Meditations and Learnings

Meditations and Learnings

A Free Speech Hero: Eleanor Rosevelt

The former first lady, Eleanor Rosevelt, led the charge in drafting the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It held the 58 member states to multiple standards, including a near-absolutist free-speech demand. By the time the UN members voted on the International Covenant of Civil Rights, the number had grown to 104. The opposition sufficiently outnumbered the Western nations to force concessions to the free-speech requirements.