After walking Mary McLeod Bethune to her cab following a planning meeting for Eleanor’s NAACP conference speech, Eleanor is confronted by Steve Woodburn. He criticizes her NAACP affiliation, her attendance at the anti-lynching art exhibit, and especially Walter White’s persistent communications to the president. Woodburn soon delivers a memo labeling White a troublemaker and demanding the barrage stop.

Incensed, Eleanor storms into the Oval Office to confront Franklin. He acknowledges Woodburn’s abrasive style but echoes concern that Walter White’s pressure and Eleanor’s open association invite political backlash, even repeating a senator’s racist slur. Eleanor rebukes the framing—insisting she’d be proud to have “Negro blood” and would press just as hard—and says she’ll see White at the NAACP conference honoring Mary.

Franklin then urges Eleanor not to attend the conference, despite Mary receiving the Spingarn Medal and Eleanor’s promise to speak. He argues attendance could alienate Southern Democrats and jeopardize passage of the Social Security Act, appealing to the broader New Deal stakes.

Shaken, Eleanor weighs loyalty to Mary and Walter against the administration’s priorities. She questions whether Franklin uses her advocacy to appease marginalized groups without risking Southern support. By chapter’s end, she tentatively decides she may comply—not due to Franklin’s demand, but to leverage the concession into securing Mary a place within the New Deal apparatus.