Claim: Franklin Roosevelt had marital issues with Eleanor Roosevelt.

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt -LRB- -LSB- ˈɛlᵻnɔːr_ˈroʊzəvɛlt -RSB- October 11 , 1884 -- November 7 , 1962 -RRB- was an American politician , diplomat , and activist . She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States , having held the post from March 1933 to April 1945 during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt 's four terms in office , and served as United States Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly from 1945 to 1952 . President Harry S. Truman later called her the `` First Lady of the World '' in tribute to her human rights achievements .   Roosevelt was a member of the prominent American Roosevelt and Livingston families and a niece of President Theodore Roosevelt . She had an unhappy childhood , having suffered the deaths of both parents and one of her brothers at a young age . At 15 , she attended Allenwood Academy in London and was deeply influenced by its feminist headmistress Marie Souvestre . Returning to the U.S. , she married her fifth cousin once removed , Franklin Delano Roosevelt , in 1905 . The Roosevelts ' marriage was complicated from the beginning by Franklin 's controlling mother , Sara , and after Eleanor discovered her huband 's affair with Lucy Mercer in 1918 , she resolved to seek fulfillment in a public life of her own . She persuaded Franklin to stay in politics after he was stricken with debilitating polio in 1921 , which cost him the normal use of his legs , and Roosevelt began giving speeches and appearing at campaign events in his place . Following Franklin 's election as Governor of New York in 1928 , and throughout the remainder of Franklin 's public career in government , Roosevelt regularly made public appearances on his behalf , and as First Lady while her husband served as President , she significantly reshaped and redefined the role of that office during her own tenure and beyond , for future First Ladies .   Though widely respected in her later years , Roosevelt was a controversial First Lady at the time for her outspokenness , particularly her stance on racial issues . She was the first presidential spouse to hold regular press conferences , write a daily newspaper column , write a monthly magazine column , host a weekly radio show , and speak at a national party convention . On a few occasions , she publicly disagreed with her husband 's policies . She launched an experimental community at Arthurdale , West Virginia , for the families of unemployed miners , later widely regarded as a failure . She advocated for expanded roles for women in the workplace , the civil rights of African Americans and Asian Americans , and the rights of World War II refugees .   Following her husband 's death in 1945 , Roosevelt remained active in politics for the remaining 17 years of her life . She pressed the United States to join and support the United Nations and became its first delegate . She served as the first chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights , and oversaw the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . Later she chaired the John F. Kennedy administration 's Presidential Commission on the Status of Women . By the time of her death , Roosevelt was regarded as `` one of the most esteemed women in the world '' ; she was called `` the object of almost universal respect '' in her New York Times obituary . In 1999 , she was ranked ninth in the top ten of Gallup 's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century .