When Franklin Delano Roosevelt was first elected, Mrs. Roosevelt had already established an independent social and political network of women friends unrelated to his career. This gave her private and public autonomy that has also not since been duplicated.

In particular, she belonged to a generation of influential women coming out of the Progressive Era who had successfully advocated social justice and international peace since 1900. The Great Depression gave Mrs. Roosevelt and some of these women an unusual opportunity to influence national social welfare legislation demanded by the economic crisis.

None of the independent money Mrs. Roosevelt earned through her books, news column and talks was tainted by scandal or insider information. And no other First Lady to date has had an international career after her husband's death.

By contrast, Mrs. Clinton's prominence, symbolized by her early position as head of the national health care task force, is derivative of her husband's power as President and has raised serious constitutional questions about whether she was responsible to him or to Congress.

Unlike Mrs. Clinton, Mrs. Roosevelt never claimed an independent career, and never touted herself as a feminist. She opposed the Equal Rights Amendment her entire life and resigned her one official administrative position as deputy director of the Office of Civil Defense in 1942 when criticism of her performance rose. Mrs. Clinton's feminism, while more apparent, is compromised by her "stand by my man" public persona and male-oriented careerism.