Using Eleanor Roosevelta�TMs own words, personal correspondences, private documents, and a wide range of past perspectives and new biographical research, this book tells the intimate story of a real woman who struggled with a lack of self-confidence but built a supportive network of like-minded activist women to realize change. One hundred years ago, Roosevelt was drawn into politics and public service by events that seem ripped from current events-an opiate crisis, a global pandemic, unsafe working conditions for immigrant women, and the human costs of war. Roosevelta�TMs story mirrors the challenges of the 21st century and offers real examples of how change is possible. For students of history, politics, and womena�TMs studies, this book brings together past perspectives with new biographical scholarship, primary resources, and Roosevelta�TMs own words to understand the female role models who shaped her and how Roosevelt in turn built a womena�TMs network of friends and activists that changed U.S. politics and society.