Roosevelt was a peripatetic traveler, covering large distances in service of the many projects
she pursued both during and after the FDR presidency. It was Eleanor’s
determination to drive her own car that led to her pistol ownership. The
Secret Service begged her to take an agent, a police escort, or at
least a chauffeur; she refused. The pistol was a compromise: a small bit
of protection to put their minds at ease...
Although Eleanor told the fascinated press, when she first got the weapon, that she was a “fairly good shot,” a New York Times
reporter at the 1972 dedication of the Eleanor Roosevelt Wings of the
FDR Library interviewed several of Eleanor’s friends who said that she
carried the permit, but not the pistol.
Found in Slate's
Vault. I doubt this is who
Bing Crosby had in mind for his song.
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