The First Lady of World War II

An untold story from one of America's favorite First Ladies

On August 27, 1943, news broke in the United States that First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was on the other side of the world. A closely guarded secret, she had left San Francisco aboard a military transport plane headed for the South Pacific to support and report back on the troops on the front lines during World War II.Meanwhile, for the previous ten days, Americans had believed she was secluded at home.As Allied forces battled the Japanese for control of the region, Eleanor was there, spending five weeks traveling to islands in the area, including Hawaii, New Zealand, and Australia. She was on a mission as the First Lady of the United States to experience what our servicemen were experiencing... and to bring secret information back home. Only five of the 600 pages in her most popular biography focus on this trip. Now, veteran journalist, Shannon McKenna Schmidt, brings that trip to life in intimate detail for the first time.

About the Author

SHANNON MCKENNA SCHMIDT is an author and journalist who has written for National Geographic Traveler, Shelf Awareness, DailyBeast.com, NPR.org, and other websites and publications.