Seven people influenced Eleanor's life
Eleanor Roosevelt named seven individuals in a 1951 article in Look Magazine that, in her opinion, influenced her life. The first two were her mother and father, who offered her the ideal of perfection while also giving her love and assurance. She gained confidence from Allenwood School's headmistress and teacher Madame Marie Souvestre, and she learned discipline from her aunt Pussie (Mrs. W. Forbes Morgan).
However, she claimed that her husband and mother-in-characteristics law's had the biggest impact on her growth. They had an impact on how she "evolved willy-nilly into an individual." Finally, her husband's political adviser Louis Howe persuaded her to become interested in politics.
Eleanor and her mother-in-law had a complicated, dynamic relationship. Eleanor was a shy, insecure young woman seeking love and acceptance when she got engaged. When Eleanor entered their world, Sara Roosevelt already controlled it, and she continued to do so. Eleanor claimed that it was her husband's illness that forced her to take responsibility for her own life, as well as her husband's and the upbringing of her children. When Sara passed away, Eleanor described her mother-in-law as "a very important person [whose] strongest trait was loyalty to her family."
