Yesterday, I posted the review of a fabulous new book Eleanor Vs. Ike by Robin Gerber. If you missed the review, I highly encourage you to check it out. In my opinion, Eleanor Vs. Ike is a must read for every registered voter. Gerber’s credentials are extensive, with over fifteen years of experience on Capitol Hill as a committee staffer, a chief lobbyist and a political director.
Currently, Ms. Gerber is a lawyer, senior faculty for the Gallup Organization, and senior fellow at the University of Maryland. (And I thought I was a multi-tasker!) Gerber is also an experienced writer. Gerber pens one of the most popular columns for Reader’s Digest, “You Be the Judge,” as well as opinion pieces that frequently appear in national newspapers. Gerber also authored the non-fiction titles Leadership the Eleanor Roosevelt Way: Timeless Strategies from the First Lady of Courage and Katherine Graham: The Leadership Journey of an American Icon.
Over the New Year’s Holiday, Ms. Gerber was kind enough to answer a few questions for us here at Modern Matriarch. In the following interview, she talks about her novel, addresses current political issues, and shares the joys and challenges of writing both fiction and non-fiction. I hope you enjoy meeting Robin Gerber as much as I did.
Eleanor Vs. Ike is a fascinating work of fiction that imaginatively foreshadows the political race of 2008. The fictional campaign revolves around the real foreign and domestic issues that dominated the 1952 election. How do those issues parallel those faced by the current presidential candidates?
The similarities between 1952 and 2008 are truly striking. In 1952, the United States was mired in an unpopular war in Korea that the Democratic President, Harry Truman, had gotten into with dubious support from Congress. The candidates had vigorous arguments over disentangling from Korea, which was as un-winnable a situation for the U.S. then as Iraq is for us now. Truman, like President Bush, was extremely unpopular, not only because of the war but because of scandals in his administration. Truman chose not to run for reelection, but like President Bush, his unpopular legacy was a detriment to his party. Most shocking, perhaps, is that President Truman had failed in his effort to get universal health care so that, like today, it was part of the candidates’ debate. Finally, just as today’s candidates talk about how they would deal with terrorism, the candidates in 1952 had to reassure voters that they had a plan for dealing with the threat of Communism.
If nominated for the Democratic ticket, which issues will prove the most troublesome for Hillary Clinton?
The war in Iraq, and the possibility of armed engagement with other countries like Iran are a potential Achilles heel for Hillary Clinton. Even though she serves on the Senate Armed Services, and met over eighty foreign leaders as First Lady, stereotypes about women being poor military leaders will persist. Hopefully, Senator Clinton, like Great Britain’s Margaret Thatcher, can successfully overcome the idea that a woman can’t be strong on defense.
In your novel, the struggle for Civil Rights plays a big role in Eleanor’s campaign for the presidency, unifying the African American community and a mobilized force of Woman voters. What are the chances of us seeing a Clinton-Obama democratic ticket in 2008? Do you think this will help or hurt the candidates?
It’s quite amazing and encouraging that we could even be talking about such a ticket! I’m sure Eleanor would be pleased if she were around. In political terms, however, Clinton picking Obama as a running mate wouldn’t make good sense. Democrats are already highly energized in 2008, and African Americans historically vote Democratic in overwhelming numbers. To the extent that a Vice-President generates votes for the ticket, which is questionable, it’s more likely that Clinton would pick a Latino running mate. Someone like New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who is currently running for President, would be a good candidate to energize the large Latino vote for Democrats.
In the novel, the issue of voting for a candidate solely based on gender is a major consideration. Do you think contemporary voters are more or less likely to vote based on gender?
I’d like to say that the gender issue is completely in the past, but it’s not. Of course, there is less sex discrimination than in 1952, but on the simple questions, “Would you be willing to vote for a female President?” we still don’t get 100% of voters saying ‘yes’ as they would for a male. We’re also seen that women are supporting Clinton much more strongly than men. I think there are enough voters willing to vote based on qualifications rather than “hair, hemlines and husbands” to elect Clinton, but I’m looking forward to the day when gender isn’t a consideration at all.
Eleanor Roosevelt wrote the daily syndicated column ‘My Day’ from 1935-1962, which you mention in your book, expressing her views on current social and political issues. (I guess that makes her one of the first women “bloggers.”) Her column has an authenticity that we don’t see in the polished sound bites and press releases of modern politicians. With the dominance of carefully crafted political messages, it seems odd to me that Hillary Clinton is the only candidate voters suspect will capitulate to the polls. Why do you think this is?
Women leaders face a double-bind. If they exhibit the qualities we say we want in leaders: being strong, assertive, take charge and dominant, they aren’t liked or trusted. Research shows this double-bind exists in every sector from politics to business to the military. And Eleanor Roosevelt faced it too. She was vilified every time she tried to lead on an issue, like when she proposed the creation of the National Youth Administration during the Depression. She was so roundly criticized so often that she coined this phrase which Clinton frequently uses, “You have to get skin as thick as a rhinoceros hide.”
On more than one occasion in the novel, Eleanor Roosevelt pulls a letter out of her purse and reads it from the speaker’s podium. This struck me as very symbolic because a woman’s purse is often viewed as frivolous fashion rather than utilitarian (like a briefcase). Eleanor’s habit of setting hers on the podium seems to draw attention to her femininity, while quoting from a letter seems to draw attention to the first acceptable form of feminine writing. Is any of this symbolism intentional or was this behavior drawn from historical fact?
I love your interpretation, but I have to confess that she did carry a purse. And although she never used notes for her speeches, she did have what I would call “affirmations” in her bag. I think it’s wonderful, and clearly was a comfort to her.
In the novel, General Eisenhower’s political advisors first characterize Eleanor as a “grandmother” in order to make her seem less potent as a political figure. The term not only makes her sound old and archaic, it also strips away her sexuality. Do you think there’s still an unspoken assumption that a woman’s true value is based on her ability to conceive and rear children?
I think that was truer in 1952 when far fewer women were in the workplace and families were in a post-war baby boom. There was a great acceptance that a woman’s place was in the home in the 1950’s. The women’s movement of the 1960’s, and books like Betty Friedan’s, “The Feminine Mystique,” began to change traditional views of women’s roles. Today, more than seventy percent of mothers work full or part-time and there’s much greater acceptance of the idea that women have value in many roles, as do men.
In the author interview included at the back of the book, you mention how much you enjoyed writing this, your first work of fiction. You also allude to the huge learning curve that took place. Can you tell us more about that? How is the process of writing non-fiction different from writing fiction?
In nonfiction I’m taking information and trying to organize and relate it in the most interesting way, but I don’t make anything up. With “Eleanor vs. Ike” I was able to play with real events, like Nixon’s Checker’s speech, and ask myself, “what would Eleanor have done?” Since she didn’t actually run for President, I was able to make up the answer, build the scenes, plug in fun facts like FDR’s Fala speech and move the story along. The process had a puzzle-like quality because I knew the ending, but wasn’t sure how to get there in a way that would be suspenseful and believable. Being freed of the worry of not making a factual mistake, which is always hovering over you in nonfiction, was very exhilarating. I also had to learn to write dialog, which I’d never done, and build “color” into the scenes. Luckily, I had a wonderful editor who helped me!
Gerber’s novel Eleanor Vs. Ike will go on sale next Tuesday, January 8th. For more information visit website at www.robingerber.com. Gerber also maintains a blog in the voice of Eleanor Roosevelt at http://robingerber.wordpress.com.
