The Roosevelts: An Intimate History

Absolutely remarkable and sweeping. The series goes into Theodore's, Eleanor's, and Franklin's childhoods to their deaths. It covers their strengths and weaknesses, as well as legacies. My only complaint is that Alice should have been included more. She often takes a back seat to her father and cousins but was an absolute force of nature. She was also well ahead of her time. It was also refreshing to see real political altruism rather than the Kennedy version, who meant well but were notoriously crooked. All in all this is wonderful and one of my favorite documentaries. Highly, highly recommend!

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”Theodore RooseveltThere are political dynasties, and then there are the Roosevelts of Hyde Park and Oyster Bay. All others are cheap imitations. The Bushes and the Roosevelts? It's like comparing apples and rotten mangoes. The Kennedy family, God bless 'em, doesn't even come close. The Roosevelts are the standard against which everyone who has come since are measured. The wannabes usually end up falling quite short.The Roosevelts are the Beatles of American political families. That may sound like a trivialization of the most important and influential clan in the history of this country but, as anyone who knows me will tell you, that's about as high a compliment as I am able to make. It's next-to-impossible for me to describe my admiration for these people. No matter how hard I try, I still end up understating how great a debt we owe to these decent, troubled, great and greatly flawed human beings. The scope of their mountaintop highs and deep-valley lows is a human drama that leaves even the most casual observer of history utterly mesmerized. This is a story wrought with tragedy - and enough screwball comedy to keep the laughs flowing. I've been reminded of this for the last three evenings watching Ken Burns' new documentary series, "The Roosevelts: An Intimate History". I'll be reminded again tonight, and every night till Saturday when the series concludes.For twenty-five years Ken Burns has been cranking out one historical series after another, and every one of them have been brilliant. He is in the process of working on several yet-to-be-released projects. One of them, a two-part documentary on Ernest Hemingway, won't be ready until the year 2020. I'm now at a point in my life where I can say, without a trace of self-consciousness, that I really do hope I live to see it. I'm definitely glad I lived to see The Roosevelts. It's the best one he's done thus far - and that's saying a lot!I can't tell you who won the 1932 world series for the simple reason that, eighty-two years later, it doesn't make a damned bit of difference to our lives who won it. I can tell you who won the presidential election that year, though. Four score and two years after the fact that does make a difference. Think about this: On the evening of February 15, 1933, less than a month before entering the White House, a would-be assassin named Giuseppe Zangara attempted to murder Franklin D. Roosevelt in Miami, Florida. The bullet, instead, hit Chicago mayor, Anton Cermak, who died nineteen days later. Had FDR been assassinated on the eve of his inauguration the presidency would have gone to his running mate, a not-too-visionary bigot from Texas named John Nance Garner. If Zangara's bullet had not missed its mark on that night, the entire history of the world - not merely the United States - would have been much different. "What if...." It makes the imagination tremble. "I should like to have it said of my first administration that in it, the forces of selfishness and of lust for power met their match. I should like to have it said of my second administration that in it, these forces met their master."Franklin Delano RooseveltTo his own kind, FDR was a traitor to his class, or, "That man in the White House". He was not merely the most liberal president in the history of the republic, he was a radical - at a perilous moment when radical change was needed; not unlike it's needed at present.If you appreciate the millions of acres of national parkland and animal sanctuaries set aside for posterity; if you're grateful for the Social Security check that you or a loved one receives each month; if you've benefited from one the of thousands of high schools, post offices, tunnels or bridges built in the nineteen thirties; if you have ever fallen on hard times and were forced to receive much-needed cash from the feds because you became unemployed; if you were a vet and the GI Bill of Rights afforded you a college education - in short, if during the years after the Second World War, you were able to live comfortably as a member of the middle class - thank a Roosevelt. What I just rattled off for you was the (very) short list. I have neither the time nor space to mention them all. This country owes so much to this family that it's impossible to catalog the debt. Sadly, most American are oblivious to it all.The series begins at Theodore's birth on October 27, 1858 and fades to black with the death of Eleanor on November 6, 1962. The 104 years and 10 days between those two dates comprise a saga that only could have happened in this country. Of particular note is the gut-wrenching story of Eleanor's upbringing. Abandoned by her adored father, scorned by her mother who was ashamed of the child's rather plain looks, she was an orphan by the age of ten; raised in a house run by a cheerless grandmother and two mentally unbalanced uncles. Anyone else might have succumbed to fate's cruelties at so young an age. Her already fragile emotional constitution would be shattered further in 1918, fourteen years into their marriage, when she discovered that Franklin was having an affair. That she was able to overcome so much and become one of the most significant persons of the American Century is as much a testament to her inner fortitude as anything.While still young men, Theodore and Franklin were dealt incapacitating, personal blows that forever changed them. For Theodore it was Valentine's Day 1884 when his wife and mother died on the same day in the same house. In Franklin's case it was in the late summer of 1921 when he was stricken with infantile paralysis, never to walk again. Both men thought that their lives were over. The trumpets were yet to summon them to greatness."Black care", wrote Theodore Roosevelt, "rarely sits behind a rider whose pace is fast enough."It's fifty-two years since the last survivor breathed her last breath. We are greatly diminished as a nation because they no longer walk among us. It almost takes away the fear of dying, you know?Tom Degan

