No Ordinary Time

No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II (1994) is a historical biography by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Goodwin, a psychoanalyst and historian, analyzes the psychologies of the President and First Lady during the trying events of World War II. She compiled her psychological profiles based on interviews with eighty-six people who knew the Roosevelts personally.

The book begins as Hitler declares war in Europe. Franklin D. Roosevelt spends most of the day and night in a conference with his advisors, while Eleanor, who is away from home, only finds out later from the newspapers. Eleanor is often away from home doing charity and social work while her husband is president, and her reports are instrumental in helping him understand the American public.

Franklin develops a plan to arm the United States against foreign invaders. To do this, he encourages big business to partner with the government to produce the weaponry the country needs. Eleanor, an avowed pacifist, is suspicious of big business. The pair had had a happy marriage at first, but it soured after Franklin had an affair. After that, they had become more like business partners, as Eleanor provided dispatches to her husband to help him in his political career. However, after the war begins, Eleanor feels that she no longer has a role in her husband’s presidency. Fortunately, she finds a new job heading up a refugee organization.



Goodwin discusses Franklin’s affair with his secretary, which alienated him from Eleanor. Missy LeHand was twenty years younger than Franklin and served him as a nurse after he was paralyzed. Eleanor, on the other hand, had no interest in helping Franklin with his recovery. Missy served as the First Lady when Eleanor was out of the White House and helped Franklin host foreign dignitaries and officials.

In 1940, Franklin secures a nomination for a third presidential term. This is highly unusual, but an exception is made because the country is at war. He knows that he will face significant challenges because European allies are asking for US assistance. Most Americans are opposed to sending troops overseas. In addition, Franklin has to change tax laws to make them more favorable to businesses that are going to produce weapons for the war effort.

Goodwin discusses some of Eleanor’s personal relationships, notably with her six children who she is distant from. They are mostly raised by Eleanor’s mother-in-law, a fact that Eleanor comes to regret when the children are older. While traveling and doing social work, Eleanor also has several friendships that help advance her cause, most notably with Lorene Hickok, a lesbian newspaper reporter. They start quite close, but Eleanor distances herself from Lorene after she has helped advance her career. In the lead-up to the war, Eleanor gives speeches stressing thrift and patriotism, but most Americans have little patience for them or for the big businesses profiting from the war effort.



In 1941, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, America officially enters the war. Goodwin discusses a conspiracy theory that speculates Franklin had intelligence that the attack would happen and allowed it in order to get the support needed for his war effort. However, she dismisses this theory because Franklin was an avowed lover of the Navy and had a strong moral compass.

Franklin, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin become close allies during the war effort, meeting frequently. Together, they organized a plan to win the war. Franklin has many diplomatic successes at these conferences, including convincing Stalin to help defeat Japan. The United Nations is also set up during this time. In 1944, Franklin is elected to a fourth term as president. Soon after, it becomes clear that the Allies will win the war, and so the leaders meet to discuss what will be done with the Axis powers. Stalin is given most of Eastern Europe, which becomes the Soviet Union.

Meanwhile, Eleanor struggles to find a place for herself in the war effort. She attaches herself to several worthy causes, including campaigning for equal employment in factories back home as well as recognition for black soldiers. She also visits veterans’ hospitals and addresses the United Nations and other political conferences on issues that are close to her, making her the first First Lady to do so.



Franklin and Eleanor continue to be political partners until 1945, when Franklin suddenly becomes very ill. He dies one year into his fourth term as president and only a few months before the end of the war. In December of that year, Harry S. Truman elects Eleanor to be a delegate to the United Nations, and so, she continues her political career after Franklin’s death.