He deferred entirely too much to his wife
Really, I was under the impression that he paid no attention at all to Eleanor. She did as she pleased, and what about Joseph Lash? What about Lucy Mercer Rutherford? Eleanor is lionized mainly by the popular Hillary Clinton and some of her feminist minions.
His wife had a lot, (too much) to say about how things were done. She influenced him enormously with her socialism. We have her to thank for all the socialist hogwash she injected into the Democratic party and by extension, the country... associations and ideas from which it has NEVER withdrawn. Thanks Eleanor.
And let us never forget that he died in bed with his mistress......a true Democrat right to the end.