LOVE, ELEANOR: ELEANOR ROOSEVELT AND HER FRIENDS
by Joseph P. Lash
Doubleday; 534 pages; $19.95
MOTHER & DAUGHTER: THE LETTERS OF ELEANOR AND ANNA ROOSEVELT
Edited by Bernard Asbell
Coward, McCann & Geoghegan;
366 pages; $17.95
She was stiff and prudish and homely and a do-gooder. She signed innumerable petitions and promoted countless social causes without questioning their country of origin or their ultimate goal. But she could also be brainy, fearless and tough, and just hammy enough at times to take the curse off her indomitable goodness. After all, when impressionists mimicked Eleanor Roosevelt's buck-toothed smile, they were also repeating her messages on...