There have been so many documentaries on the three Roosevelts - Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor - that when Ken Burns' documentary was announced I wondered what more could be said. Well, there's plenty to see in this sprawling 14 hour work, including many previously unseen photographs and moving pictures. A thread of tragedy runs through the saga.After a brief recounting of the first Roosevelts in America (Nicholas Roosevelt, the last common ancestor to the three "great" Roosevelts, died in 1742) the story picks up in 1858 with the birth of young Theodore. Teddy, of the Oyster Bay Roosevelts, was an asthmatic, sickly boy who willed himself into vigorous action - both physical and mental. He also was susceptible to depression, and tried to conquer despair by outrunning it. But negative feelings catch up with one, and there was a streak of rage that ran through the man, sometimes resulting in explosions of temper - as when he shot a dog that barked at him. In the course of one day when Theodore was 25, his daughter Alice was born, and his wife and mother both died. Theodore left the daughter in the care of his sister and fled to the west to conquer his grief. When "rancher Ted" returned it was a quick rise up the political ladder until he became President after William McKinley was assassinated. As President, TR was at his best when he was able to channel his zeal into constructive action, like reforming the food industry, busting trusts, and preserving America's natural heritage. But in many ways he was, to coin a phrase, a "bully"- who thought nothing of invading other nations, and betraying William Howard Taft (who did more the continue his predecessor's policies than he's given credit for).Franklin, of the Hyde Park Roosevelts, born when Theodore was 23, was a lonely boy: tutored at home, with only a small circle of friends who were all from the same social class as he. Young Franklin spent most of his childhood in the presence of adults, always wanting to please and never annoy them (particularly his father, whose health had been fragile from the time he suffered a heart attack when Franklin was eight). FDR grew up in his distant cousin's shadow. He admired and emulated TR to the point where, when he learned he needed glasses, he ordered "pince-nez" spectacles, and he was fond of using TR's patented terms "bully" and "dee-lighted" - and then there was his decision to marry Theodore's favorite niece, Eleanor. He emulated TR's rise up the political ladder, where he struck many as capable but superficial.If there was ever a member of the Roosevelt clan who was shaped by personal tragedy, it was Eleanor. She was born in 1884 - the same year as Theodore's daughter Alice. Eleanor's mother was a cold woman who died prematurely, her father (Teddy's brother) was a severe alcoholic and unstable even when sober. By the time Eleanor was ten, both her parents and one of her brothers had died. She never knew parental love. It wasn't until she went to a finishing school in England that she gained a sense of self-confidence and a conscience to help other people - to be loved by being useful. It was her depth that attracted Franklin to her - beyond her famous uncle.Franklin and Eleanor's complex marriage is discussed without being dissected. Franklin's relationship with Lucy Mercer is examined from a psychological, rather than a salacious point of view. After Eleanor learned of Franklin's affair with Lucy, they led increasingly separate lives in a partnership that was more than merely political, yet less than a conventional marriage. Eleanor's lesbian friends are mentioned, but it is left to the viewer to decide if Eleanor ever returned their affections. Eleanor doesn't seem to have felt threatened by Missy LeHand's increasing role in Franklin's life, and Franklin was friendly with Eleanor's companions, both male and female. The marriage was largely Laissez-faire relationship, but when the going got rough, as when Franklin was diagnosed with polio, the inner strength of their bond was proved.Various members of the Oyster Bay and Hyde Park branches of the Roosevelt family pop-up from time to time - in particular FDR's mother Sara, and Theodore's daughter Alice. It's ironic that Theodore's family became so bitterly resentful of Franklin and Eleanor. Franklin essentially carried out much of Theodore's 1912 Bull Moose platform, and I wonder if the Oyster Bay branch's opposition to Franklin was based more on a clash of egos than philosophy - or perhaps they never grasped that FDR and TR basically stood for the same things: a social safety net, shared prosperity, and the projection of American power. (Indeed, one wonders what Theodore would have thought of Alice's 1940 remark that she'd "rather vote for Hitler than vote for Franklin".) Chronologically, the story ends in 1962 with the death of Eleanor Roosevelt, who had become known as "First Lady of the World" and the conscience of the Democratic party.What really astonished me in this documentary is the large amount of previously unseen (by me, anyway) footage. I had no idea there was film of the assassination attempt against FDR - but here it is. There are also a few frames of FDR throwing his arms around his son's and another person's shoulders as they lowered him to his wheelchair at the 4th inaugural - and the home movies that are included as a bonus feature. Almost 70 years after his death, and there are still new discoveries.I had a mixed reaction to the voiceovers provided by Paul Giamatti (Theodore), Edward Herrmann (Franklin) and Meryl Streep (Eleanor). Giamatti's voiceover for TR sounds the same as his John Adams portrayal and doesn't sound anything like Teddy's voice, for which recordings exist. On the other hand, if Teddy's squeaky voice had been accurately recreated, it would probably have been unintentionally funny. Peter Coyote's measured narration won't be to everyone's taste.For all the depth of the production, there were items that were missing. No mention of the Newport Scandal, which almost sank FDR's career. Nor any mention of FDR's uneasy relationship with Joseph Kennedy, who helped FDR secure the 1932 Democratic nomination, but later blamed "that crippled sonuvabitch" for the death of his oldest son during the war. Little mention is made of what became of various Roosevelt family members, including Alice Roosevelt Longworth and Franklin and Eleanor's children, after Eleanor's death.The DVD contains a number of special features, including deleted scenes, a making of feature, and a segment with Geoffrey Ward discussing Daisy Suckley - whose diaries and correspondence were discovered in the 1990s and shed new light on FDR. The Roosevelts may be 14 hours long, but is mandatory viewing for those interested in learning more about one of America's most influential families.

