It could be said that former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt's strength was born out of her husband's weaknesses: first, after she discovered an extra-marital affair early in their marriage, she resolved to live on her own terms — not merely as an accessory to her powerful husband. Later, as first lady, Eleanor took 'fact-finding' trips for her less-mobile husband, who lost the use of his legs after contracting polio in 1921. She spoke fiercely and freely about racism, poverty and sexism in a way that would have been impossible for a sitting president at the time. "You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face," she once said.