-worn, torn from many years of wear.

Four Stars

[Janis Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting social history about the relationship between Eleanor Roosevelt and her father, a very flawed man, but a father whose love stayed with her for the rest of her life. I was especially struck by the fact that she carried his letters to her on trips throughout the world 60 years later. It was a good read that flashed back and forth between her 8 years with her father as a presence in her life and her latter years when he was gone but still a strong influence in her life. The author drew heavily from earlier authors of Mrs Roosevelt's life including Joseph Lash who knew her well. How much Mr Lash's writing was influenced by the fact that he knew her intimately, not in the sexual way but inner circle way is left for conjecture but it was definitely influenced. Mr Burns was sloppy about dates which were way off but the book was a good read and being aware of editing mistakes I did enjoy the book about the most famous woman of the 20th century who contributed so much of herself while hiding so much.

[Regan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Buyer Beware! I am about 20 pages into this book and have already found 3 GLARING factual errors. The author has Elliott's mother dying before the father-wrong. A quick search will show Theodore Senior died in 1878 and the mother in 1884.

The author states Theodore was the first born-agaib wrong. Theodore had an older sister. He was the first born son, which is not necessarily the same thing.

And then he says Teddy was 20 when he married. He got married on his 22nd birthday.

Personally I think it speaks volumes when an author is this sloppy with basic information. And it is troubling since this is not the first book he has written about the Roosevelt's.


This may be an enjoyable book to read, but maybe it should be considered historical fiction, rather than nonfiction.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book looked at the lives of Elliott (Teddy's brother) and Eleanor Roosevelt through the lens of their relationship as father and Daughter. Eleanor carried her letters from her father with her for her entire life and he was the most important and most supportive person in her life even though he died when she was just ten. Elliott was the only member of her close family that supported her and the only parent that even gave her love and affection, but his alcoholism kept him apart from her for much of her life, either because he was "ill" or actually banished to keep his problems away from the rest of the family and out of the papers. Eleanor was kept in the dark about much of Elliott's behavior and refused to see it when it was obvious and that with her family's attitude toward her father may explain why she was so hostile toward her parents side of the family. This book left a lot of their lives out, but that was intentional focusing instead on the father daughter relationship and how that influenced Eleanor's life. I received a free copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads giveaways.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hybrid bio of both infamous Elliott and his famous daughter Eleanor Roosevelt. While it was quite readable and not boring (for me), the layout was very choppy. I do realize that attempting to write a hybrid bio of two people whose lives intersect for a mere decade provides plenty of challenges, and it shows here.
Nonetheless, I did learn quite a bit about the important relationship between the future First Lady and her father. There is not a lot about the rest of the family, but several letter excerpts are included for first-person accounts.

[Carol Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I absolutely loved learning about Eleanor Roosevelt - (what an amazing woman!) I was frustrated by the author's movement forward and back through time periods. I can understand building momentum for the ending of the book, but felt lost at times at where I was in the characters lives; even though it was meticulously notated. Thank you, though, for the tender look into Eleanor's relationship with her father, and the impact it had in shaping her life - and what a life!

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author did a splendid job of elating the deep, abiding love between the father and daughter.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about a great and warm person.

[MCK · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different viewpoint of Eleanor Roosevelt, giving a tremendous amount of insight into the woman she became. We all carry 'baggage' from our upbringing, and we either thrive on it or overcome it. Eleanor did a bit of both, in my opinion, after reading this insightful book. Thank you to the author for the incredible dedication it must have taken to wade through all the documents necessary to comprise this perspective. Well worth the read.

[Everydayreader1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

From my earliest memories, my parents spoke fondly of both President and Mrs. Roosevelt whom they both admired. I wanted to read this book because it speaks to the relationship between Eleanor and her father. The bond between them was unbreakable, though he died when Eleanor was still a child. So much heartache for both these souls, yet Eleanor channeled that into something profound, almost as the first steppingstone in becoming the great lady she was. I enjoyed this books so much. It made me cry, but it also made me smile.