Eleanor Roosevelt has the distinction of being the longest-serving First Lady in U.S. history – from March 1933 until April 1945.

The untimely death of her husband, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, early in his fourth term prevented her from being First Lady for 45 more months.

One interesting footnote about Eleanor Roosevelt is that her maiden and married names were the same.

Both she and her husband were descendants of Claes Maartenszen von Rosenvelt, a Dutch settler who came to what is now New York in the early 17th century. By the time Franklin and Eleanor met, the family tree had grown qu...