I first watched Ken Burns Civil War documentary many years ago, but his perspective and style prompted me to watch more in later years. Numerous viewings of the Civil War documentary haven't diminished its appeal and interest to watch again. This is true of The Roosevelts as well. I've already watched it a few times and know I will watch it more again. The story captures the personal and private lives of the people involved, their relations to one another and their impact on the function of government in the twentieth century. Each figure faces hardship and tragedy, but rises above it to dedicate themselves to the care and welfare of the people as a nation. Such self sacrifice is rare among the wealthy and affluent, which makes them stand out above all others. I found myself thinking about about this series constantly while watching it and couldn't help but admire the men who did so much for their country. It was after watching "The National Parks: America's Best Idea" that I started to think about the two men who created so many areas for others to enjoy. I wanted to learn more about them after learning about their efforts to create national parks and preserve lands that would otherwise be exploited and ruined by greed. I viewed The National Parks a few times and the theme music still haunts me; it is string work that captures the essence of spirit in the episodes will always remind me of these shows. After seeing The Roosevelts a few times it left me wanting more, which is a tribute to Ken Burns initiative and thoroughness in creating these series. It seems that once you start watching one series, another one isn't far behind. It is documentaries like these that can interest most people and the stories that inspire many. I own a number of these documentaries now, deeming them some of the most important ones I have.

Ken Burns !!! Need I say more ?

This is an amazing Biography of an amazing American Family.

I saw this series on Public Television. It was magnificent. So much so that I bought the DVD'sfor a member of our family for their birthday. I am amazed at how many people I know saw itand felt the same way.

Excellent mini series, as always, from Ken Burns. I am some what of a history buff & yet I discovered a lot about the Roosevelts I did not know & were not covered in the history books I remember. Not to be missed!