This is the PBS Ken Burns documentary on the Roosevelt family. They were very wealthy to begin with - this starts with Theodore Roosevelt's birth in 1858 and goes through Eleanor Roosevelt's death in 1962.

The family is fascinating and no two Presidents of the 20th Century have changed history more than these two.

T.R. Roosevelt was a charismatic, inspiring figure who became President after President McKinley was assasinated in 1901. Theodore was the youngest U.S. President ever and the first one to win a Nobel Prize for brokering a peace deal between Russiia and Japan.

Interestingly Theordore lost his first wife and his mother on the same day and it changed him forever. To get away from his grief he went out west to live an outdoor life for a good while. Always ready for a fight, he formed the Rough Riders and fought in the battle of San Juan Hill in the conflict with Spain.

Franklin Roosevelt guided the country through the Depression and the tragedies of Hitler, Japan and World War II. Eleanor was an interesting person who nudged her husband in the right direction and ended up being the first female U.S. Delegate to the United Nations.

There is a lot I could write here, but it is an 8 hour plus journey in learning a lot about a family that changed and some would say, saved, this country.

I was duly impressed with both Presidents, one a Republican, the other a Democrat, related as 5th cousins.

the part about T.R. Roosevelt. I really did not know much about him and he's a fascinating character. He was actually shot after he was President and continued speaking (despite being wounded in the chest) for about an hour.

is in the narration. Edward Herrmann, Paul Giamatti and Meryl Streep are the main narrators and they were all brilliant as Franklin, Theodore and Eleanor, respectively.

I learned so much that I didn't know. Interestingly the press labeled T.R. Roosevelt as a bit of a blowhard and ego maniac. That probably is true, but he was an undeniably great President. He worked for worker's rights and was responsible for creating the National Park Service. I can't argue much with that.

This series piqued my interest and I learned a lot more about the 1930's than I knew before, and from a different perspective. It is always good to learn new things.

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Created Aug 29, 2015 at 12:52pm • Submit your own review...